# Timeline of Minsk

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Minsk, Belarus.

## Prior to 19th century

* 1066 - Vladimir the Great, Prince of Kiev, devastates the town.
* 1067 - The Battle on the Nemiga River occurs near Minsk.
* 1101 - Gleb Vseslavich becomes the prince of Minsk.
* 1104 - Town besieged by Kiev forces.
* 1115 - Town besieged by Kiev forces again.
* 1129 - Town becomes part of Kievan Rus'.
* 1242 - Town becomes part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
* 1413 - Minsk becomes part of the Vilnius Voivodeship.
* 1441 - City charter granted.
* 1499 - Magdeburg rights granted.
* 1505 - City besieged by Crimean Khanate army.
* 1508 - City besieged by Muscovy forces.
* 1552 - Town privileges extended.
* 1566 - City becomes capital of Minsk Voivodeship.
* 1569 - City becomes part of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
* 1591 - Minsk coat of arms [be] granted.
* 1616 - Basilian monastery, Minsk [be-tarask] founded.
* 1642 - Holy Spirit Cathedral (Minsk) built.
* 1654 - Russo-Polish War (1654–1667): City occupied by the Russians.
* 1667 - City restored to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
* 1673 - Church built at Kalvaryja.
* 1685 - Yeshiva founded.
* 1708 - Great Northern War: City occupied by the Swedes.
* 1709 - Great Northern War: City occupied by the Russians.
* 1710 - Jesuit church built.
* 1775 - 3rd Lithuanian Infantry Regiment stationed in Minsk.
* 1789 - 1st Lithuanian National Cavalry Brigade stationed in Minsk.
* 1790 - 1st Lithuanian National Cavalry Brigade relocated from Minsk to Kiejdany.
* 1791 - 4th Lithuanian Infantry Regiment relocated from Borysów to Minsk.
* 1792 - 4th Lithuanian Infantry Regiment relocated from Minsk to Słuck.
* 1793
** City annexed by the Russian Empire following the Second Partition of Poland.
** Orthodox Diocese of Minsk (Belarusian Orthodox Church) established.
* 1796 - City becomes capital of Minsk Governorate.
* 1798 - Catholic diocese of Minsk formed.

## 19th century

* 1801 - Independence Avenue (Minsk) opened, then called Zahariy Street
* 1805 - Governor's Garden established.
* 1808 - Kalvaryja cemetery in use (approximate date).
* 1812
** Napoleon in power.
** November: Russian forces oust the French.
* 1821 - Population: 2,000 (approximate).
* 1825 - Pischalauski Castle built, now a prison.
* 1827 - Population: 3,000 (approximate).
* 1831 - Polish November Uprising.
* 1836 - Alexander Square, Minsk [ru] established.
* 1837 - Fire brigade in operation.
* 1838 - Minskiye gubernskiye vedomosti newspaper begins publication.
* 1840 - Military Cemetery established.
* 1844 - Theatre opens.
* 1845
** Public library established.
** Population: 20,000 (approximate).
* 1846 - Moscow-Warsaw road laid out.
* 1857 - Greek Catholic Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul rebuilt.
* 1860 - Population: 27,000.
* 1864 - Church of Holy Trinity consecrated.
* 1871 – Minsk railway station opened.
* 1872 - Municipal water supply introduced.
* 1873 - Vilnius railway station built.
* 1882 - Population: 53,328.
* 1886 - Minskiy Listok [ru] newspaper begins publication.
* 1890 - Kupala Theatre opens.
* 1892 – Horse tram begins operating.
* 1897 - Population: 91,494.
* 1898 - Russian Social Democratic Labour Party founded in Minsk.

## 20th century
### 1900s-1940s

* 1902 - "All-Russian Congress of Zionists" held in Minsk.
* 1910 - Church of Saints Simon and Helena consecrated.
* 1911 - Tolstoy library founded.
* 1913 - Population: 117,600.
* 1914 - Minsk teachers institute founded.
* 1917
** November: "Bolshevik troops arrive in Minsk."
** December: First All-Belarusian Congress meets in city.
* 1918
** February: German forces oust Bolsheviks.
** 25 March: "First All-Belarusian Congress declares independence of the Belarusian Democratic Republic."
* 1919
** 8 January: City becomes capital of Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
** August: City captured by Polish troops during Operation Minsk, part of the Polish–Soviet War.
* 1920
** July: Soviet forces take city.
** Belarusian State Polytechnic Institute established.
** Theatre opens.
* 1921
** Aleksandrovsky, Lyakhovsky, and Central administrative districts created.
** Belarusian State University established.
** City hosts first All-Belarusian Conference of Librarians.
* 1923 - Museum of the First Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party [be] founded.
* 1924 - Consulate-General of Poland established.
* 1926 - January: City hosts first Congress of Belarusian Archeologists and Archeographers.
* 1927 - Sovetskaya Belorussiya newspaper begins publication.
* 1929 – Electric tram begins operating.
* 1930 - Minsk State Medical Institute founded.
* 1931 - Belarusian Young Spectators' Theatre established.
* 1932 - Belarusian State Conservatory, Minsk Botanical Garden [be], and Kamaroúski Park established.
* 1933
** Minsk-1 Airport begins operating.
** Opera and Ballet Theatre and Belarusian Institute for National Economy established.
* 1934
** Dynama Stadium built.
** Government House, Minsk completed.
* 1937 - Kurapaty death camp begins operating near city.
* 1938 - Kaganovich, Stalin, and Voroshilov administrative districts created.
* 1939
** Soviet Belarus film studio relocates to Minsk.
** National Opera and Ballet of Belarus building opens.
** Belarusian State Art Gallery established.
** Population: 238,948.
* 1940 - Soviet executions of Polish officers and intelligentsia during the Katyn massacre.
* 1941
** June: Bombing of Minsk.
** June 28: German occupation begins.
** July 17: Reichskommissariat Ostland established.
** July 20: Minsk Ghetto established.
** August: Forced labour camp for Jews established.
* 1942
** January: Stalag 352 prisoner-of-war camp established by the Germans.
** May: Maly Trostenets extermination camp in operation.
* 1943
** State Archive for Film established.
** November: Stalag 352 camp dissolved.
* 1944
** 4 July: Red Army takes city.
** Minsk Automobile Plant established.
** Belarusian Great Patriotic War Museum opens.
** Zvyazda newspaper in publication.
* 1945 - Belarus Theatrical Institute founded.
* 1946
** Minsk Tractor Works established.
** Belarusian Institute of Technology relocates to Minsk.
* 1948 - Minsk Institute for Foreign Languages founded.

### 1950s-1990s

* 1950
** Yanka Kupala Park and Pobieda Kino (cinema) established.
** Tarpeda Stadium built.
** Belarusian State Puppet Theatre [be] active.
* 1954
** Minsk Wheeled Tractor Plant founded.
** Victory Square monument erected.
* 1955
** Children's Railroad opens.
** Vasily Ivanovich Sharapov becomes mayor.
* 1957 - Belarusian State History Museum established.
* 1959
** Minsk Refrigerator Plant established.
** Population: 509,667.
* 1961 - October Square, Minsk construction completed.
* 1963 - MKAD (Minsk) ring road constructed.
* 1964 - Radioengineering Institute established.
* 1967 - Vecherniy Minsk newspaper begins publication.
* 1968 - Stadium of the VSS Red Banner opens.
* 1970
** Belarusian State Musical Comedy Theatre active.
** Population: 917,428.
* 1971 - Belarus Optical & Mechanical Enterprise founded.
* 1979
** Belarusian History Museum opens.
** Population: 1,333,000.
* 1981 - Biennial puppet festival begins.
* 1982 - Minsk National Airport begins operating.
* 1984
** Minsk Metro begins operating.
** Minsk Zoo opens.
* 1988 - 30 October: Demonstration; crackdown.
* 1989
** 19 February: "Rally of 'informals.'"
** 30 September: Environmental protest.
** 1989 - Population: 1,607,077.
* 1990 - Public Library of the City of Minsk established.
* 1991
** April: Labor strike.
** City becomes capital of Republic of Belarus.
** City "becomes the headquarters of the successor to the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States."
** State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (KGB HQ) formed.
** Belarusian Nature and Environment Museum and Academy of Public Administration founded.
* 1992 - International Sakharov Environmental University and Republican Institute for Vocational Education established.
* 1993
** July: Belarusians of the World congress held in city.
** Listapad (Minsk International Film Festival) begins.
* 1994 - Polish Institute in Minsk established.
* 1995 - Vladimir Yermoshin becomes mayor.
* 1996
** November: "Chernobyl march."
** National Academic Bolshoi Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus and National Academic Opera Theatre of Belarus formed.
* 1999
** 30 May: Nyamiha metro disaster.
** Moscow bus station (Minsk) [be] built.
* 2000
** 15 March: Political demonstration held.
** Mikhail Pavlov becomes mayor.
** Darida Stadium opens.

## 21st century
### 2000s

* 2001 - March: Anti-Lukashenko demonstration.
* 2002
** Minsk Passazhirsky railway station and Football Manege arena built.
** MKAD (Minsk) ring road rebuilt.
** Independence Square, Minsk reconstruction completed.
** October: Library of the Polish Institute in Minsk established.
* 2004
** Kurapaty monument installed.
** IIHF World U18 Championships held.
* 2005 - 14 May: Water féerie demonstration.
* 2006
** March: Jeans Revolution.
** November: Summit of Commonwealth of Independent States.
** National Library of Belarus building opens.
* 2007 - March: Anti-Lukashenko demonstration.
* 2008 - 4 July: Bombing.
* 2009 - Ў Gallery founded.

### 2010s

* 2010
** December: Post-election demonstration.
** Minsk-Arena opens.
** Nikolai Aleksandrovich Ladutko [be] becomes mayor.
* 2011
** 11 April: Metro bombing.
** Protests against Lukashenko regime.
* 2012
** 4 July: Teddy bear airdrop.
** Population: 1,901,700.
* 2014
** May: 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship held in city.
** Andrei Shorets becomes mayor.
** Population: 1,921,807 city; 2,101,018 metro.
* 2015 - 12 February: International meeting produces ceasefire agreement ("Minsk II") related to the War in Donbass.
* 2019 - Minsk hosts the 2019 European Games.