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Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Timeline

626   Edinburgh founded by King Edwin of Northumbria

1128   Holyrood Abbey founded in Edinburgh by David I, King of Scotland.

1503   King James IV of Scotland marries Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England at Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1567   Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, husband of Mary I of Scotland, is murdered at the Provost's House in Edinburgh.

1595   Group of pupils of Edinburgh High School barricade themselves in because of a dispute about holidays. When adults break in, pupil William Sinclair shoots city bailie John McMorane dead. Boys are arrested but acquitted later

1638   signing of Scottish National Covenant in Edinburgh.

1644   Plague breaks out in Edinburgh.

1645   Fearing the spread of the plague, Edinburgh Town Council bans all gatherings except weddings and funerals

1645   Because of the plague, Edinburgh town council orders that the college graduation ceremony should be brought forward so that students can leave the city (in November 19, teaching continues in Linlithgow)

1649   In Edinburgh, Scotland claimant King Charles II of England is declared King in his absen Scotland is the first of the three Kingdoms to recognize his claim to the throne.

1650   Ann Greene, who had been hanged for infanticide in Edinburgh, wakes up in an autopsy table - she is pardoned.

1661   The first Earl of Argyle is executed at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh for treason

1700   A fire destroys the larger part of Edinburgh.

1703   ''Company of Quenching of Fire'' (i.e., a fire brigade) founded in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1727   The Royal Bank of Scotland is founded by royal charter in Edinburgh.

1736   Porteous Riots erupt in Edinburgh after execution of a smuggler Andrew Wilson when town guard captain John Porteous orders his men to fire at the crowd. Porteous is arrested later

1748   Adam Smith begins to deliver public lectures in Edinburgh

1788   Trial of William Brodie begins in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is sentenced to death by hanging

1817   A Typhus epidemic occurs in Edinburgh and Glasgow

1822   Last public whipping in Edinburgh.

1824   Edinburgh Town Council makes a decision to found the Edinburgh Municipal Fire Brigade, the first fire brigade in Britain.

1824   16 - A huge fire breaks out on Old Assembly Close in Edinburgh. It destroys two tenements and Tron Kirk church. 11 residents and 2 firemen die, 400 people are left homeless.

1843   The Disruption of the Church of Scotland took place in Edinburgh

1861   Tenement collapses in the Old Town of Edinburgh and buries 50 - rescuers find 15 of them alive

1875   The Hibernian F.C. were founded in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1917   One of English literature's most important and most famous meetings takes place when Wilfred Owen introduces himself to Siegfried Sassoon at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh.

1958   Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by the Queen when she dials a call from Bristol to Edinburgh and speaks to the Lord Provost.

1977   May 27 - Queen Elizabeth II visits Edinburgh.

2003   The world's largest Hogmanay party in the Scottish capital Edinburgh is cancelled 20 minutes before midnight due to bad weather.

2004   Queen Elizabeth II opens the new Scottish Parliament Building in a ceremony in Edinburgh.