ABOUT KRAKOW » HISTORY
965.....First written record of Cracow, mentioned in the accounts of an Arab traveller and merchant, Ibrahim ibn Yaqub, who visited the town
1000.....Formation of Cracow Bishopric
1038.....Cracow is the Polish capital
1257.....Town centre laid out on a grid-plan with large Town Square.
1320.....First coronation at Wawel cathedral
1335.....Foundation of the town Kazimierz by King Kazimierz the Great
1364.....Foundation of Cracow's University, now called The Jagiellonian University
1475.....First book printed in Cracow "Explanatio in psalterium" by J. de Turrecremat
1489.....Veit Stoss designs the High Altar in St. Mary's Church
1491.....Nicolaus Copernicus comes to Cracow from Toruń and begins his studies at the university
1500.....Start of Renaissance construction on Wawel hill
1520.....Jan Behem from Noremberg makes the largest bell in Poland
1533.....Completion of Sigismund Chapel on Wawel hill
1548.....King Sigismund Augustus orders the third series of tapestries from the Netherlands
1609.....King Sigismund Vasa moves the capital to Warsaw
1652.....24 000 people die of bubonic plague in Cracow
1695.....The sculptor Baltasar Fonntana comes to the city and completes numerous works in Cracow's churches
1734.....The last coronation is carried out in Cracow of King Augustus III
1794.....Kościuszko uprising begins in Cracow's Main Square
1795.....Third division of Poland, Cracow under Austrian rule
1815-1846.....After the Vienna congress between Russia, Prussia and Austria, Cracow gains independence
1850.....A third of Cracow is destroyed by fire
1881.....First tram goes into service on the streets of Cracow
1904.....Work at first electrical plant begins
1918.....After 123 years of division, Cracow is free again
1939.....183 professors of the Jagiellonian University are arrested and deported to forced labour camps by the National Socialist occupants
1939.....The Nazis make Cracow the capital of the so-called General Government
1941.....Founding of the Jewish Ghetto in Podgórze
1943.....Liquidation of the Cracow ghetto
1945.....Cracow is liberated by the Red Army
1947.....Start of construction of Nowa Huta
1978.....Cracow Bishop Karol Wojtyła becomes Pope John Paul II
1980.....Founding of the independent movement "Solidarnosc" in Cracow
1999.....Cracow numbers 830 000 citizens
2000.....Cracow is the cultural capital of Europe 2000
