0220 At Baalbeck in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon the Romans constructed an incomplete acropolis that contained a Temple of Jupiter and a Temple of Bacchus. 1500 Antwerp Cathedral was completed after 148 years of construction. 1502 Donato Bramante began the Tempietto of S Pietro in Montorio, Rome. 1503 Henry VII's chapel, the final stage of English gothic art, was begun in Westminster Abbey. 1506 Bramante began to rebuild St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, which had been neglected since the 14th century when the popes resided at Avignon. The project took 120 years to complete. 1508 Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), Italian Renaissance architect, was born. 1508 Michelangelo began painting (1508-1512) the Sistine Chapel in Rome. 1508 Raphael at age 26 entered the service of Pope Julius II and was entrusted with the decoration of the new papal apartments. 1509 In Lisbon, Portugal, the tile-bedecked church, Igreja de Madre de Deus, was built. 1511 Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), Italian painter, architect and art historian, was born. He wrote 'Lives of the Artists'. 1513 Chartres Cathedral, near Paris, was completed after almost 400 years of work. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 1
1513 The Palazzo Farnese, a large and magnificent palace in Rome, was designed by Antonio de Sangallo the younger and Michelangelo. 1514 Hampton Court Palace was begun for Wolsey. 1519 The Chateau of Chombard was begun in France, and would take 30 years to finish. 1519 St. George's Chapel, Windsor, England, was completed after 46 years of work. 1519 The Italian influenced medieval church at the Moscow Monastery of Peter the Metropolitan was constructed. 1521 The Chateau de Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley of France was built for the royal tax collector, Thomas Bohier. It took eight years to construct. 1525 Spanish architects established the style of 'Plateresque', as exemplified by the gateway of the University of Salamanca. 1528 In Mexico the fortress of San Juan de Ulua was built on a coral reef in Vera Cruz. It was later estimated that half-million slaves died in the process. 1534 Regensburg Cathedral, Germany, was completed after 259 years of work. 1534 The Church of St. Basil was begun in Moscow on what is now known as Red Square. 1535 The summer palace of Prague Castle, The Belvedere, was begun with a design derived from Brunelleschi's foundling hospital in Florence. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 2
1537 Jacopo Sansovino began building the famous Old Library of St. Mark's, Venice. 1537 Sebastiano Serlio, architect at the palace of Fontainbleau, published the first of six volumes of his 'Trattato di Architettura'. 1537 The Spanish built La Fortaleza overlooking the bay on the southwestern edge of San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1539 Michelangelo began to redesign the Capitol in Rome. 1540 (1540-1580) In Vincenza, Italy, Palladio created a wide variety of palaces and public buildings. 1546 Michelangelo designed the dome of St. Peter's in Rome. 1546 Pierre Lescot, French architect, began the building of the Louvre in Paris. Francois I, needing more space for acquired works of art, started the construction of 2 new wings to the 12th century Louvre fortress. 1549 Piro Ligorio designed the Villa d'este at Tivoli for the Cardinal d'este Ippolito II. 1550 Palladio, Italian architect, designed the Villa Rotunda, Vincenza. It has four porticoes and symmetrical planning and is an example of his search for harmonious proportions. c. 1550 In Moscow, Ivan the IV built a stone church to commemorate the triumph of Orthodoxy over Roman Catholicism, Islam and the Uniates, who sought to unite the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 3
1550 Giorgio Vasari, Italian architect and painter, published his definitive 'Lives of the Artists', and founded the Fine Arts Academy in Florence. 1556 (1556-1605) Akbar the Great during his reign built a walled Mughal fort at Hund in northern Pakistan, that now encloses a modern village. 1558 Westmunster Church in Middelburg destroyed by heavy storm. 1559 The Escorial, an enormous palace built on a grid plan for Philip II, was begun in Madrid. 1560 Giorgio Vasari's commission for the Uffizi Palace took shape in Florence. 1561 The Basilica of St. Basil in Moscow was completed after 26 years of work. 1562 William Turner published a survey of spas in Europe. 1565 Palladio finished S. Giorgio Maggiore Church in Venice. 1566 Akbar began the construction of the Lahore Fort in northern Pakistan. 1567 Longleat House was begun. It shows the impetus of the Reformation on English domestic architecture. 1567 The Metropolitan Cathedral was begun in Mexico City. It took 250 years to complete. 1568 Abdij Church in Middelburg destroyed by fire. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 4
1570 The Convento de Penha was built on a 164-meter cliff overlooking Vitoria in the state of Espiritu Santo, Brazil. 1570 In Carrara, Italy, Alberigo, son of the mad Marquis Alberigo Cybo Malaspina, Lord of Carrara, inaugurated the use of gunpowder for quarrying marble. 1570 In Switzerland the hotel Crusch Alva in Zuoz in the Engadine dates back to this time. 1570 Palladio published 'I Quattro Libri dell'architettura', a summary of classical architecture. 1571 In Malta the Palace of the Grand Masters was begun. 1573 Inigo Jones (1573-1652), father of English classical architecture, was born. 1573 (1573-1577) In Malta the Cathedral of St. John was built. 1574 Giorgio Vasari, completed Florence's Uffizi Palace after 14 years of building. 1575 (1575-1649) In Mexico the construction of La Immaculada Concepcion cathedral in Puebla. 1576 The basilica of San Petronio was erected by Egnatio Danti, a mathematician and Dominican friar who worked for Cosimo I dei Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The structure included a solar observatory. Danti also advised Pope Gregory on calendar reform. 1580 Longleat Estate, Wiltshire, England, originally an Augustinian priory, was completed as an Italianate mansion. Longleat was built by Robert Smythson. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 5
1580 Palladio, Italian Renaissance architect, died. He designed the Teatro Olimpico in Vincenza just before his death. It was completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi. 1585 An obelisk that had been brought from Egypt to Rome by the emperor Caligula was erected at the Vatican. 1586 The Lateran Church of St. John, Rome, was rebuilt on the orders of Pope Sixtus V, who succeeded the late Gregory XIII. 1586 Adriaen de Vries left Florence for Milan where he began working on the high altar for the Escorial near Madrid. 1587 Inigo Jones, English architect and theatrical designer, began building Cobham Hall in Kent. It was finished by the Adam brothers. 1587 The Rialto Bridge in Venice was begun by the Italian architect, Antonio da Ponte. 1587 Osaka Castle, Japan, whose foundation had been laid by Hideyoshi in 1583 was completed with the help of 30,000 workers. 1588 Domenico Fontana, Italian architect and engineer, completed the Vatican library in Rome. He also completed the cupola and lantern of St. Peter's in Rome. 1594 In France Henry IV proposed his 'Grande Dessein' to join the Louvre with the nearby Tuileries palace, which had been built under Catherine de Medici. c. 1597 The Sao Paulo church in Macao was constructed by Portuguese colonists. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 6
1598 Nicolas Francois Mansart (1598-1666), French architect, was born. The mansard roof is named after him. 1599 The Takeda family, which controlled Hokkaido, changed its name to Matsumae, built a castle by that name and allied itself with Ieyasu Tokugawa, who was on the verge of establishing his Shogunate in Japan. c. 1600 In France, the contractor Jean-Christophe Marie built bridges on the Seine to the Ile St. Louis and laid out lots on straight streets for sale. 1605 In France Henry IV and his minister, Duc de Sully, decided to build a square over the former site of the Hotel Royal des Tournelles. The new square was named the Place Royale until the Revolution when it was renamed the Place des Vosges after the first administrative department, Les Vosges, that paid taxes. 1605 Henry IV established a building code that set architectural themes and specified that pavilions had to owned by a single family. 1608 Inigo Jones built an oak-paneled hall for Queen Elizabeth's ambassador to France. The room was later bought intact by William Randolph Hearst and shipped to New York. It was later purchased by the developer of the SF Cannery and shipped to SF. It was set up as the interior of Jack's. 1608 In England Bess of Hardwick died at age 80. Know as the Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury, she built the Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire. 1612 In France the Pavillon du Roi, begun under Henri IV, was completed. It was occupied by the king's court and then the Duc de Sully, after which it was called the Hotel de Sully. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 7
1613 Andre Le Notre (1613-1700), French architect and landscape designer, was born. He shaped the gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Versailles, Marly, Chantilly, Saint Germain-en-Laye, Les Tuileries, saint cloud, Sceaux and Courances. 1620 In Spain the Plaza Mayor, a grand, arcaded square in Madrid, dates to this time. 18 Nov 1626 St. Peter's Cathedral, Rome, was dedicated. 1627 (1627-1637) In northern Pakistan Jahangir's mausoleum on the right bank of the Navi River in Lahore was built by his son Shah Jahan. 1627 In Norway the stave church at Vaga was rebuilt by architect Werner Olsen. His design included a few fragments of the original building. c. 1630 Inigo Jones built the portico of London's Old St. Paul's Cathedral. 1632 Cardinal Richelieu ordered the construction of the Palais Royale in Paris, France. It was expanded by the Duke of Orleans, who in the 1800s gave it its present form by enclosing the garden on three sides with buildings filled with commercial shops and income-producing apartments. 1636 In Mexico a city wall was built around Veracruz. 1640 The Cathedral of Morelia, Mexico, 185 miles northwest of Mexico City, was begun. It was completed 100 years later and is considered to be Mexico's best example of Platersque architecture, an ornate style that resembles silverwork. 1642 (1642-1648) The English civil war severely damaged St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 8
c. 1644 In China the later Zhengyici Theater in Beijing started as a temple in the late Ming period. 1646 Jules Hardouin Mansart (1646-1707), French architect, was born. He became the chief architectural director for Louis XIV. 1650 In Barbados St. Nicholas Abbey was built as a plantation house in the Jacobean style. 1655 In Bologna Domenico Cassini persuaded the builders of the Basilica of San Petronio that they should include a major upgrade of Danti's old meridian with a new entry hole for daylight to track the projected sun on the cathedral floor. Sassini was able to use the observatory to confirm Kepler's version of the Copernican theory. 1666 In Cholula, Mexico, the chapel Nuestra de los Remedios was built atop a Teotihuacan pyramid. 1667 A Baroque palace was built in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It later became a 400 student elementary school. 1670 (1670-1680) In Oman, the Nizwa Fort was built 100 miles southwest of Muscat. 21 Jun 1675 Work began to rebuild St Paul's Cathedral in London by Sir Christopher Wren, replacing the old building which had been destroyed by the Great fire. 1675 (1675-1710) In London, Old St. Paul's Cathedral was replaced with a new design by Sir Christopher Wren. 1677 Christopher Wren redesigned the burned Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Aldermanbury, England. His monument at St. Paul's Cathedral in London reads: Si monumentum requires circumspice- If you seek his monument, look around you. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 9
1682 The rule of Peter I the Great began, until 1725. The original stone cathedral of the Monastery of the Epiphany in Moscow was built during this time. It was built over the remnants of an earlier wooden church. 26 Sep 1687 In Greece marauding Venetians sent a mortar through a gable window of the Parthenon and ignited a Turkish store of gunpowder. This damaged the northern collonade of the Parthenon. 1690 In Puebla, Mexico, the ornate Capilla del Rosario, Chapel of the Rosary, was consecrated. 1789 Benjamin Banneker with L'Enfant start to lay out Washington DC. 1792 George Washington lays the cornerstone of the Executive Mansion (White House). 1793 The Louvre in Paris, opens. 1831 London Bridge opens. 16 Oct 1834 The British Houses of Parliment are destroyed by fire. 1842 The first US wire suspension bridge for general traffic opens in Pennsylvania. 1851 The Crystal Palace designed by Joseph Paxton as the centerpiece of the first British Great Exhibition was opened. 1859 The ground is first broken in the construction of the Suez Canal. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 10
1862 Westminster Bridge across Thames opens. 1866 Work begins on the first US underwater highway tunnel in Chicago. 1867 Royal Albert Hall foundation stone was laid by Queen Victoria. 1867 The first ship passes through Suez Canal. 1870 The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began. It was completed in 1883. 1870 The first New York City subway line opens. It was pneumaticly powered. 1871 Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria in London. 1877 The first cantilever bridge in the US is completed at Harrodsburg, Kentucky. 1879 The North British Railway's train falls as Firth bridge collapses in Scotland. 1880 Construction of Cologne Cathedral completed, 633 years after it began. 1880 The Gotthard railway tunnel, between Switzerland and Italy, opens. 1881 Ancient Egyptian obelisk 'Cleopatra's Needle' is erected in New York Central Park. 1881 De Lesseps' Company begins work on the Panama Canal. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 11
1882 The St Gotthard railroad tunnel between Switzerland and Italy opens. 24 May 1883 The Brooklyn Bridge is opened by President Arthur and Governor Cleveland. 1883 The International cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls. 1884 The 6.2 mile Arlberg railroad tunnel is completed in Austria. 1884 The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island, New York City. 1885 The Washington Monument is dedicated in Washington DC. 1886 The Statue of Liberty is dedicated by President Grover Cleveland. It is celebrated by the the first confetti (ticker tape) parade in New York City. 1894 The Manchester Ship Canal was completed and opened to traffic. 18 Nov 1903 The US and Panama sign the Hay-Bunau-Varilla canal treaty giving the US exclusive canal rights in Panama. 1903 Queen Wilhelmina opens Berlages Merchants bureau in Amsterdam. 1903 The Williamsburg suspension bridge opens between Brooklyn and Manhattan. 1904 Theodore Roosevelt, appoints a seven person committee to study the Panama Canal. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 12
1905 Italian King Victor Emmanuel and the Swiss President open the world's longest railroad tunnel (Simplon). It links Iselle in Italy with Brig in Switzerland. 1905 Paramaribo-Dam railway opens in Suriname but is never used. 1906 The London Underground opens the Bakeroo line (Baker Street to Waterloo Line). 1908 The first tunnel under the Hudson River, a railway tunnel, opens. 1909 Workers start pouring concrete for the Panama Canal. 1911 The Lötschberg tunnel in Switzerland (13,735 meter) completed. 1913 The Gamboa Dam in Panama is blown up and the Atlantic and Pacific waters mix for the firts time proir to the opening of the Panama Canal. 1913 The Panama Canal opens. 1915 The cornerstone is laid for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. 1929 US President Hoover authorizes building of Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam). 1931 The Empire State Building opens in New York. 1931 The world's highest structure (at that tine), the Empire State Building, opens. Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 13
1960 Building of Aswan dam in Egypt, begins 1964 Plans for the World Trade Center, which is to be built in New York City, are announced. 1974 Then tallest building, World Trade Center opens in NYC (110 stories). Copyright (c) 1999-2010, HistoryMole.com, All rights reserved. Page 14