MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY

• 10,000 B.C. - 1599
• 1600 - 1699
• 1700 - 1799
• 1800 - 1899
• 1900 - 1999
• 2000 -

1900. Public baths, funded by William T. Walters opened in Baltimore, continued in use until 1954.

1901. Automobile Club of Maryland.

1901. Election law replaced symbols on ballots with words.

1902. Regulations for miners' work conditions enacted.

1902. Child labor under age twelve forbidden by law.

1902. Workmen's compensation law enacted (overturned in courts), first such law in U.S.

1902. Compulsory school attendance law passed.

1904. Maryland Woman Suffrage Association led by Emma J. Maddox Funck.

1904. Kerbin "Jim Crow" public accommodations law enacted.

1904. Maryland Association for the Prevention and Relief of Tuberculosis formed, Baltimore.

1904. Sinclair-Scott began making Maryland motorcar.

1904, Feb. 7-8. Baltimore fire, 70 blocks in heart of business district devastated.

1904-1908. Edwin Warfield (Democrat), governor.

1905, April. Washington County experimented successfully with horse-drawn bookmobile.

1905, Nov. Voters defeated black-disenfranchising Poe amendment.

1906. Haman Act enacted, encouraged oyster-bed leasing, established Shell Fish Commission, and provided for survey of Chesapeake Bay bottom.

1906. State Board of Forestry created.

1906. Equal Suffrage League organized by Elizabeth King Ellicott, Baltimore.

1906, March. Maryland Historical Magazine, edited by William Hand Browne, first published by Maryland Historical Society.

1906, Nov. "Anchors Aweigh" composed by Charles A. Zimmerman, Naval Academy bandmaster, and midshipman Alfred Hart Miles; performed at Army-Navy football game that year; later dedicated to Class of 1907.

1907, Nov. The Johns Hopkins University accepted women graduate students.

1908. Primary elections (for some localities) and campaign reform enacted,

1908. State Roads Commission created.

1908. Board of Agriculture formed.

1908. H. L. Mencken became literary editor of Smart Set.

1908-1912. Austin Lane Crothers (Democrat), governor.

1909. Voters defeated Straus anti-black voting amendment.

1909. Greek Orthodox parish, first in State, formed in Baltimore.

1909, April 6. Matthew Henson, of Charles County, reached North Pole with Robert Peary.

1910. Workmen's compensation law redrafted and enacted.

1910. Pure food and drug laws and anti-prostitution measures enacted.

1910. State Commissioner of Motor Vehicles authorized.

1910. Public Service Commission established.

1910. Russian-born population of Baltimore (including Eastern European) peaked (24,798 of 558,485).

1910, Aug. 30. First statewide primary election in Maryland.

1910, Nov. Hubert Latham flew over Baltimore during Halethorpe air meet.

1911. Baltimore completed sewerage system.

1911. Army established flying school at College Park.

1911. U.S. Navy used Greenbury Point, Annapolis, as air station.

1911. Digges voting amendment defeated.

1911. Isaac E. Emerson built Emerson or "Bromo-Seltzer" Tower, Baltimore.

1912. Ten-hour work law for women, strengthened child-labor laws enacted.

1912. Haman oyster law enacted,

1912. Party presidential primary elections adopted.

1912. Maryland Suffrage News began publication under Edith H. Hooker.

1912. Ukrainian Greek Catholics purchased land for St. Michael's Church, South Wolfe St., Baltimore.

1912-1916. Phillips Lee Goldsborough (Republican), governor.

1913. Baltimore Chapter, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), formed, second oldest in country.

1914. Babe Ruth pitched for International League Orioles.

1915. Abraham Flexner and John Backman presented report on State public education.

1915. Education reform measures enacted.

1915, Nov. 2. Referendum and County Home Rule amendments adopted.

1916. State Board of Motion Picture Censors authorized.

1916. State Conservation Commission created from State Fishery Force, Shell Fish Commission, and Game Warden.

1916, Feb. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra organized under Gustav Strube.

1916, Nov. Vagabond Players, Baltimore, staged first performance.

1916, Nov. 7. Executive budget process, mandating balanced State budgets, established by constitutional amendment.

1916-1920. Emerson C. Harrington (Democrat), governor.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore, Maryland, July 2003. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1917. State Council of Defense named.

1917. Federal government established Camp Meade (now Fort Meade).

1917. U.S. Army placed Maryland militia units in new 29th Division.

1917. Aberdeen Proving Ground, first testing center of U.S. Army, established.

1918. Edgewood Arsenal formed.

1918. Maryland troops fought at Battle of Neuse-Argonne, France.

1918. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission created.

1918. Baltimore expanded city limits.

1918. Rockefeller Foundation funded School of Hygiene and Public Health (now Bloomberg School of Public Health) at The Johns Hopkins University.

1918, Sept.-Nov. Influenza epidemic throughout Maryland.

1919. H. L. Mencken published first book of Prejudices.

1919. Baltimore Orioles won first of six International League pennants.

1920. Merit system established for State employees, replaced many politically filled positions in State government.

1920. Central Purchasing Bureau reformed State expenditures.

1920. State Athletic Commission formed.

1920. Maryland Racing Commission created.

1920. University of Maryland united agricultural college and Baltimore professional schools.

1920. Logan Field (formerly Dundalk Flying Field) dedicated, Baltimore.

1920. State's first Air National Guard unit.

1920, Nov. 2. Women voted for first time in Maryland.

1920-1935. Albert C. Ritchie (Democrat), governor.

1921. Eubie Blake staged "Shuffle Along," New York City.

1921, Jan. Associated Jewish Charities formed, Baltimore.

1921, Nov. 8. Mary E. W. Risteau became first woman elected to House of Delegates.

1922. Quadrennial Elections Amendment mandated general elections every four years instead of every two (effective 1926).

1922. Equalization of school spending among counties authorized.

1922. Ku Klux Klan rallied in Frederick and Baltimore.

1922. Commercial radio stations broadcasted in Baltimore.

1924. Albert C. Ritchie campaigned for Democratic presidential nomination.

1924. Edna Ferber gathered material for Showboat aboard James Adams's barge Playhouse.

1924. H. L. Mencken began editing American Mercury.

1924. Floods destroyed much of Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.

1925. Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons Island, started as research station by Reginald V. Truitt.

1925. Maryland and Virginia passed legislation protecting blue crab.

1925. Ammon H. Kreider and Lewis E. Reisner began building single-engine airplanes, Hagerstown.

1926. Baltimore equalized pay for black and white teachers.

1927. Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission formed.

1927. Interracial Commission created.

1928. Grammar-school education mandated.

1929. Glenn L. Martin moved aircraft plant from Ohio to Middle River, Baltimore County.

1929. New Baltimore Trust Building erected, tallest structure in Baltimore.

1929. Baltimore Museum of Art opened (incorporated 1914, first exhibition at Garrett mansion, 1923), Wyman Park, Baltimore.

1930. Italian-born population of Baltimore peaked (9,022 of 804,874).

1930. The Johns Hopkins University opened Walter Hines Page School of International Relations.

1931. Baltimore Trust Company, largest Maryland bank, reorganized (formed Maryland National Bank, May 1933).

1931, Feb. Citizens' Emergency Relief Committee organized, Baltimore.

1931, March 3. "Star-Spangled Banner" adopted as national anthem.

1931, Dec. Mob lynched Negro in Salisbury.

1932. "Bonus army" traveled through Maryland.

1932, June. Albert C. Ritchie lost second bid for presidency.

1932, Aug. Governor's Advisory Committee on Unemployment Relief, one of first in country, organized.

1933. Peoples Unemployment League formed.

1933. Storm cut inlet at Ocean City.

1933. Billie Holliday auditioned with Benny Goodman orchestra.

1933. Abel Wolman chaired new State Planning Commission.

1933. Pratt Library, Baltimore, moved to new building.

1933, July. State Congress of Farmers and Workers convened in Hagerstown.

1933, Nov. Mob lynched black prisoner at Princess Anne.

1934. Walters Art Gallery opened (built 1909, bequeathed by Henry Walters to city, 1931), Baltimore.

1935. County welfare boards authorized.

1935. Hall of Records opened, Annapolis.

1935. In Murray v. Pearson et al., Baltimore City Court orders integration of University of Maryland Law School. Represented in case by Thurgood Marshall, Donald Gaines Murray registered September 1935.

"From Segregation to Integration: The Donald Murray Case, 1935-1937"

1935. Baltimore Transit Company formed from United Railways.

1935. University of Maryland School of Law opened to blacks after NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall brought suit.

Thurgood Marshall statue before State House, Annapolis, Maryland, June 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1935-1939. Harry W. Nice (Republican), governor.

1936. Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) strike led to riot, Cumberland.

1936. Princess Anne Academy became part of University of Maryland system.

1936, March. Floods at Cumberland, National Guard called in.

1936, March. Floods at Cumberland, National Guard called in.

1937. State income tax instituted.

1937. Montgomery County equalized pay for black and white teachers.

1937. Pan American Airways inaugurated Baltimore to Bermuda service.

1937. St. John's College adopted "great books" curriculum.

1937, June 1. Greenbelt chartered, a New Deal model community.

1938. Maryland courts ordered equal pay to black and white teachers in all counties.

1938. Federal government began moving National Institutes of Health to site near Bethesda.

1938. Martin Company developed Mariner, most serviceable flying boat ever built.

1938. Silver Spring Shopping Center opened.

1938, June. National Institutes of Health established in Bethesda.

1938, Aug. Franklin D. Roosevelt announced plans to purge U.S. Senator Millard E. Tydings.

1939. Fairchild Company won competition for Army trainer with PT-19.

1939. Ritchie Highway connected Baltimore and Annapolis.

1939. Morgan College became part of State system.

1939, Feb. Chesapeake & Ohio Canal opened as national park.

1939-1947. Herbert R. O'Conor (Democrat), governor.

1940, Aug. Maryland Council of Defense and Resources created.

1940, Nov. Martin Marauder bomber underwent first tests.

1941. Maryland State Guard authorized.

1941. Board of Natural Resources created, Tidewater Fisheries Department remaining separate.

1941, April. Citizens' Planning and Housing Association organized in Baltimore.

1941, April-Sept. Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard produced first Liberty Ship, Patrick Henry.

1941, Dec. 7. U.S.S. Maryland among naval ships attacked at Pearl Harbor.

1942. Andrews Field formed by federal government as major air base, Camp Springs, Prince George's County.

1942. Commission to Study the Problems Affecting the Colored Population formed.

1942. Feb. Patuxent Air Station, St. Mary's County.

1942, April. Baltimore blacks protested police brutality and demanded school board representation.

1942, Aug. Naval Medical Center dedicated, Bethesda.

1942, Sept. 29th Division embarked for Britain.

World War II Memorial overlooking Severn River, Annapolis, Maryland, 1999. Photo by James Hefelfinger (Hefelfinger Collection, MSA SC 1885-783-2, Maryland State Archives).

1943. Explosion at Elkton ammunition factory killed fifteen workers.

1944. Blue-baby operation developed at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, pioneering heart surgery era.

1944, June. Troops of 29th Division landed on Omaha Beach.

1944. New Baltimore municipal airport in Anne Arundel County recommended by Baltimore mayoral commission.

1945. Slum clearance began in Baltimore by Redevelopment Commission.

1946. Montgomery County Junior College opened, first in State.

1946, Oct. Maryland Congress against Discrimination met in Baltimore.

1947. New roads program to include bay bridge enacted.

1947. Higher income tax legislated.

1947. "Baltimore Plan" housing court, first in country, enforced building codes.

1947. Commercial television stations broadcasted from Baltimore and Washington, DC.

1947. Edmondson Village Shopping Center.

1947, July 1. State sales tax instituted, first in state history.

1947-1951. William Preston Lane (Democrat), governor.

1948. Montgomery became first Maryland county to adopt charter form of government ("home rule").

1948. Baltimore activists tested segregated tennis court policy, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore.

1948. Constitutional amendments limited governor to two terms, mandated annual meetings of Legislature.

1949. Department of Mental Hygiene established.

1949. General Assembly spent heavily on public schools.

1949. Ober loyalty law enacted.

1949. Slot machines allowed by law in Southern Maryland.

1950. Law suit opened University of Maryland School of Nursing to blacks.

1950, Jan. Alger Hiss sentenced for perjury.

1950, June. Friendship International Airport began service.

1950, June 24. Friendship International Airport (now BWI) began operation.

1951. Commission on Interracial Problems and Relations formed.

1951. University of Maryland graduate school integrated.

1951. Baltimore inaugurated pilot program to upgrade blighted housing, opened golf courses to blacks.

1951-1959. Theodore R. McKeldin (Republican), governor.

1952. Historic Annapolis, Inc., organized.

1952. Nation's first intensive care facility established at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

1952. Polytechnic High School in Baltimore integrated.

1952, July 30. Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened.

1953. State highway master plan.

1953. State parks open to blacks.

1954. St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore, became American League Orioles.

1954. University of Maryland integrated, first state university below Mason-Dixon Line to do so.

1954. Public housing in Baltimore integrated.

1954. First black elected to House of Delegates, from Baltimore.

1954. Baltimore-Washington Expressway opened.

1954, May. Thurgood Marshall and NAACP won Brown v. Board decision (May).

1954, Sept. Baltimore City and Western Shore counties desegregated schools using freedom of choice.

1955. Maryland National Guard units integrated.

1955, Jan. Greater Baltimore Committee organized by business leaders.

1955, Sept. Desegregation of public schools began.

1956. Voting machines first used for elections throughout State.

1956. Maryland Port Authority (now Maryland Port Administration) created.

1956. Equal employment ordinance enacted, Baltimore.

1956. Baltimore Regional Planning Council (now Baltimore Metropolitan Council) formed.

1956. I-70 (north) connected Frederick and Baltimore.

1956. Washington County educational television project began.

1956. The Floating Opera, by John Barth, published.

1956. James W. Rouse opened Mondawmin Mall, Baltimore.

1956, Dec. Baltimore Urban Renewal and Housing Agency established, Baltimore urban renewal began.

1957. Maryland dissolved 1785 compact with Virginia.

1957. I-70 (south) connected Frederick and Washington, DC.

1957. Cone Wing opened, Baltimore Museum of Art.

1957, Nov. 30. Baltimore Harbor Tunnel opened.

1958. James W. Rouse built Harundale Mall, Anne Arundel County, first enclosed shopping center in State.

1958, March. Greater Baltimore Committee unveiled plans for Charles Center.

1958, Nov. Maryland Port Authority purchased Harbor Field with plans for Dundalk Marine Terminal.

1958, Dec. Baltimore Colts, National Football League champions.

1959. Baltimore Colts again National Football League champions.

1959. I-83 linked Baltimore and Harrisburg.

1959, May. Goddard Space Flight Center opened in Greenbelt.

1959-1967. J. Millard Tawes (Democrat), governor.

1960. Appalachian Regional Development Commission formed at Annapolis governors' meeting.

1960. Department of Chesapeake Bay Affairs created.

1960. Department of Economic Development formed.

1961. Political appointment of Baltimore magistrates ended.

1961. Maryland Historical Trust authorized.

1962. House of Delegates reapportioned.

1962. Baltimore City and Montgomery County adopted open accommodations.

1962. Voters approved Reed Commission fisheries agreement with Virginia.

1962. Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, published.

1962. Jones Falls Expressway opened.

1962, July. Baltimore Beltway (I-695) opened through Baltimore County, encircling Baltimore City.

1963. Law enacted to phase out slot machines.

1963. Open accommodations law enacted, limited to Baltimore City and twelve counties.

1963. Advisory Council on Higher Education formed to oversee three-tiered college system.

1963, I-95 connected Baltimore and Wilmington.

1963, June 11. Cambridge riots. National Guard remained through May 1965.

1963, July. Black and white clergy forced integration of Gwynn Oak Park, Baltimore County.

1963, Oct. Rouse announced plan to build Columbia in Howard County.

1964. Maryland Committee for Fair Representation won court test regarding Maryland senate representation.

1964. Governor's Commission on the Status of Women (now Maryland Commission for Women) initiated.

1964. Eastern Shore leaders established Wye Institute, Queen Anne's County.

1964. Dundalk Marine Terminal began handling containerized cargoes.

1964, April 7. Public accommodations law enacted.

1964, Aug. 16. Capital Beltway (I-495) opened, encircling Washington, DC, by passing through Maryland's Prince George's and Montgomery counties, and Virginia.

1965. Department of Water Resources created.

1965. Assateague Island became State park.

1966. Second Chesapeake Bay Bridge authorized.

1966. Fair employment law enacted.

1966. St. Mary's City Commission formed.

1966. Oyster law permitted dredging under power, two days a week.

1966. University of Maryland campus at Baltimore County opened.

1966, Oct. Baltimore Orioles won World Series.

1967. Voters largely rejected open housing referendum.

1967. Morris A. Mechanic Theater opened, Baltimore.

1967. Merriweather Post Pavilion opened, Columbia.

1967, June 21. Opening of Columbia, a planned community incorporating one-tenth of Howard County land area.

1967, July 25. Cambridge riots.

1967, Sept. 12-1968, Jan. 10. Constitutional Convention of 1967-1968 met at Annapolis.

1967, Nov. Richard A. Henson inaugurated air service between Hagerstown and Baltimore.

1967-1969. Spiro T. Agnew (Republican), governor.

1968. Baltimore Urban Renewal and Housing Authority under Robert C. Embry, Jr., established residents' advisory board.

1968. Maryland Magazine published.

1968. Marshall W. Nirenberg, National Institutes of Health scientist, won Nobel Prize.

1968, April. Riots in Baltimore and Washington, DC, followed assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

1968, May 14. Proposed State Constitution rejected by voters.

1969. Jan. Marvin Mandel elected governor by General Assembly to succeed Vice President-elect Sprio T. Agnew. Mandel adopted cabinet system of State government.

1969-1977. Marvin Mandel (Democrat), governor.

1969. Maryland Commission on Negro History and Culture (now Commission on African-American History and Culture) authorized.

1969. Chesapeake Bay Interagency Planning Committee initiated.

1969. Maryland Public Broadcasting aired.

1969. USS Constellation moored permanently at Pier 1, Baltimore.

1969. Baltimore Gas and Electric Company began construction of Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Lusby.

1969, Oct. 5. Maryland Public Television first broadcasted from Owings Mills (channel 67).

1970. New environmental legislation enacted.

1970. Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies (now Center for Environmental Science) created by University of Maryland Board of Regents.

1970. I-70 opened from Frederick to Hancock.

1970, Spring. Student rebellion at University of Maryland College Park.

1970, Sept. Baltimore staged first city fair.

1970, Oct. Baltimore Orioles won World Series.

1970, Nov. 3. Voters approved independent General Assembly salary board (General Assembly Compensation Commission).

1971. Baltimore Colts won Super Bowl.

1971. State adopted open housing legislation.

1971. First high-rise condominium, Ocean City.

1971. I-95 opened between Baltimore and Washington, DC.

1972. State equal rights amendment enacted, approved women's equal rights amendment to U.S. Constitution.

1972, Nov. 7. First general election in Maryland where lowering of voting age to 18 years of age or older applied.

1973. Second parallel Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened.

1973. State adopted lottery.

1973. Friendship Airport reopened as Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Airport.

1973. Johns Hopkins physicians and scientists developed first heart pacemaker.

1973. John Barth won National Book Award for Chimera.

1973, Sept. Urban "homesteading" began in Baltimore. City sold abandoned houses for $1 each to encourage renovation.

1973, Oct. Spiro T. Agnew resigned vice-presidency, pleaded no contest to felony charge.

1974. Walters Art Gallery new wing opened, Baltimore.

1974, July 7. Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary order of Roman Catholic nuns founded in Baltimore by Sr. Mary Elizabeth Gintling (Dec. 31, 1914 - Oct. 27, 2004).

1974, Nov. 5. Both houses of General Assembly elected, for first time, on basis of equal representation by population.

1975. Center Stage reopened in converted St. Ignatius Church/Loyola College complex, Baltimore.

1975. Mother Elizabeth Seton canonized by Pope Paul VI.

1975, May. Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant began operation in Calvert County.

1976. Washington Metro, rapid transit system for national capital area, opened to link stations in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia.

1976. State civic and history groups marked national bicentennial.

Maryland Science Center, 601 Light St., Baltimore, Maryland, June 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1977. World Trade Center opened, Baltimore.

1977. Francis Scott Key Bridge opened across Patapsco River.

Key Bridge over Patapsco River, linking Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Maryland, October 2003. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1977. Bishop John Nepomucene Neumann canonized by Pope Paul VI.

1977. Aug. Marvin Mandel found guilty on mail fraud charges, appealed decision, succeeded by Lt. Governor Blair Lee III.

1977-79. Blair Lee III (Democrat), acting governor.

1978. Jim Richardson (builder) launched replica pinnace Maryland Dove, LeCompte Creek, Dorchester County.

1978. Sept. 5-17. Camp David Accords negotiated at Camp David, Frederick County, between President Jimmy Carter, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel. Signed in Washington, DC, March 26, 1979.

1979. Daniel Nathans and Hamilton Smith of Johns Hopkins Hospital won Nobel Prizes for medicine.

1979. Baltimore Convention Center.

1979-1987. Harry Hughes (Democrat), governor.

1980. Maryland and Virginia established Chesapeake Bay Commission to coordinate interstate legislative planning and programs to restore Bay resources.

1980, July 2. Harborplace, a 3-acre center of restaurants and shops, opened in Baltimore, signaling revitalization of City's Inner Harbor.

1981. National Aquarium opened in Baltimore.

1983, Dec. 9. Chesapeake Bay Agreement to improve water quality and living resources of Bay signed by Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, District of Columbia, Chesapeake Bay Commission, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

1985. Pennsylvania joined Chesapeake Bay Commission.

1985, Nov. 24. Fort McHenry Tunnel opened.

1987, Dec. 14. Chesapeake Bay Agreement to restore and protect Bay signed by Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, District of Columbia, Chesapeake Bay Commission, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

1987-1995. William Donald Schaefer (Democrat), governor.

1992, April 6. Orioles Park at Camden Yards, a stadium for the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, opened in downtown Baltimore.

1992, May 18. Central Corridor Light Rail Line opened through Baltimore.

1993, Sept. 10. Chesapeake Bay Partnership Agreement, to reduce pollution in Bay's tributaries by the year 2000, signed by Governor, Maryland's 23 counties, and Baltimore City.

1995-2003. Parris N. Glendening (Democrat), governor.

1995, May 31. Baltimore Metro extension opened from Charles Center to Johns Hopkins Hospital.

1996, Dec. Maryland Manual On-Line placed on the web by State Archives.

1998, Sept. 6. Ravens Stadium (formerly PSINet Stadium), home to the Baltimore Ravens National Football League team, opened at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

1998, Oct. 15-19. Wye Summit. Middle East Peace Talks between Israel and the Palistine Liberation Organization were held at Aspen Institute's Wye River Conference Centers, Queen Anne's County. The Wye River Memorandum, resulting from the talks, was signed in Washington, DC, Oct. 23, 1998.

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