| Year |
Date |
Events |
| 17th century |
| 1610s | | Étienne Brûlé arrives on the shores of Lake Ontario as the first European to set foot in the vicinity now known as Toronto. |
| 1650s–1700 | | Teiaiagon Seneca village exists on the bank of the Humber at today's Baby Point neighbourhood |
| 18th century |
| 1750 | | Fort Rouillé is established. |
| 1759 | | Fort Rouillé is destroyed by its garrison.[1] |
| 1787 | | The Toronto Purchase occurs. |
| 1791 | | The lands of Etobicoke, York, and Scarborough are surveyed in preparation for settlement.[2] |
| 1792 | | Joseph Bouchette is sent to Upper Canada to help survey the shores of Lake Ontario and produce maps. |
| 1793 | | Fort York is established. |
| August 26 | York (Upper Canada) is incorporated as a township. |
| 1795 | | Etobicoke is named by John Graves Simcoe |
| 1796 | | Scarborough is named by Elizabeth Simcoe. |
| 1797 | June 1 | The first session of the parliament of York is held. |
| 1797 | | The Cathedral Church of St. James is established. |
| 19th century |
| 1803 | | St. Lawrence Market public market is established |
| 1806 | | Lambton Mills is incorporated as a village. |
| 1813 | April 27 | The Battle of York occurs. |
| July | Second looting of York by American forces |
| 1827 | March 15 | King's College is established. |
| 1829 | June 3 | The York General Hospital is opened as the first public hospital in York. |
| 1830 | | The York Mechanics' Institute is established. |
| 1832 | | The first post office of Scarborough is opened in Scarborough Village. |
| 1834 | March 6 | York is incorporated as a city and renamed as Toronto. |
| 1837 | December 7 | The Battle of Montgomery's Tavern occurs. |
| 1839 or 1840 | | The first Catholic school in Toronto is opened.[3] |
| 1841 | December 28 | Several Toronto streets and stores illuminated by gasoline as a regular service for the first time. |
| 1844 | | The Globe is established. |
| 1846 | December 19 | First telegraph message transmitted from Toronto. |
| 1849 | April 7 | The first Great Fire of Toronto occurs. |
| May 30 | King's College is renamed as the University of Toronto. |
| | The Williams Omnibus Bus Line is established as the first public transit system in Toronto. |
| 1850 | January 1 | Etobicoke is incorporated as a township. |
| | Scarborough is incorporated as a township. |
| | York (Canada West) is incorporated as a township. |
| 1853 | May 16 | First railway (Ontario, Simcoe and Huron) begins operation from Bay and Front St. depot. |
| | Yorkville is incorporated as a village. |
| 1856 | October 27 | The first passenger rail service between Toronto and Montreal begins. |
| | The Armstrong, Beere and Hime panorama is created. |
| 1858 | April 13 | The Toronto Islands sand formation modified by a storm. |
| | The first Union Station is opened just west of York and Front Streets |
| 1861 | October 25 | The Toronto Stock Exchange is formed. |
| September 11 | Toronto Street Railway is established. |
| 1869 | | Eaton's is established. |
| 1872 | | The Toronto Mail is established. |
| 1873 | July 1 | The second Union Station is opened. |
| 1874 | August 19 | Establishment of an official fire department is approved by the city council. |
| 1875 | March 1 | Hospital for Sick Children opens at its original site. |
| September 26 | The Jubilee Riots occur. |
| | The Metropolitan Street Railway is established. |
| 1879 | June 8 | Toronto's first telephone book published. |
| September 5 | The first Canadian National Exhibition (then known as the Toronto Industrial Exhibition) is held. |
| 1883 | September 25 | Toronto Electric Light Company is established. |
| | The Toronto Public Library is established. |
| 1884 | | Brockton Village is annexed into Toronto. |
| 1887 | | The Toronto Empire is established. |
| 1889 | | Parkdale is annexed into Toronto. |
| 1890 | | The Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company is established. |
| | Toronto Railway is established. |
| 1892 | November 3 | The Evening Star is established. |
| | The Toronto and Scarboro' Electric Railway, Light and Power Company is established. |
| 1893 | April 4 | Queen's Park and the Ontario Legislative Building opens. |
| 1894 | May 17 | The University Avenue Armoury opens. |
| June 14 | Massey Hall opens. |
| | Toronto Suburban Railway is established. |
| | The Toronto Mail and Toronto Empire merge to create The Mail and Empire |
| 1896 | August 31 | The first motion picture in Toronto is screened at Robinson's Musee at 81 Yonge Street. |
| December 31 | All toll gates are abolished in York County. |
| 1897 | September 26 | Temple Building opens at Bay Street and Richmond Street as the tallest office building in Canada at the time. |
| 1899 | September 18 | The Old City Hall opens. |
| 20th century |
| 1900 | January 24 | The Evening Star is renamed as The Toronto Daily Star |
| | The Art Museum of Toronto opens. |
| 1903 | May 10 | King Edward Hotel opens. |
| 1904 | April 19 | The second Great Fire of Toronto occurs. |
| December 12 | First escalator in Toronto is installed at an Eaton's store on Queen Street West. |
| 1905 | December 2 | The first Toronto Santa Claus Parade is held. |
| 1906 | November 19 | Electricity generated at Niagara Falls begins to be supplied to Toronto. |
| | The Toronto Professional Hockey Club is established as the first professional ice hockey team in Toronto. |
| 1909 | October 28 | The Central Reference Library opens at the intersection of College Street and St. George Street. |
| December 4 | The first Grey Cup game is held at Rosedale Field. |
| 1911 | | The Toronto Blueshirts are established. |
| 1912 | October 7 | The Arena Gardens (later known as Mutual Street Arena) opens as the largest auditorium in Canada with the first artificial ice rink in Ontario. |
| | | Toronto Civic Railways is established. |
| 1913 | June 13 | The Toronto General Hospital relocates to its present site at College Street. |
| 1914 | March 11 | The Toronto Blueshirts win the first Stanley Cup of Toronto. |
| March 19 | The Royal Ontario Museum opens. |
| | "Ranelagh Park" estate home, later to be the Guild Inn opens. |
| 1915 | November 15 | Chorley Park, Ontario's fourth and last Government House, opens. |
| 1916 | September 16 | The Ontario Temperance Act takes effect. |
| 1917 | | The Toronto Blueshirts are renamed as the Torontos. |
| 1918 | March 30 | The Torontos are renamed as the Toronto Arenas. |
| October 18 | The Prince Edward Viaduct opens. |
| 1919 | December 8 | A statue of Timothy Eaton is unveiled on Queen Street West. |
| | The Art Museum of Toronto is renamed as Art Gallery of Toronto. |
| | The Toronto Arenas are renamed as the Toronto St. Patricks. |
| 1920 | August 28 | The Pantages Theatre opens as Canada's largest theatre. |
| 1921 | September 1 | The Toronto Transportation Commission is established. |
| December 16 | The Coliseum opens on the Exhibition grounds. |
| 1922 |
June 13 | North York is incorporated as a township. |
| June 28 | Sunnyside Amusement Park opens. |
| November 22 | The first Royal Agricultural Winter Fair opens. |
| 1923 | February 8 | First radio broadcast of an ice hockey game is made from Arena Gardens. |
| 1924 | January 1 | East York is incorporated as a township. |
| July 19 | Telephone system begins switch from manual to automatic dialing. |
| 1925 | June 10 | United Church of Canada holds its first service at Arena Gardens. |
| 1925 | July 29 | Sunnyside Pool opens at Sunnyside Amusement Park as the largest outdoor pool in the world. |
| August 8 | First automatic traffic signal begins operation at the intersection of Yonge Street and Bloor Street. |
| 1926 | April 29 | Maple Leaf Stadium opens as the Fleet Street Baseball Stadium. |
| 1927 | February 14 | The Toronto St. Patricks renamed as the Toronto Maple Leafs. |
| June 1 | First liquor stores in Toronto open following repeal of the Ontario Temperance Act. |
| August 6 | The new (present-day) Union Station is open. |
| August 30 | Edward, Prince of Wales and Prince George inaugurate the new Princes' Gates at the Exhibition Grounds |
| 1928 | November 3 | First sound film in Toronto is shown at the Uptown Theatre. |
| 1929 | June 11 | The Fairmont Royal York is opened as the Royal York Hotel. |
| October 29 | The Toronto Stock Exchange suffers its worst loss in history. |
| 1930 | January 21 | Cross Waterfront Railway Viaduct opens to elevate tracks from York Street to Queen Street West. |
| 1931 | January 31 | Commerce Court North opens as the tallest building in the British Commonwealth. |
| June 4 | The intersection of College Street-Carlton Street and Yonge Street opened. |
| 1931 | November 12 | Maple Leaf Gardens opens with hockey game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks. |
| 1933 | August 16 | Christie Pits riot occurs. |
| 1934 | | Fort York Guard created. |
| March 6 | Centennial of the City of Toronto |
| 1936 | | The Globe and The Mail and Empire merge to create The Globe and Mail. |
| 1938 | August 29 | Malton Airport opens. |
| 1939 | February 4 | Toronto Island airport opens. |
| May 22 | King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visit, marking the first visit of a reigning monarch to Toronto. The island airport is renamed Port George VI Island Airport in honour of the visit |
| June 7 | Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) between Toronto and Niagara Falls, Ontario is opened. |
| 1944 | December 12 | Worst winter storm in Toronto's history ends as 20.5 inches (52 cm) of snow fell in 24-hours. |
| 1947 | April 3 | The Silver Rail opens as the first bar in Toronto. |
| 1949 | January 18 | Conversion of hydro in Ontario to 60 cycles from 25 cycles begins. |
| September 17 | SS Noronic burns at the Toronto Harbour resulting in 118 fatalities. |
| 1951 | August 9 | Canada Life Building's weather beacon opens. |
| October 11 | The future Queen, Princess Elizabeth and husband Prince Phillip visit Toronto as part of a cross-Canada tour.[4] |
| December 1 | The Toronto-Barrie Highway opens. |
| 1952 | July 1 | The Toronto-Barrie Highway is renamed as Highway 400 |
| September 8 | Ontario's first television station, CBLT, begins broadcasting in Toronto. |
| November 1 | First English broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada is televised from Maple Leaf Gardens. |
| 1954 | January 1 | Metropolitan Toronto is created. |
| March 30 | The Yonge subway line opens as the first rapid transit line in Canada. |
| September 9 | Marilyn Bell becomes the first person to swim across Lake Ontario. |
| October 15 | Hurricane Hazel affects Toronto and kills a total of 81 people in Ontario. |
| 1956 | August 24 | Highway 401's last section in Toronto from Bayview Avenue to Highway 2 opens. |
| 1958 | August 8 | The Gardiner Expressway from Humber River to Jameson Avenue opens. |
| 1960 | October 1 | The O'Keefe Centre opens. |
| 1961 | August 3 | The Don Valley Parkway's first phase, from Bloor Street to Eglinton Avenue opens. |
| 1964 | February 26 | The Yorkdale Shopping Centre opens. |
| 1965 | September 13 | The Toronto City Hall opens. |
| November 10 | Northeast Blackout of 1965 occurs. |
| 1966 | February 25 | The Bloor-Danforth line opens. |
| October 21 | The Spadina Expressway opens. |
| July 8 | Art Gallery of Toronto is renamed Art Gallery of Ontario. |
| 1967 | May 23 | GO Transit is established as the first passenger rail system in Canada. |
| | Etobicoke, East York, North York, Scarborough, and York are incorporated as boroughs. |
| 1968 | October 28 | The McLaughlin Planetarium opens. |
| 1969 | September 26 | The Ontario Science Centre opens. |
| 1970 | July 5 | The Air Canada Flight 621 accident occurs as the deadliest aviation incident in Toronto. |
| 1971 | May 22 | Ontario Place opens. |
| June 3 | The Spadina Expressway project into downtown is cancelled to go no further than Eglinton Avenue. |
| November 6 | The Toronto Daily Star is renamed as The Toronto Star. |
| 1973 | May 2 | The Scarborough Town Centre opens. |
| 1974 | August 15 | Toronto Zoo opens (originally called Metro Toronto Zoo). |
| October 26 | Art Gallery of Ontario relocates to its present site on Dundas Street. |
| 1975 | May 18 | The First Canadian Place opens as the tallest building in the Commonwealth of Nations. |
| 1976 | June 26 | The CN Tower opens as the tallest freestanding structure in the world. |
| August 3 | The opening ceremony of the 1976 Summer Paralympics is held at the Woodbine Racetrack. |
| February 11 | The Toronto Eaton Centre opens. |
| November 2 | Toronto Reference Library relocates to its present site at the intersection of Bloor Street and Yonge Street. |
| | The first Toronto International Film Festival is held (originally called the Festival of Festivals) |
| 1979 | | North York is incorporated as a city. |
| 1981 | May 23 | Canada's Wonderland opens. |
| 1982 | September 13 | The Roy Thomson Hall opens. |
| 1983 | | Etobicoke, Scarborough, and York are incorporated as cities. |
| 1984 | October 2 | The Metro Toronto Convention Centre opens. |
| 1985 | March 22 | The Scarborough RT line opens. |
| 1989 | June 5 | Rogers Centre opens (originally known as SkyDome). |
| 1991 | | The 1991 Toronto bomb plot is revealed. |
| 1992 | May 4 | A riot occurs after a protest march after the police shooting of Raymond Lawrence, a young black man. |
| 1993 | May 23 | The Princess of Wales Theatre opens. |
| 1995 | August 11 | The Russell Hill subway accident occurs. |
| 1996 | | The O'Keefe Centre is renamed as Hummingbird Centre. |
| 1998 | January 1 | East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, and York are amalgamated into Toronto. |
| 1999 | February 19 | The Air Canada Centre opens. |
| 21st century |
| 2001 | July | The Pantages Theatre is renamed as Canon Theatre. |
| 2002 | November 22 | The Sheppard Subway Line opens. |
| 2003 | August 14 | Northeast Blackout of 2003 occurs. |
| 2005 | February 2 | Skydome is renamed as Rogers Centre. |
| August 2 | The Air France Flight 358 accident occurs. |
| December 26 | The Boxing Day shooting occurs. |
| 2006 | June 2 | The 2006 Toronto terrorism plot is thwarted. |
| June 14 | The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts opens. |
| September | The Hummingbird Centre is renamed as Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. |
| 2008 | August 10 | 2008 Toronto propane explosion occurs. |
| 2010 | June 8 | final resolution of Toronto Purchase between Government of Canada and Mississaugas |
| June 26 | 2010 G-20 Toronto summit is held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. |
| 2011 | June 25 | 12th International Indian Film Academy Awards are held at the Rogers Centre. |
| 2014 | August 31 | Flexity streetcars debut on 510 Spadina Streetcar Line. |
| 2015 | June 6 | Union Pearson Express opens to connect Pearson Airport to Union Station. |
| July 4 | Luminous Veil on Prince Edward Viaduct (aka Bloor Viaduct) has its lighting unveiled. |
| July 10–26 | Toronto hosts 2015 Pan American Games. |
| July 30 | Tunnel to the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (aka Island Airport) opens. |
| August 7–15 | Toronto hosts 2015 Parapan American Games. |
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