 |
|
|
Dateline
- 300 B.C. Celtic people, the Boii, settle in the area of today's Czech Republic, naming it Bohemia.
- A.D. 450 Huns and other Eastern peoples arrive in Bohemia.
- 870 Bohemia becomes part of the Holy Roman Empire. Castle constructed in Hradcany.
- 973 Bishopric founded in Prague.
- 1158 First stone bridge spans the Vltava.
- 1234 Staré Mesto (Old Town) founded, the first of Prague's historic five towns.
- 1257 Malá Strana (Lesser Town) established by German colonists.
- 1306 Premyslid dynasty ends following the death of teenage Václav III, who leaves no heir.
- 1344 Prague bishopric raised to an archbishopric.
- 1346 Charles IV becomes king and later Holy Roman emperor, as Prague's Golden Age begins.
- 1403 Jan Hus becomes rector of the University of Prague and launches a crusade for religious reform.
- 1415 Hus burned at the stake by German Catholics, and decades of religious warfare begin.
- 1419 Roman Catholic councilors thrown from the windows of New Town Hall in the First Defenestration.
- 1434 Radical Hussites, called Taborites, defeated in the Battle of Lipany, ending religious warfare.
- 1526 Roman Catholic Habsburgs gain control of Bohemia.
- 1584 Prague made seat of the imperial court of Rudolf II.
- 1618 Second Defenestration helps ignite Thirty Years' War, entrenching Habsburg rule.
- 1648 Praguers defend the city against invading Swedes -- stopping them on Charles Bridge in the last military action of the Thirty Years' War.
- 1784 Prague's four towns united.
- 1818 National Museum founded.
- 1848 Industrial Revolution begins in Prague, drawing villagers to the city and fueling Czech national revival.
- 1875 Horse-drawn trams operate on Prague's streets.
- 1881 National Theater completed during wave of Czech push for statehood against Austro-Hungarian rule.
- 1883 Franz Kafka born in Staré Mesto.
- 1918 Czechoslovakia founded at the end of World War I after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Independence leader Tomás G. Masaryk becomes first president.
- 1921 Prague's boundaries expand to encompass neighboring villages and settlements.
- 1938 Leaders of Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and France meet to cede Czech border territories (the Sudetenland) to Hitler in the Munich Agreement.
- 1939 Hitler absorbs the rest of the Czech lands as a German protectorate; puppet Slovak Republic established.
- 1940s In World War II, more than 130,000 Czechs murdered, including more than 80,000 Jews.
- 1942 Nazi protectorate leader Reinhard Heydrich assassinated in Prague by soldiers trained in England. Hitler retaliates with the mass murder and destruction of the nearby village of Lidice.
- 1945 American army liberates western Bohemia and Soviet army liberates Prague; 2.5 million Germans expelled; their property expropriated under decrees of returning President Edvard Benes.
- 1946 Communist leader Klement Gottwald appointed prime minister after his party wins 38% of vote.
- 1948 Communists seize power amid Cabinet crisis.
- 1950s Top Jewish Communists executed in purge as Stalinism reaches its peak. Giant statue of Stalin unveiled on Letná plain overlooking Prague (then destroyed after his death).
- 1968 Alexander Dubcek becomes general secretary of the Communist Party and launches "Prague Spring" reforms; in August, Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invade and occupy Czechoslovakia.
- 1977 Czech dissidents form Charter 77 to protest suppression of human rights during Communist "normalization."
- 1989 Student-led antigovernment protests erupt into revolution; Communist government resigns; Parliament nominates playwright Václav Havel for president.
- 1990 Free elections held; Havel's loose movement Civic Forum captures 170 of 300 parliamentary seats.
- 1991 Country begins massive program of privatizing shares in thousands of companies by distributing coupons that can be exchanged for stock.
- 1992 Havel resigns, saying he doesn't want to preside over the division of Czechoslovakia.
- 1993 Czechoslovakia splits into independent Czech and Slovak states -- the "Velvet Divorce" -- by mutual agreement of cabinets. Havel accepts new 5-year term as president of the independent Czech Republic. Country given first investment-grade rating of any post-Communist country by U.S. bond agencies.
- 1995 Czech Republic invited to join the OECD, an organization of the world's richest countries.
- 1996 Chain-smoking Havel nearly dies after surgery to remove a cancerous lung tumor; he later has two more operations.
- 1997 Prague-born Madeleine Albright, the daughter of a Czechoslovak diplomat, is appointed U.S. Secretary of State, becoming the highest-ranking woman ever in the U.S. government. July floods devastate much of the eastern part of the country.
- 1998 Havel wins another 5-year term, his final allowed under the constitution. Special elections in June result in a center-left government being sworn in by Havel after the center-right Cabinet, in power for 6 years, resigns due to a party financing scandal.
- 1999 The Czech Republic, along with Hungary and Poland, becomes one of the first ex-Soviet Bloc states to join NATO, while talks on joining the European Union drag on.
- 2000 Prague joins eight other cities named by the European Union as "European Cities of Culture 2000," with celebrations and events held throughout the city. In September the city hosts International Monetary Fund/World Bank meetings (made famous for their spectacular clashes between police and anti-globalization protestors).
- 2002 Fate tests the city once again in August when record floodwaters from the Vltava River engulf much of Lesser Town and part of Old Town, putting many restaurants and attractions near the riverfront out of business for months. The Czechs have the honor of hosting the western military alliance's annual summit in the autumn of 2002. U.S. President George W. Bush, U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, and leaders of all NATO member states join Czech President Václav Havel in Prague Castle.
- 2003 Václav Havel's term as president ends. The new president, Václav Klaus, is elected.
- 2004 The Czech Republic is one of 10 countries to join the European Union in May.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
|
|
|
