page_title: Timeline of Chennai
section_title: 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of Chennai / 19th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Plate nine from the second set of Thomas and William Daniell's 'Oriental Scenery'.
context_page_description: This is a timeline of major events in the history of Chennai.
context_section_description: 1817: Madras Literary Society is founded.
  1819: Madras Eye Infirmary, later the Egmore Eye Hospital, is established.
  1826: Board of Public Instructions is founded.
  1831: First Commercial Bank, Madras Bank, is founded.
  First census in the city is taken (population: 39,785).
  1832: Madras Club is founded.
  1834: First survey school is inaugurated; later develops as an engineering college.
  1835: First medical college is founded; later becomes Madras Medical College.
  1840: Captain S. O. E. Ludlow begins hourly recording of meteorological observations.
  1841: Ice House is built, where ice brought from America through ships is stored; later gets renamed as Vivekananda House.
  1842: First lighthouse is built.
  General Hospital, originally meant only for the English, opens its doors to Indians.
  1844: Higginbotham's, the first book store in the country, is opened.
  1846: Pachaiappan School is founded; later becomes Pachaiyappa's College.
  1851: Museum is formed.
  1853: Zoo is formed.
  1854: Imperial Hotel is opened, which later becomes the Taj Connemara, the oldest functioning hotel in the city.
  1855: University Board is formed.
  1856: First Railway line from Royapuram to Arcot is built.
  1857: University of Madras is founded.
  1862: First pier is constructed at the harbour.
  1864–65: Presidency College is built.
  1868: Attempt begins to protected water supply.
  Further developments at the harbour begin.
  1873: Birth registration begins.
  Madras Mail newspaper is founded.
  Cosmopolitan Club is founded.
  1874: University Senate House is built.
  1875: Madras observatory starts issuing daily weather reports.
  1876–78: Great Famine wipes the city.
  Buckingham Canal is dug.
  1878: The Hindu newspaper is founded.
  1882: First telephone is installed.
  1885: Marina Beach road is formed.
  1886: Indian National Congress meets at Madras.
  Connemara Public Library is founded.
  1889: High Court Building foundation is laid.
  1893: San Thome Church is rebuilt in neo-Gothic style.
  1894: First car is sold; A. J. Boag, director of Parry & Co, drives the car on city roads.
  1895: First tram car service is inaugurated.
  1899: First Tamil newspaper, Swadesamitran, is founded.
caption: The government house at Fort St. George, 1804
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