# Timeline of Leiden

The following is a timeline of the history of the municipality of Leiden, Netherlands.

## Prior to 20th century

* 11th C. - Burcht van Leiden (an old shell keep).
* 1323 - School active (approximate date).
* 1377 - Hooglandse Kerk (church) construction begins.
* 1390
** Public clock installed (approximate date).
** Pieterskerk (church) construction begins.
* 1420 - Leiden#Siege of 1420 Siege of 1420.
* 1483 - Printing press in operation.
* 1520 - Roman ruin Brittenburg discovered near Leiden.
* 1566 - August: Iconoclasm by Protestants.
* 1572 - Protestant sermonizing begins at the Vrouwekerk.
* 1573 - Siege of Leiden by Spanish forces begins.
* 1574 - 3 October: Siege of Leiden ends.
* 1575
** Leiden University founded.
** Leiden University Library founded.
* 1577 - Flemish textile manufacturers move to Leiden.
* 1578 - Gemeenlandshuis van Rijnland (water management building) purchased.
* 1580s - "Immigration of Flemings, Walloons, and Brabanters" to Leiden.
* 1580 - Printer Elsevier in business.
* 1581 - Academy Building, Leiden [nl] in use.
* 1587 - Hortus Botanicus Leiden (garden) founded.
* 1594
** Leiden anatomical theatre established.
** Turkish tulips planted in the Hortus Botanicus.
* 1598 - Leiden Town Hall [nl] built.
* 1600 - Latin School, Leiden [nl] built.
* 1606 - 15 July: Birth of Rembrandt van Rijn.
* 1612 - Stads Timmerhuis built.
* 1622 - Population: 44,745.
* 1630s - Fijnschilders (artists) active.
* 1633 - Leiden Observatory established.
* 1639 - Marekerk (a Protestant church) founded.
* 1640 - Population: 100,000. (estimate)
* 1641 - Laecken-Halle (cloth hall) built.
* 1648 - Leiden Guild of Saint Luke established.
* 1655 - Bibliotheca Thysiana (library) established.
* 1658 - Weigh House built.
* 1683 - Luchtmans [nl] bookseller in business.
* 1723 - Synagogue, Leiden [nl] established.
* 1745 - Electricity-storing "Leyden jar" invented.
* 1766 - Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde and Kunst Wordt door Arbeid Verkreegen literary societies formed.
* 1800 - Population: 30,000. (estimate)
* 1807 - 12 January: Leiden Gunpowder Disaster.
* 1818 - National Museum of Antiquities established.
* 1820 - National Museum of Natural History founded.
* 1837 - National Museum of Ethnology founded.
* 1838 - Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden (school) active.
* 1842 - Leiden Centraal railway station opened.
* 1848 - E. J. Brill publisher in business.
* 1851 - Sijthoff publisher in business.
* 1860 - Leiden Observatory re-built in the Hortus Botanicus Leiden.
* 1864 - Training college for Dutch East Indies civil servants established (later the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies).
* 1873 - Remonstrant seminary active.
* 1874 - Municipal Museum of Antiquities established.
* 1893 - Gemeentearchief Leiden [nl] (city archive) building constructed.

## 20th century

* 1904
** Leiden Yearbook [nl] begins publication.
** Population: 56,044.
* 1919 - Population: 61,408.
* 1923 - Jan van Houtbrug [nl] (bridge) built.
* 1925 - St. Joseph, Leiden (Roman Catholic parish church) built.
* 1928 - University Hospital built.
* 1931
** Leidse Hout (public urban park) opened.
** Museum Boerhaave established.
* 1940 - Town Hall rebuilt.
* 1946 - François Henri van Kinschot [nl] becomes mayor.
* 1978 - 1978 Tour de France cycling race starts from Leiden.
* 1980
** Cees Goekoop [nl] becomes mayor.
** Population: 103,046 municipality.
* 1984 - Leiden Bio Science Park development begins.

## 21st century

* 2003 - Henri Lenferink [nl] becomes mayor.
* 2006 - Leiden University Medical Center built.
* 2012 - Theater Ins Blau [nl] built.
* 2013
** Welch Allyn branch office in business.
** Population: 119,800 municipality.
* 2017 - Asian Library opened by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.