A CARDIFF TIMELINE

The 'Cardiff Timeline' page is the section of the site where you can find out how Cardiff developed from a small settlement over 2,000 years ago, to the bustling Capital City and County that it is today.

B.C. (Before Christ)

4000 B.C.

• Since prehistory, people have lived in the tiny settlement that grew up to become the city we know today.
   
• The first Neolithic migrants crossed southern Britain into South Wales at around 4000 B.C.

1500 B.C.

• Welsh was the dominant language of all of northern Europe.

55 B.C.

• The Roman Empire invaded Britain for the first time. The famous Roman general, Julius Caesar wanted revenge for the fact that Britons helped the French fight against the invasion. He was also looking to impress his Commanders, and thought that conquering Britain would be a way of earning respect.
   
• Caesar was unsuccessful in his attempt as most of his troops were lost in the crossing of the English Channel. Further attacks later in the year and in 56 B.C. were also fruitless.

1st to 11th Century  (0 A.D. - 1099 A.D.)

43 A.D.

• The Roman general, Aulus Didius, was amongst the Roman invasion force that finally managed to overcome the Welsh tribes in South Wales. The name Cardiff is an Anglicisation of Welsh name "Caerdydd". It has not been clearly established where the name "Caerdydd" originates from.
   
• "Caer" means "fort" or "castle," but although "Dydd" means "Day" in modern Welsh, it is unclear what was meant in this context. Some believe that "Dydd" or "Diff" was a corruption of "Taff" the river on which Cardiff castle stands, in which case "Cardiff" would mean the fort on the river Taff.
   
• Aulus Didius arranged for the building of a small wooden fort where the Castle now stands and some people believe that this is where the City gets its name from -- "Fort of Didius" (Caer Didi). The Roman Empire, once in control of Britain, brought an era of peace and expansion to Wales.
   
• Many of the roads we drive on today, closely follow the original Roman trade routes (namely the A48 that runs from Gloucester to Carmarthen via Newport, Cardiff, Bridgend and Neath and the A470 which runs from Cardiff to Llandudno)

45 - 300 A.D.

• The era of peace led to the fort being reduced in size, however during the 3rd Century, Irish raiders were beginning to make frequent hits on South Wales. The fort was rebuilt and strengthened to help repel the attacks.

445 A.D.

• Apart from the first written reference of Cardiff in the Annates Cambriae (The Welsh Annals) there is not much mention of Cardiff between now and the 1st millennium, although we do know that the Romans started losing their grasp on Britain when they were overrun by Barbarians.
  
  
• Add to this the fact that the dreary climate was so different to where the Roman Soldiers were from (Romania, Spain and North Africa) that not only were the Romans finding it difficult to fight off the Barbarians, they were generally losing interest in this cold, isolated island.

850 A.D.

• The first recorded Viking attack is made on the Welsh coast.

1081 - 1090

• Some 20 years after William, Duke of Normandy (AKA William the Conqueror) wins the Battle of Hastings in 1066, he marches on into Cardiff for his first and only visit after conquering Glamorgan. He commissioned the building of a wooden fortification very close to the River Taff, and used the original Roman defences as the base of the building.
   
• Robert FitzHamon, William's Kinsman and Earl of Gloucester, took charge of the area, and was responsible for the construction at this time. He built the motte (mound) with a wooden stockade within the site. In the 12th century his son-in-law, Robert the Consul, built the stone keep which is visible today.

12th Century  (1100 - 1199)

1100  

• A small town had begun to establish itself outside the castle, and was primarily made up of settlers from England.
   
• St. Mary's Church (where the Prince of Wales pub now stands) was to become a Priory of Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire around this year.

1107

• Robert FitzHamon was killed fighting in Normandy and his Daughter, Mabel, married Robert the Consul.
   
• Bishop Urban of Llandaff, was appointed to the position by the Normans, became the first bishop of a Welsh diocese to profess obedience to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

1111

• The first town wall, a wooden palisade, is erected this year.

1126

• Bishop Urban and Robert the Consul signed an agreement on settling disputes between them and the first record of a mayor of Cardiff, Ralph, dates from this year.  Ralph is described as Prepositus de Kardi, Prevost of Cardiff.  The title may have some German or French links, but I cannot confirm this for sure. Robert, Duke of Normandy was imprisoned in Cardiff Castle.

1136

• The building of the Polygonal stone keep in Cardiff Castle was probably begun this year on the orders of Robert the Consul and at 35 feet was the highest ever built anywhere in Wales.

1147

• Geoffrey of Monmouth, famous for his book 'History of the Kings of Britain' published in 1136 and which first popularised the stories of King Arthur and his knights, became Archdeacon of Llandaff until his death in 1154, and may have live there.  Geoffrey had dedicated his book to Robert the Consul who died this year.

1175

• Records of the time indicate that St. Mary's Church may have been rebuilt and enlarged at this time.

1180

• St. John's Church was probably built about now, and was intended as a independent chapel within the town walls.  It acted as a chapel of ease for St. Mary's, allowing parishioners a wider choice of places of worship.

1185

• The borough of Cardiff was burnt, and the castle damaged during a widespread uprising of the Welsh under the formidable Lord Rhys (Rhys ap Gruffydd), ruler of Deheubarth.

1188

• Accompanied by Gerald of Wales, Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury on a tour of Wales called the volunteers for the third crusade at Llandaff, reputedly by the medieval Cross there. Gerald described Cardiff Castle as having high walls and 120 men-at-arms with a larger number of archers.

1189

• Prince John was made lord of Glamorgan this year.

13th Century  (1200 - 1299)

1206

• John, now king, confirmed Cardiff's charters including the right to hold two weekly markets and two annual fairs.

1211

• Cadwallon ab Ifor Bach raided the lands around Cardiff from his lordship of Senghenydd.

1217

• Cardiff came into the hands of the powerful Clare family.

1218

• The establishment of Llandaff Cathedral chapter has been completed by now.

1211

• The monks of St Mary's Church were withdrawn to Tewksbury Abbey.

1233

• Cardiff Castle was captured by Richard de Burgh, the earl marshal, during the course of a power struggle with Henry III.

1242

• The Dominican Priory of the Black Friars was founded on the western side of the castle next to the present Cooper's Fields and outside the town walls.

1266

• The rebuilt Llandaff Cathedral was dedicated this year.

1267

• Gilbert de Clare, 'the Red Earl', captured Gruffydd ap Rhys, lord of Senghenydd and great-grandson of Ifor Bach, holding him in Cardiff Castle before exiling him to imprisonment in Kilkenny Castle, Ireland.

1270

• The construction of Castell Coch by Gilbert de Clare may have begun this year following an attack on his Caerphilly Castle by Prince Llewellyn ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd. Gilbert probably also had the Black Tower at the South Gate of Cardiff Castle built about now as well as ordering the town wall to be rebuilt in stone.

1284

• In or about this year, the Franciscan Friary of the Grey Friars, with the largest church in Cardiff 154 feet long, was founded on the eastern side of the castle outside the town walls on the side of the present Capital Tower.   By about this date the bishop's palace or castle had been constructed at Llandaff by Bishop William de Braose.

14th Century  (1300 - 1399)

1316

• Cardiff was attacked and badly damaged by Llawelyn Bren, son of Gruffydd ap Rhys.

1318

• Llewellyn Bren was executed in Cardiff Castle by Hugh Despenser after being captured in the Brecon Beacons and reputedly his body was buried in Grey Friars.   Hugh Despenser had married Eleanor whose brother Gilbert de Clare - son of ' the Red Earl ' - had been killed at the battle of Bannockburn in Scotland in 1314.

1324

• The earliest craft guilde in Cardiff, the Cordwainers and Glovers (workers in leather), had its privileges confirmed by Edward II.

1326

• Cardiff was made a stable port for the export of wool and hides but, as it was not a royal borough, Carmarthen took over this role eight years later.

1331

• About this year, the Town Hall was built in High Street for the administration of the borough and it was also used as Cardiff's first market hall. It continued in use for some 400 years and included a court room with a gaol beneath it and about this time the leper hospital of St Mary Magdalen was founded outside the town's East Gate.

1340

• The oldest existing charter for Cardiff dates from this year when the town had a population of 2,000 - 3,000 making it the largest borough in Wales.

1349

• The Black Death first appeared in the area at this time.

1373

• The first reference to Flat Holm in Cardiff records stated it belonged to the lord of Glamorgan.

15th Century  (1400 - 1499)

1402

• Owain Glyndŵr attacked Cardiff during his Welsh rebellion.

1404

• Owain Glyndŵr's troops attacked Cardiff again, capturing the castle and inflicted great damage on the town. The bishops palace or castle at Llandaff was destroyed at the same time and was afterwards abandoned.

1425

• It was probably in this year that Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, built the Octagonal Tower in Cardiff Castle.

1451

• Richard Nevill, Earl of Warwick, issued a charter in which he praised the burgesses for their efforts to fortify  and defend Cardiff.

1473

• The rebuilding of St John's Church with its 130-feet high tower was completed after about 20 years' work as Cardiff recovered from the Glyndŵr attack. The tower was paid for by Anne Nevill who was later to marry Richard III.

1480

• About now the death occurred of the poet Deio ab leuan Du who wrote the words which appear on Cardiff's coat of arms: 'Y ddraig goch ddyry cychwyn' ('The red dragon will show the way').

1486

• The marcher lordship of Glamorgan, including Cardiff, was confiscated by the crown after Henry Tudor's Lancastrian victory at the previous year's Battle of Bosworth in which Richard III of the House of York was killed. The triumphant Henry VII granted the lordship to his uncle, Jasper Tudor.

1495

• Jasper Tudor died and Cardiff with the lordship of Glamorgan reverted to the crown.

16th Century  (1500 - 1599)

1536

• Wales was united with England from this year, the marcher lordship of Glamorgan was abolished and Cardiff became part of the new shire of Glamorgan and its county town. The Herbert family quickly became a powerful force in the town and, with the ending of the medieval restrictions on them, Welsh people now began making their homes and established businesses in Cardiff.

1537

• Thomas Howell left money to found a girls' school in Llandaff, but a dispute over the will delayed its opening for three centuries.

1538

• Cardiff's two friaries, with a total of 15 friars, were dissolved by Henry VIII.  The Franciscan Grey Friars was converted to a mansion by the Herbert's but the Dominican Black Friars was left to deteriorate into ruins.

1542

• Thomas Capper was burnt at the stake in Cardiff for heresy.  A radical Protestant, he was the first religious martyr in Wales since Roman times.  From this year Cardiff became represented by a Member of Parliament.

1543

• The year saw the introduction of the English militia system with regular musters of all males aged 16 to 60.

1551

• William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, was created the first Baron Cardiff.

1552

• On a visit to Cardiff, the antiquary John Leland described it as well-walled with five gates and a mile in circumference.

1555

• The Protestant martyr and local fisherman, Rawlins White, was burnt at the stake for heresy during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary.

1564

• At Tongwynlais an iron foundry was established by the Sussex ironmaster Sir Henry Sidney.

1570

• A congress of Welsh bards was held at Cardiff Castle at the invitation of William Herbert to order 'the bardic rules'

1573

• Cardiff was made a head port for the collection of customs duties, one of four such ports in Wales.

1574

• Henry Herbert carried out extensive restoration work on Cardiff Castle.

1576

• The notorious local pirate, John Callice, brought a captured Spanish vessel into Cardiff and sold its contents.

1577

• A successful campaign to stamp out piracy in the Bristol Channel based on Cardiff was started.

1578

• The contemporary Glamorgan historian, Rice Merrick (Rhys Meurig), described Cardiff Castle as having been rebuilt by the Herberts, containing luxurious apartments and attractive gardens with many fair houses and large streets in the town.

1581

• The first royal charter was granted to Cardiff by Elizabeth I.

1582

• The centuries old timber bridge across the River Taff in Cardiff was replaced by one made of stone.

1595

• William Morgan, translator of the Bible into Welsh in 1588 became Bishop of Llandaff, a position he held until 1601.

1596

• St Fagans Castle was probably completed about now and there was fighting between the followers of two prominent local families, the Lewises and the Matthews.  Two men are said to have been killed during the violence.

1597

• Nearly 40 people died of fever in the town's County Gaol this year.

17th Century  (1600 - 1699)

1602

• The Pembrokeshire historian, George Owen, described Cardiff as 'the fayrest towne in Wales yett not the welthiest'.

1607

• 'The Great Flood' occurred in January causing devastation along the coast of South Wales.  The foundations of the old St Mary's Church (on the site of the former Prince of Wales Theatre) were fatally weakened and St Johns become the parish church as a result. St Mary Street is named after the ancient church.

1608

• James I confirmed Cardiff's royal charter and a new annual fair was introduced on November 30th in addition to those starting on June 24th and September 8th of this year.

1610

• The first known maps of Cardiff and Llandaff were published.  They were the work of John Speed, the famous cartographer.

1614

• Thirteen people were drowned attempting to cross the River Ely in Cardiff by ferryboat.

1631

• The Puritan vicar of St Mary's, William Erbery, was forced to resign and his curate, Walter Cradock, had his licence revoked because of their extreme evangelical views.

1635

• The famous buccaneer, Sir Henry Morgan, is thought to have been born in Llanrumney.

1642

• At the start of the Civil War, Cardiff Castle was occupied for Charles I by William Seymour, the Marquis of Hereford.  At the Battle of Edgehill, the Royalist MP for Cardiff, William Herbert was killed.

1643

• Books and documentary records from Llandaff Cathedral were burnt by Parliamentary soldiers on Cardiff Castle green.

1645

• In the summer Charles I spent a week at Cardiff Castle trying unsuccessfully to raise financial support for his course.  Later this summer the castle and town surrendered to a Parliamentary army.

1646

• According to the parliamentary sources, 'the Battle of the Heath' took place to the North of the town for control of Cardiff and its castle.  Some 250 Royalists were claimed to have been killed.

1648

• In May at St Fagans, in the last major battle ever to occur in Wales, some 8,000 Royalists were defeated in a two hour fight by 3,000 Parliamentary troops of the New Model Army with about 200 soldiers, mainly Royalists, killed.  Of the 3,000 Royalist prisoners taken, four officers were executed and 240 men were transported to Barbados, Oliver Cromwell visited Cardiff eight days after the battle.

1650

• The first state school in Cardiff was established by Cromwell's Commonwealth government but was closed in 1660 with the restoration of Charles II.

1653

• The first warship to be given the name Cardiff was a 360 ton 18-gun frigate.

1657

• The noted Quaker leader Charles Fox preached in the Town Hall.

1661

• A Quaker meeting in the town was broken up and some 40 local Quakers, suspected of disloyalty to the newly restored monarch, Charles II, were imprisoned.

1666

• Cardiff's first Angel Hotel was opened a short distance from the present hotel next to the Cardiff Castle.

1667

• A Quaker burial ground came into use outside the town's South Gate.

1678

• Francis Place drew the first known depiction of Cardiff, a pen and wash drawing from the west bank of the River Taff.   The Celtic scholar Edward Lhuyd also visited Cardiff now and described St Mary's church as being in ruins.

1679

• Philip Evans, born in Monmouth, became a Jesuit at Saint Omer and after his ordination in 1675 ministered to Catholics in South Wales for four years.  In the national frenzy occasioned by the Oates plot he was apprehended and imprisoned in Cardiff, where he was joined by John Lloyd of Brecon, a secular priest trained at Valladolid.  They were hanged, drawn and quartered at Gallows Field near the junction of today's City Road, on July 22nd.  They were both canonised by the Pope in 1970.

1685

• An English Quaker, Thomas Briggs, is recorded as having walked naked through Cardiff to emphasise the virtues of simplicity.

1688

• Charlotte, daughter and heiress of Philip Herbert last of the male Herbert's of Cardiff Castle, married John Jeffreys, son of the notorious 'Hanging Judge' George Jeffreys.  In Llandaff and Whitchurch, 84 parishioners requested the removal of the vicar because he couldn't speak Welsh.

1696

• Part of the wall of Llandaff Cathedral collapsed and its bell fell to the ground, an indication of the ruinous condition it was in at this time, but a Presbyterian chapel was built in Womanby Street.

1698

• The last recorded burial in the old St Mary's churchyard took place this year.

18th Century  (1700 - 1799)

1703

• The battlements of the north-west tower of Llandaff cathedral collapsed during a gale.

1708

• The oldest of the bells of St John's Church was cast this year and the cattle market was moved from inside the town walls to a site near the East Gate.

1713

• The Old Brewery in St Mary Street, originally Williams Malthouse, was opened.

1723

• Part of the south-west tower of Llandaff Cathedral collapsed, adding to its dilapidated state.

1725

• Daniel Dafoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, on a visit to Llandaff, noted that the cathedral had no steeple or bells.

1729

• Eight men and three women died of fever in the towns County Gaol.

1731

• A pub was first opened on the site now occupied by the Owain Glyndwr.  The pub was initially called the 'Mably Arms' (or possibly the Buccaneer), and over the centuries has been called the 'Kemys Tynte Arms', 'The Tennis Court' and 'The Buccanneer' before its current name.

1736

• In a shipwreck on Flat Holm about 60 soldiers were drowned.

1737

• Because of the previous year's disaster, a permanent lighthouse was established on Flat Holm by the Society of Merchant Ventures of Bristol.

1739

• The tower of St John's Church began to be used as the town's fire station.

1740

• The great Methodist leader, John Wesley, preached in Cardiff on the first of many visits he was to make to the town.

1746

• Llandaff Court, now part of the Cathedral School, was built for Admiral Thomas Matthew.

1747

• A new Guildhall was completed in St Mary Street, continuing in use for over a century.
   
• A local smuggler, Owen Williams, was hanged for murder.

1750

• Melingriffith tinplate works in Whitchurch was opened on the site of an old iron forge.

1755

• In November, the Bristol Channel including the Cardiff area was affected by the 'tsunami' tidal wave from the great Lisbon earthquake.

1759

• In a running fight between seamen from two vessels in September in Womanby Street, a Royal Navy sailor was killed by a musket shot.

1760

• Town Quay or Old Quay, the bigger of the two quays where Westgate Street is now, was rebuilt and extended to about 50 yards, the latest in a series of reconstructions dating back to the Middle Ages.
   
• The Taff was also dredged to assist the movement of ships from the mouth of the river, some two miles away, to the quays.

1763

• In April, serious rioting occurred in the town in a dispute following a cock fight.

1765

• Howell Harris, leader of the Methodist Revival 'the Great Awakening', preached in Cardiff and the first record of horse racing on the Great Heath dates from this year.

1766

• The Scottish Earl of Bute married into the great local landowning family of the Herberts and a Cardiff Turnpike Trust was set up to construct a toll road between Bonvilston and Rumney.

1767

• A road was built between Cardiff and the new town of Merthyr Tydfil, reputedly largely financed by the ironmaster Anthony Bacon.

1770

• The bridge over the River Taff at Llandaff was rebuilt.

1773

• Following a shipwreck on Flat Holm, seven passengers and two crewmen were buried on the island.

1774

• An Act was passed for 'the better paving, cleansing and lighting of the streets of Cardiff'.  The leading prison reformer, John Howard, recorded Cardiff County Gaol as having in August 16 prisoners - 14 debtors and two felons.
   
• The centuries-old Radyr Weir was rebuilt, around this year.

1775

• A traveller from London, Francis Grose, described Cardiff as 'a neat, pleasant town just paved'.

1776

• John Stuart, Earl of Bute, was created Baron Cardiff of Cardiff Castle.

1777

• The famous landscape architect Lancelot 'Capability' Brown laid out the grounds of Cardiff Castle and Cardiff Workhouse was opened with accommodation for 200 people.

1781

• To ease the movement of traffic in the town, Cardiff's East Gate and the West Gate were demolished.

1782

• Crockherbtown Street - now Queen Street - was paved for the first time.
   
• A local customs officer  reported that coal would never be shipped from Cardiff because of the expense of bringing it down to the coast. He was proven wrong with the advent of the railway network that would soon appear in the next century.

1786

• More of Cardiff's medieval past disappeared when both the North Gate and Blount's Gate were demolished.

1788

• John Wesley, the Methodist leader, made the last of his numerous visits to Cardiff and a Cardiff-built brig began regular trading between the town and Cork.

1792

• Cardiff's bridge over the Taff and part of the town walls were swept away in a major flood. The first bank was opened in the on the site now occupied by Lloyds Bank in High Street and the Cardiff Arms Hotel was also opened.
   
• The Cardiff Arms Hotel gave its name to Cardiff's famous sports stadium, the Arms Park. This mail-coach house was known earlier as Red House, when it was constructed for Sir Thomas Morgan at the time of Charles I.

1793

• John Stuart, later the second Marquis of Bute and who came to be called 'the creator of Cardiff', was born in Scotland.

1794

• In February the 25-mile-long Glamorganshire Canal was opened between Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil to bring iron products down to the coast and for nearly 50 years was unchallenged as the main transport link between the two towns.
   
• Also known as 'the Merthyr Canal', it incorporated in Cardiff some of the medieval moat defences and ran through a tunnel beneath the town centre (namely under the subway by the castle, and then down Mill Lane and the bottom of St. Mary Street).

1796

• A new stone bridge was built over the Taff in Cardiff and John Stuart, Baron Cardiff, was made the first Marquis of Bute.

1798

• The Glamorganshire Canal was extended one mile with a sea-lock so giving Cardiff its first harbour.
   
• Custom House was built near East Canal Wharf.

1799

• The end of the century saw the end of lines of pack-houses bringing coal down from the mines north of Cardiff to the town.

19th Century  (1800 - 1899)

1800

• Following food riots at Merthyr Tydfil this year, two men were sentenced to death in Cardiff and another was transported to Australia for life.

1801

• The first official census was held and showed Cardiff to have a population of 1,870 - much smaller than other Welsh towns like Merthyr Tydfil (7,700) and Swansea (6,000).

1802

• The last of Cardiff's five medieval gates, South Gate (or Moor Gate) was demolished.

1806

• Cardiff's oldest craft guild - The Cordwainers - was wound up after 500 years when their hall in Duke Street was sold.

1807

• The Melingriffith water pump at Whitchurch came into operation to lift water to the Glamorganshire Canal. It is still in its original position.

1808

• A works school for the children of Melingriffith tinplate workers was opened in Whitchurch with 62 pupils.

1809

• The Rhondda Valleys were linked to Cardiff by a tramway connecting with the Glamorganshire Canal at Pontypridd.

1811

• The second census showed at Cardiff population of 2,457.

1812

• The two ancient parishes of St John and St Mary were combined and Aberdare became linked to Cardiff by a branch of the Glamorganshire Canal.

1813

• Tabernacle Welsh Baptist Chapel in The Hayes was founded and the first record of Jewish settlers in Cardiff dates from this year.
   
• The Goat Major pub in High Street, originally called The Blue Bell, was opened.

1814

• The sea lock of the Glamorganshire Canal was extended and the death occurred of the first Marquis of Bute.

1816

• The first coal was shipped from Cardiff through the seal lock of the Glamorganshire Canal, previously used mainly for handling iron products.

1817

• Near Flat Holm, 54 people were drowned when a sailing ship sank.

1818

• After some 80 years, St John's Church tower ceased being used as the town's fire station.

1819

• Cardiff Savings Bank was established.
   
• Flat Holm lighthouse was heightened and converted from coal-burning to oil.

1820 - 1829

1820

• A daily four-horse coach service to Merthyr Tydfil was started.

1821

• The third census showed a Cardiff population of 3,251.
   

• Gas lighting became available in the town with a gasometer in the Hayes.

1822

• The Cardiff reporter, the towns first newspaper, was founded.
   
• A Cardiff pilot boat crossing from Somerset was swamped near Flat Holm drowning all seven people aboard it.

1823

• The Glamorgan and Monmouthshire Dispensary was opened near St Johns Church.
   
• Flat Holm lighthouse was bought by Trinity House from its private owners.

1826

• Cardiff's first purpose-built theatre, the Theatre Royal was opened where the Park Hotel now stands.
   
• Ebeneser Welsh Chapel was founded.
   
• Cardiff's Mechanics' Institute was established in the Town Hall.

1827

• Cardiff Bridge was swept away by floods.

1828

• The first known balloon flight from Cardiff took place but its pilot, Charles Green, disappeared over the Bristol Channel.

1829

• The first dry dock in Cardiff was opened by Richard Tredwin.

1830 - 1839

1830

• There were now 15 pilots based at Cardiff compared with just four in 1800.
   
• The tonnage of coal carried on the Glamorganshire Canal exceeded that of iron for the first time, with coal increasing in importance from here on.
   
• A private house which had stood on the Black Friars site was demolished.

1831

• The census showed Cardiff had 6,187 inhabitants.
   
• Dic Penderyn  (Richard Lewis) was hanged outside Cardiff Gaol, then located where the Central Market now stands, because of his alleged involvement in this years Merthyr Riots.

1832

• Cymreigyddion Caerdydd Welsh Society was founded in the town.

1833

• Cardiff's first Eisteddfod was held in a Queen Street pub.
   
• The Cardiff and Merthyr Gazette was first published.
   
• A new County Prison was opened in Adamsdown and the old gaol in St Mary Street became the Town Gaol.

1834

• At the invitation of the second Marquis of Bute, an Eisteddfod was held in Cardiff Castle and the money raised at the event was donated for a new dispensary.

1835

• Cardiff became a corporation with an elected council, the first elected mayor and two wards under local government reform.
   
• The town's ancient Piepowder Court, for settling disputes at Cardiff's three annual fairs, was abolished.
   
• The first covered market was opened.
   
• One of Cardiff's most famous public houses, the Old Arcade, was reportedly also opened in this year.  The website www.cardiffpubs.co.uk states that it was built in 1844 as the Birdcage Inn. It was renamed to the Arcade and Post Office, and finally the Old Arcade, after the name of the arcade that runs alongside it, leading into the covered market.  I am unable to verify the actual opening date, and would welcome information relating to this.
   
• Bull-baiting - held between St John's Church and Kingsway - was made illegal.
   
• The first coal from the Cynon Valley was shipped out.
   
• The first branch of a National Bank to be established in Cardiff was that of the National Provincial (now Westminster) Bank.

1836

• A small Police force was formed in the town and Jones Court off Womanby Street was probably built this year.
   
• A Cardiff Board of Guardians was established to administer the Poor Law and soon built a new workhouse on Cowbridge Road, later St. David's hospital.
   
• The first Mayor of Cardiff was Thomas Revel Guest elected this year.

1837

• A new Glamorgan and Monmouthshire Dispensary with 20 beds was opened in Queen Street on the site of the medieval leper hospital.

1839

• In October the Bute West Dock covering 19 acres with 9,400 feet of quays was opened, and the construction of the Dock Feeder to regulate the water supply to the dock from the River Taff was completed.  Entirely paid for by the second Marquis of Bute, this new dock set in motion Cardiff's amazing growth to become the world's biggest coal exporting port.
   
• The future Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, married Mary Ann Evans of Tongwynlais.
   
• Horse racing ended at the Great Heath after about 80 years.

1840 - 1849

1840

• The Taff Vale Railway was opened between Cardiff and Abercynon and soon overtook the Glamorganshire Canal in economic importance.
   
• Cardiff now became an independent port able to register its own vessels.

1841

• The census showed Cardiff's population to have grown to 10,079.
   

• The Taff Vale Railway was extended to Merthyr Tydfil.
   
• A Jewish burial ground was opened at Highfield this year.

1842

• As a result of the settlement of Irish people in Cardiff, the Roman Catholic church of St. David was founded in Bute Terrace.
   
• The first of the century's Cholera epidemics struck Cardiff and killed many people.

1843

• St. Mary's Anglican Church in Bute Street was opened.
   
• A commission met in Cardiff to try prisoners arrested during the west Wales Rebecca Riots.

1844

• Cardiff Turnpike Trust was abolished as responsibility for highways was taken over by a county road board for Glamorgan.

1845

• Cardiff Cricket Club was formed.

1846

• Aberdare became linked to Cardiff by an extension of the Taff Vale Railway into the Cynon Valley.

1847

• A year after it started, an epidemic of Typhus had killed nearly 200 people in Cardiff.

1848

• The second Marquis of Bute died in Cardiff Castle this year, and left his fortune to his son.
   
• The ground which was to become 'Cardiff Arms Park' held it's first ever sporting event - a game of Cricket.
   
• The second Marquis of Bute gave two acres of land to Adamsdown to be used a public cemetery, due to St. Johns being filled to capacity.

1849

• Over 350 people were killed by an outbreak of Cholera in Cardiff, and led to Adamsdown cemetery being filled to capacity in a very short time.
   
• Work was started on diverting the course of the River Taff, which at the time ran down what is now Westgate Street (Quay Street used to actually lead to the only quay in the town, which is why it slopes downwards slightly towards Westgate Street)
   
• The Rhondda Valleys became linked to Cardiff by an extension of the Taff Vale Railway.

1850 - 1859

1850

• The South Wales Railway from Chepstow to Swansea through Cardiff was opened.
   
• The last mail coach for London left Cardiff in August.
   
• A Board of Health was established for the town.
   
• A reservoir was constructed at Penhill to supply water to Cardiff.
   
• By now, there were 20 foreign consulates in Cardiff - a sign of the towns increasing international importance.
   
• Cardiff General Railway Station was built in this year.

1851

• The census showed that the population of Cardiff had reached 18,351.

• About 60 per cent had been born in Wales while just under 15 per cent had been born in Ireland.
   
• This year coal shipments from Cardiff exceeded one million tons for the first time.

1852

• The first direct trains ran between Cardiff and London.
   
• Walter Coffin, the owner of the first coal pit in Dinas, retired from active control of his businesses to go into politics, and was elected MP for Cardiff boroughs; thus becoming the first Nonconformist MP in Wales.  There were just 968 electors at this time in Cardiff with Cowbridge and Llantrisant.

1853

• The diverting of the River Taff was completed, which reduced flood threats in Central Cardiff.
   
• Cardiff's oldest statue, that of the second Marquis of Bute, was erected at the bottom of High Street, near the Central Hotel.

1854

• Cardiff's new Town Hall was opened in High Street.
   
• Another Cholera epidemic claimed well over 200 hundred lives in the town.
   
• Spillers' Mill was opened on Bute West Dock.

1855

• In December the first historical trainload of Rhondda steam coal arrived at Cardiff where the Bute East Dock was opened.
   
• The first horse races were held at Ely, 16 years after they had ended at the Great Heath.

1856

• A tidal harbour was constructed at the mouth of the Taff.
   
• The Royal Arcade in the City Centre, was designed and built by Peter Price this year. It is the oldest arcade in the Capital.

1857

• The last public execution in Cardiff took place outside the prison.
   
• 150 deaths resulted from a smallpox infection in the area around Caroline Street.
   
• The Cardiff Times weekly newspaper was founded in September.
   
• Tidal coal berths were built on the River Ely.
   
• Bute East Dock was extended while the Lady Bute, the first Cardiff-built steamship, was launched.
   
• At Llandaff Cathedral the Lady Chapel was rebuilt and the presbytery was rededicated.
   
• A steamboat ferry service began operating between Cardiff and Penarth.

1858

• The Rhymney Railway was completed connecting Cardiff with the mines of the Rhymney Valley.
   
• Cardiff's oldest arcade, the Royal Arcade, was opened.
   
• The Bute family made Sophia Gardens available to the public and in doing so, created Cardiff's first park.
   
• The first Jewish synagogue was opened near Charles Street.

1859

• To cope with the increasing coal trade,  the Bute East Dock was extended again to cover a total of 45 acres.
   
• The first hansom cabs ran in Cardiff.
   
• Howells School for Girls in Llandaff was founded.
   
• Cardiff Bridge was rebuilt.
   
• Sophia Gardens were the namesake of Lady Sophia who died this year.  She was the second Marquis of Bute's second wife.
   
• A cemetery at Fairoak Road was opened.  It is better known as Cathays Cemetery, and the Cardiff Times predicted that it ‘would form the principal walk of the inhabitants of Cardiff’.

1860 - 1869

1860

• The Principality Building Society was founded in the town.
   
• An old sailing ship, the Hamadryad, was converted to the permanent seamen's hospital.   Another old vessel, the Havannah, became a school for poor children.
   
• A reservoir was built at Cogan to supply water to Cardiff.
   
• 420 prostitutes were listed as working in Butetown this year.

1861

• No census data is available for this year at present.  I would be grateful if someone could supply this.
   

• In the Royal Arcade, the first voluntary library was opened.
   
• The Bonded Warehouse on Bute East Dock was opened.
   
• Nearly two million tons of coal were shipped out this year compared with 87,000 tons only 20 years before.

1862

• Cardiff set up its own Pilotage Authority in January of this year.
   
• Queen Street was widened with the demolition of old buildings.
   
• Cardiff docks exported 2,000,000 tons of coal.

1863

• The first Cardiff Horse Show and the first Horticultural Show took place.
   
• Grangetown Gasworks opened.
   
• St. Andrew's Church, now Eglwys Dewi Sant, was consecrated.

1864

• The building of a reservoir at Lisvane was completed.
   
• An amphitheatre music hall was opened in Wood Street in Temperance Town, later becoming the Wood Street Congregational Church. With seating for almost 3,000, it was one of the biggest churches in Wales.  The 'City Planning Offices' (South Gate House) replaced the Church in the 1960's, and occupied the area until 2005 when it was demolished.  A new 31 story tower, the tallest in Cardiff, will soon occupy the site.
   
• The present Masonic Hall in Guildford Crescent was opened as a church.

1865

• After a long dispute between the South Wales Railway and the town council over cost, the reclaimed bed of the River Taff was completely filled in, and is where the Millennium Stadium, and Cardiff Arms Park now stand.
   
• An electric telegraph service reached Cardiff.
   
• James Howell opened a shop in the town.
   
• The paper mill at Ely was founded.
   
• Bethany Baptist Chapel was built.  Part of the building was incorporated in a large store when Howells took over the site.

1866

• The Royal Hotel in St Mary's Street and Queen Street Arcade opened.
   
• The last Cholera outbreak of the century claimed many lives.
   
• The first pleasure boat trips from Cardiff to Weston-super Mare began in a converted tug, the Joseph Hazell.
   
• The 'Breaksea' lightship came into service off Cardiff.
   
• The Cardiff Chamber of Commerce was founded.
   
• Another new church, the United Reform Church, was opened in Windsor Place.

1867

•  The Cardiff Naturalist Society was founded.
   
• The building of the octagonal spire of Llandaff Cathedral was completed.

1868

• The third Marquis of Bute (21 at the time) and his architect William Burges began their transformation of Cardiff Castle.
   
• To mark his coming-of-age, the Marquis laid on elaborate celebrations in Cardiff with special trains run from the valleys.
   
• The Norwegian Church was built near Bute West Dock entrance.
   
• The Riot Act had to be read during general election disturbances.
   
• Cardiff Docks exported 2,099,707 tons of coal this year.

1869

• In May the Western Mail was founded by the third Marquis of Bute.
   
• After four years of preparation, Flat Holm was fortified against a possible French invasion.
   
• By now, the Butetown area had acquired its multi-racial character, and the name 'Tiger Bay'.  Most of its homes were built in the past 20 years.
   
• The Castle Mews, now part of the Welsh College of Music and Drama, were built as stables in the Butes' Home park.
   
• A Thanksgiving Service was held at Llandaff Cathedral to mark its restoration.

1870 - 1879

1870

• Cardiff Technical Institute was founded.
   
• Three million tonnes of coal were shipped out of Cardiff Docks.
   
• The 370 yard long 'Low Water Pier' was opened on the Taff estuary for passenger services.
   
• The Cardiff Medical Society, one of the oldest in Britain, was established.
   
• The first school for the children of Llanedeyrn was built.

1871

• The census showed that Cardiff now had a population of 57,363.
   

• The mile long Caerphilly Tunnel on the Rumney Railway was opened.
   
• The third Marquis of Bute ordered the rebuilding of Castell Coch in Tongwynlais.

1872

• A new newspaper, the South Wales Daily News, was launched.
   
• A horse-drawn tram service was formally begun by Cardiff Tramway.
   
• Castle Street was widened with the demolition of old buildings.
   
• Building of the Cardiff Castle's Clock Tower was completed in this year.

1873

• The Wood Street Bridge in the City Centre was opened.
   
• Public wash houses became available in Guildford Crescent.

1874

• Roath Basin was added to the list of docks available.
   
• The Salvation Army's first mission in Wales was opened in Canton.
   
• Cardiff Arms Park hosted its first Rugby game.
   
• Now known as 'Burges House', the 'Park House' in Park Place was built.
   
• The 'Park House Club' is based there now.
   
• Cardiff Rowing Club was formed in this year.

1875

• Cardiff's boundaries were extended to include Canton, Cathays and Roath.
   
• The newly founded Cardiff School Board brought elementary education to the Town for the first time.
   
• In the docks, a Victorian Railway warehouse was built.
   
• Much later, the warehouse was skilfully redesigned and converted into the 'Cardiff Bay Hotel'.
   
• The hotel incorporated elements of the old building into the new.
   
• The "Convent of Poor Sisters of Nazareth" moved to the church building "Nazareth House" in North road after three years at Tyndall Street.  "Nazareth House" was designed by John Prichard, and was built in around 1847 for the third Marquis of Bute.

1876

• Cardiff Arms Park hosted the first game between the newly formed Cardiff Rugby Club and Swansea.
   
• The Philharmonic Hall and the Great Western Hotel in St Mary's street were opened.
   
• The first privately conducted execution in Cardiff took place in the recently enlarged gaol in April.

1877

• The original Theatre Royal burnt down, but fortunately two new Theatres, the Empire Theatre and the Grand Theatre, were opened this year.
   
• Canton bridge was widened.
   
• The first public telephone service was launched in the Town.
   
• Cardiff Corinthians Football Club was formed, with which Jack Sandiford, one of the pioneers of football in South Wales, was involved.

1878

• A new Theatre Royal opened (later renamed The Prince of Wales), Cardiff Racquets and Fives Club (later Jackson Hall, and where Jackson's Disco is now based) was opened on Westgate Street on land reclaimed from the River Taff.  The first Secretary of the club was Chas. Chalk.
   
• The old Cardiff Arms Hotel, the park's namesake, was demolished.
   
• Cardiff Police Fire Brigade was formed.
   
• Cardiff's first purpose-built board school was opened in Eleanor Street in Butetown.
   
• Cardiff RFC became one of the founding members of the Welsh Rugby Union.
   
• Cardiff Docks exported 4,100,221 tons of coal this year.
   
• Cardiff Bowling Club (the oldest club in Bowling Club in Wales) in Sophia Gardens was founded.

1879

• David Morgan opened a shop in Cardiff.
   
• The town's oldest statue, that of the Marquis of Bute was moved from High Street to the southern end of St Mary's Street.
   
• The third Marquis of Bute sold the Western Mail this year.
   
• The Town council took over responsibility for the water supply from a private company.

1880 - 1889

1880

•  The Cardiff Ship-owners' Association was formed.

1881

• No census data is available for this year at present.  I would be grateful if someone could supply this
   

• The Cardiff Exhibition was held to raise funds for a Free Library and Art Gallery.
   
• The first grandstand - with seats for 300 - was built at Cardiff Arms Park.
   
• The first gas storage unit was built on Ferry Road in Grangetown.
   
• The Welsh Regiment now became based at the newly opened Maindy Barracks.
   
• The passing of the Sunday Closing Act this year led to an increase in the number of licensed private clubs from 31 to 141 within just five years.
   
• Cardiff Workhouse (later St. David's Hospital) in Cowbridge Road was extended.

1882

• Brains Brewery was founded. The first Central Library was opened.   The building of the Llanishen reservoir was started.

1883

• Cardiff University College was founded.
   
• The National Eisteddfod was held in Cardiff for the first time.
   
• Construction began on the new Glamorgan and Monmouthshire Infirmary, on Glossop Road, Roath, which was to be later renamed to the Cardiff Royal Infirmary.  In 1911 it was renamed to King Edward XVII Hospital, and later still in 1923, back to Cardiff Royal Infirmary.
   
• The present Angel Hotel was opened.
   
• The docks handled six million tons of coal.

1884

• The first editions of the South Wales Echo rolled off the press in this year.
   
• Wales defeated Ireland in the first international game played at Cardiff Arms Park.
   
• Cremation was made legal in Britain after the Welsh Druid Dr Williams Price was put on trial in Cardiff, for the burning his deceased infant son's (Iesu Grist Price (Jesus Christ Price)) body.  Dr. Price argued that the burial of human bodies was damaging to the environment and as a result, was cleared of all charges.
   
• Flat Holm was used for the first time to isolate cholera patients.
   
• Cardiff Indoor Market was badly damaged by fire.

1886

• After 16 years of construction work the 4.5 mile long Severn Tunnel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world at the time, was completed this year.  As a result, Cardiff was finally connected to the rest of the Great Western Railway network, and the tunnel reduced journey times to London from Cardiff, by up to an hour.
   
• Cardiff Coal Exchange was founded to handle the enormous coal trade.
   
• Cardiff Savings Bank collapsed after £30,000 had been embezzled from its funds.
   
• The Market Building was opened in St Mary's Street and the Grand hotel was opened in Westgate Street.
   
• In the Hayes the statue of the Liberal (and one time Mayor of Cardiff) John Bachelor was unveiled.
   
• Construction of Llanishen reservoir was completed.

1887

• Roath Dock was opened to provide additional docking space for the increasing coal shipments from Cardiff.
   
• The Castle Arcade was opened.
   
• Built this year as an ordinary church, by 1916 St David's Roman Catholic Church had become a Cathedral and was also seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff.

1888

• Glamorganshire County Cricket Club was founded in this year.
   
• Cardiff's coal shipments reached seven million tons.
   
• The Cardiff Coal Trimmers' Union was founded and within a year grew to a 1,000 members.
   
• The Welsh sailing ship "County of Merioneth" (built in 1880) and under the command of Captain Robert Thomas of Caernarvonshire, made the fastest voyage ever from Cardiff to San Francisco (in 96 days).

1889

• William Gladstone,  a former and a future Prime Minister,  was made a freeman of Cardiff.
   
• Cardiff was officially recognised as a county borough, which made it independent of the new Glamorgan County Council.
   
• Cardiff Castle's Roman walls were discovered during excavations.  Various images of the excavations are on the City Centre pages.
   
• Cory's Building in the docks was opened.  Much later the ''Cardiff Chapter of Commerce' and also 'Craft in the Bay' (the centre for the Makers Guild in Wales), were to move in make the building their home.  The building was named after the famous coal shipper, John Cory.
   
• Cardiff's Bute Docks met its first real competition this year in the form of the Barry Docks built by David Davies, born in Llandinam in 1818.

1890 - 1899

1890

• The Clarence Road Bridge in Grangetown was opened by the Duke of Clarence on September 17, which replaced a wooden toll swing bridge.
   
• The Animal Wall was erected in front of the castle.
   
• The third Marquis of Bute, was elected mayor this year.
   
• The Cardiff and County Club in Westgate Street was founded.

1891

• The year's census showed Cardiff to have a population of 128,915.
   

• The British Association for the Advancement of Science held its annual meeting in the town for the first time.
   
• Dowlais Works began production on East Moors in Tremorfa.
   
• The Central Market was opened.
   
• The domestic science college was established.
   
• The Co-operative Wholesale Society was also established in this year in Cardiff.

1892

• The Merchants' Exchange building in the docks was completely destroyed by fire.
   
• The first reservoir to supply water in Cardiff from the Brecon Beacons was completed.
   
• The first 3-yearly Cardiff Festival of Music was held.
   
• The Welsh Baseball Union was founded in Cardiff.

1893

• University College in Cardiff became part of the new University of Wales.
   
• The Western Mail building, then in St Mary Street, was seriously damaged by fire.
   
• The South Wales Institute of Engineers building in Park Place, now Brannigans, was completed.  The institute is now based in West Bute Street, in Cardiff Bay.

1894

• Cardiff's first municipally-owned park, Roath Park, was opened.
   
• The Salvation Army took over Stuart Hall in The Hayes which had been previously used as a theatre.
   
• Cardiff's first local branch library was opened in Splott.

1895

• The first Welsh Grand National steeplechase was run at Ely Racecourse.
   
• Cardiff's first parks bandstand was erected in Grange Gardens.
   
• Lord Tredegar gave Waterloo Gardens in Roath to the town.
   
• The Glamorgan and Monmouthshire Infirmary changed its name to the Cardiff Infirmary.
   
• Lansdowne Road Hospital was opened.
   
• Cardiff High School for Girls was founded.

1896

• The first public exhibition of films in the town took place in the Empire Theatre and in the same year the first news film ever shot in Britain showed the Prince and the Princess of Wales in Cardiff, where the Prince opened an extension to the Central Library.
   
• A new cholera hospital was opened on Flat Holm island.
   
• The General Post Office in Westgate Street opened.
   
• The Guildford Crescent Turkish Baths, on the site of the present Ibis Hotel, were also opened this year.

1897

• The Pierhead Building was completed.
   
• Guglielmo Marconi successfully transmitted the world's first radio signals across water between Flat Holm and Lavernock.
   
• The second reservoir in the Brecon Beacons to supply water to Cardiff was completed.
   
• The Second Jewish Synagogue was opened in Cardiff in Cathedral Road and is now the Temple Court Office Site.

1898

• The town council bought Cathays Park and part of the Bute Home Park from the Third Marquis of Bute for £161,000, thus enabling the Civic Centre to be built there. The Marquis sold the land on the condition that there would be large tracts of land between the Civic Buildings. This condition led to the many Civic Buildings being spared severe damage during the 1st & 2nd World Wars, due to the buildings being widely spaced.
   
• A new Custom House was built in Bute Street.
   
• Cardiff High School for Boys was opened.

1899

• The National Eisteddfod was held in Cathays Park.
   
• The Empire Theatre was burnt down.
   
• Riverside Football Club - later to be renamed Cardiff City - was formed.
   
• The building of the Morgan Arcade was completed.
   
• The docks handled some eight million tons of coal.
   
• The first Cardiff owned and registered steamship, the Llandaff, was wrecked off Lands End.

20th Century  (1900 - 1999)

1900

• The Taff Vale Railway strike, based on Cardiff, took place in the autumn and was a milestone in trade union history as it was to lead to new legal rights for unions.
   
• The Third Marquis of Bute, one of the worlds richest men, passed away this year.
   
• A pedestrian tunnel was constructed under the River Ely from Ferry Road to Penarth Dock.
   
• The heaviest snowfall for 14 years occurred in February.
   
• In Victoria Park, a small zoo was opened.

1901

• The census showed Cardiff's population had ballooned to 164,333.
   

• On the site of The Hayes where Habitat now stands, one of the last sections of Cardiff's old town wall was demolished to make way for the fish market.  The final remaining section is next to the castle on Kingsway.
   
• Lord Tredegar gave Splott Park to the town.

1902

• The last horse-drawn trams ceased to operate in the Town, and the first electric trams came into service with power provided by a new power station in Colchester Avenue, close to where Sainsbury's Superstore is now.
   
• Duke Street Arcade was opened this year.

1903

• The first building in the new Cathays Park civic centre was completed.
   
• The University of Wales Registry, was opened.
   
• 18 men received prison sentences following a riot in the docks area between rival groups of seamen over jobs.

1904

• The Town Hall was opened in Cathays Park. The Gothic Park House in Park Place (which is now the home to Bar Burges) was used as a local government office.
   
• The County Court building in Westgate Street was opened.
   
• Cardiff School Board was abolished and the town council took over its responsibilities.

1905

• King Edward VII granted Cardiff its City Status. This cost the City £104 in old money, including the fees to the Home & Crown Offices.
   
• In December, the Welsh Rugby Team were declared 'unofficial champions of the world' when the Welsh Triple Crowns defeated the previously all conquering All Blacks, in the Wales v New Zealand game in the Arms Park. However; New Zealanders still dispute the score, and say that one of their players - Bob Deans - scored a try for the All Blacks, but the referee disallowed it!  Regardless of the outcome, the win was still a fitting way to end such a successful year for Cardiff.

1906

• The Hamadryad Hospital was opened in the docks to replace the badly ageing hospital ship of the same name.
   
• The Law Courts and Museum Avenue in Cathays Park were opened.
   
• The New Theatre in Park Place also opened this year.
   
• A statue of John Cory, the famous Coal Dealer & Shipper was unveiled in the Gorsedd Gardens.

1907

• King Edward VII Avenue in Cathays Park was opened by the King during his visit to Cardiff.
   
• Queen Alexandra dock, the largest in Cardiff, were opened.
   
• Rhoda Willis was the last woman to be hanged in Cardiff after being found guilty of murder.
   
• The first aircraft to be designed and built in Wales, a monoplane called the 'Robin Goch', was constructed in Cardiff this year by Charles Horace Watkins, who built the aircraft at his home.
   
• The South African rugby union tourists were beaten 17-0 by Cardiff.

1908

• Olympic gold medals were won by Cardiff swimmer, Paulo Radmilovich.
   
• The Roller Rink was opened in Westgate Street.
   
• Whitchurch Hospital was opened.
   
• Cardiff's first Boy Scout troop was formed.
   
• At the Arms Park, Wales beat the Australian rugby tourists.
   
• Riverside Football Club changed its name to Cardiff City.

1909

• Keeping with the overall design of the Civic Centre, The University College building in Cathays Park was opened.
   
• The Electra Cinema was opened in the City Centre.
   
• The War Memorial and the statue of Lord Tredegar were unveiled in Cathays Park.
   
• The yearly tonnage handled by the docks had gone up to 9,000,000.
   
• James Howell, the man who brought Cardiff the Howells Department Store, passed away this year.  

1910 - 1919

1910

• Captain Robert Scott's expedition left Cardiff in the Terra Nova, on a voyage to the Antarctic. Tragically, Scott never made the return journey.
   
• Ernest T. Willows (which the pub in City Road is named after) made the first airship crossing from England to France. The airship was called "The City of Cardiff".
   
• Cardiff City became a professional club and the first match was played at Ninian Park.
   
• Alexandra Gardens in Cathays Park were opened.
   
• The Globe Cinema in Albany Road opened its doors to the public this year.

1911

• The census showed Cardiff to have a population of 182,259.

• The Cardiff Railway was opened with a 108-yard tunnel at Tongwynlais.
   
• Charles Thompson gave Thompson Park in Canton to the city.
   
• The first plane flight across the Bristol Channel was made from Weston-super-Mare to Cardiff.

1912

• Olympic gold medals were won by Paulo Radmilovich and Irene Steer for swimming and David Jacobs in the track relay.
   
• Glamorgan County Hall in the civic centre, now Glamorgan House, was completed.
   
• The foundation stone of the National Museum of Wales was laid by King George V.
   
• Cardiff City won the Welsh Cup for the first time.
   
• Billy the seal began her long residence in Victoria Park, after being accidentally caught by a trawler.
   
• Dredging for aggregates (Sand, gravel, crushed rock and other bulk materials used by the construction industry) in the Bristol Channel began with vessels based at Cardiff.
   
• The Gaiety Cinema (now a defunct Bowling Alley) in City Road opened.  

1913

• Roughly 107 million tons of coal were exported through the docks. This figure was never topped.
   
• The building of Rhiwbina Garden Village began.
   
• The Cardiff Coal Trimmers' Union, founded in 1888, had over 2,000 members.
   
• Mrs Emily Pankhurst spoke to a suffragette rally in the city and was afterwards charged with incitement to cause damage and imprisoned.
   
• The Mansion House in Richmond Road now became the official residence of the Lord Mayor.  

1914

• Thousands of men volunteered for the forces, including 'The Cardiff Pals' 11th Battalion of the Welch Regiment, when the first World War started.  For an explanation of why the word 'Welch' was used instead of 'Welsh' - please view the 'Royal Regiment of Wales' site or an online debate from the 'BBC America site'.
   
• The tolling of the curfew bell at St John's Church at 8 p.m. ended.
   
• The Principality Buildings in Queen Street were opened and the Town Hall in St Mary Street was demolished.

1915

• The second son of the third Marquis of Bute, the Cardiff Boroughs MP Lord Ninian Crichton Stuart after whom Ninian Park is named, was killed in action.
   
• For the first time, women were employed on the Cardiff trams as drivers and conductors.
   
• On the site of the former Town Hall in St Mary Street the Co-operative Wholesale Society building (now Hodge House) was opened.

1916

• Cardiff became a Roman Catholic archdiocese giving Cardiff a new cathedral, St David's.
   
• The statues of 11 Welsh national heroes in the City Hall were unveiled by David Lloyd George, soon to be Britain's first Welsh Prime Minister.
   
• The Cardiff Technical College was open in Cathays.
   
• Roald Dahl - author of many famous children's books including 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', 'The Witches', and my favourite, 'Danny the champion of the World' - was born on September 13th, in Llandaff this year.

1917

• A new fire station was opened in Westgate Street.
   
• HMS Cardiff was launched on the Clyde.
   
• Cardiff became one of the first places in Britain to employ women as taxi drivers this year.

1918

• United States Navy took over the Angel Hotel, renaming it the USS Chatinouka.
   
• American troops paraded for the first time ever in the city in July.
   
• The memorial lighthouse to Captain Scott was unveiled in Roath Park Lake.
   
• Cardiff's representation in Parliament was enlarged when it was increased from one MP to three.

1919

• Race riots resulted in the death of three people.
   
• Hundreds of Cardiffians died as a result of the 'Spanish 'flu' pandemic which had started in the previous year.
   
• Twelve men lost their lives in an oil tanker explosion in Cardiff Docks.
   
• The Council ordered water cuts during the long summer drought this year.
   
• A statue of Lord Ninian Crichton Stuart was unveiled in Gorsedd Gardens.

1920 - 1929

1920

• The first motor buses began running in Cardiff.
   
• The Llandaff diocese became part of the new disestablished Church in Wales.
   
• Paulo Radmilovich won another Olympic swimming gold medal.
   
• Cardiff City joined the Football League.

1921

• The census showed Cardiff's population was 222,827, an increase of over 40,000 people in just 10 years.
   

• The Capitol Cinema in Queen Street opened and was the largest purpose-built cinema in Britain at the time.
   
• Also on Queen Street, the Dominion Building and Arcade were completed.
   
• Ninian Park's Canton Stand was opened.
   
• The Trades Union Congress held its annual conference in Cardiff for the first time.
   
• The chapel at Cardiff Infirmary was built.
   
• The fourth Marquis of Bute had a replica of the medieval West Gate built on its former site.
   
• The first women jurors in Cardiff were sworn in during January.

1922

• The Bute Docks, the Taff Vale Railway and the Cardiff Railway were sold to the Great Western Railway, and for a short time made it the busiest and most important rail system in the world at the time.
   
• Cardiff's boundaries were extended to include Llandaff and Llanishen.
   
• Splott Swimming Pool were opened this year.
   
• Plymouth Great Woods, to the North of Ely, were given to the city by the Earl of Plymouth.

1923

• On 13th February, the BBC began Broadcasting in Cardiff from studios in Castle Street with Station 5WA.
   
• The Park Cinema was opened.
   
• Cardiff Infirmary became the Cardiff Royal Infirmary.
   
• Reconstruction work on Cardiff Castle this year included the North Gate built in Roman style.
   
• Cardiff's first Labour MP, Arthur Henderson was elected.
   
• Cardiff Golf Club in Cyncoed was opened.

1924

• The widening of Duke Street, and knocking down of old buildings near the Castle, provided much more space for the increasing traffic through the City Centre.  Legend has it that Duke Street was named after Robert, Duke of Normandy, who was imprisoned in Cardiff Castle in 1126.
   
• BBC studios were opened in Park Place.
   
• The first Taff Swim was held between Cardiff Bridge and Clarence Road Bridge, in Grangetown.

1925

• The popular Cardiff featherweight boxer Jim Driscoll died, and an estimated 100,000 people gathered along the his funeral route to watch the procession.
   
• The Cardiff based Welsh School of Architecture was founded.
   
• Cardiff City lost 0-1 to Sheffield United in the FA Cup Final.

1926

• Cardiff was one of the many Cities in the UK that fell victim to the nation-wide General Strike in May.
   
• The Animal Wall was moved from in front of the castle to its present position opposite Westgate Street.
   
• Hailey Park in Llandaff North was opened.

1927

• The National Museum of Wales in Cathays Park was opened by King George V.
   
• Cardiff City won the FA Cup beating Arsenal 1-0.

1928

• The Welsh National War Memorial was unveiled by the Prince of Wales in Cathays Park.
   
• The South Wales Daily News of Cardiff ceased publication.
   
• Greyhound racing started at the Arms Park and Ninian Stadium, as did Speedway racing at Sloper Road.
   
• The Plaza Cinema in North Road was opened.
   
• In November hundreds of homes in Cardiff were damaged when a twister hit the city.

1929

• A blizzard in mid-February disrupted city life for a week.
   
• Hundreds of homes were damaged after severe gales and rain hit the City during the Christmas period.
   
• The first movie with sound, The Jazz Singer, was shown at the Queen's Cinema in Queen Street.
   
• The Cardiff Board of Guardians, formed in 1836 to administer the Poor Law, was abolished.

1930 - 1939

1930

• The Cardiff Evening Post merged with the South Wales Echo.
   
• R.G. Hill-Snook gave 26 acres of Wenallt hill to the city.
   
• High schools for both boys and girls were established in Cathays.
   
• The Roman Catholic St Illtyd's College for Boys and Heathfield House School for girls were both opened.
   
• The statue of the third Marquis of Bute was unveiled in Friary Gardens.
   
• The use of tramcars in Cardiff began to be phased out.

1931

• This year's census showed Cardiff to have a population of 226,937.

• The Welsh National School of Medicine was founded.
   
• Cardiff Airport was opened on Pengam Moors.
   
• The Taff Swim was moved from the river to Roath Park Lake because of the widening of Cardiff Bridge.
   
• The City's coal export tonnage was in serious decline by this year.

1932

• The first miners' hunger march from Cardiff to London to protest about unemployment took place.
   
• The Grand Theatre in Westgate Street was closed but Cardiff's Little Theatre was founded.
   
• Cardiff's Valerie Davies won an Olympic swimming bronze medal.
   

1933

• Western Avenue was opened.  

1934

• Cardiff Central Station was re-opened after reconstruction.
   
• The first traffic roundabout in Cardiff come into operation at the junction of Cardiff Road and Western Avenue.
   
• Dowlais Works on East Moors were improved to make it capable of using iron and steel.

1935

• The first RAC Welsh Rally started from Cardiff.
   
• The Olympia Cinema (later the ABC) was opened in Queen Street.
   
• The isolation hospital on Flat Holm was closed.
   
• A fire badly damaged Cardiff Market.

1936

• The Western Mail and the South Wales Echo were bought by Lord Kemsley.
   
• The first pedestrian crossings in the City came into use in Queen Street and St Mary Street.
   
• Speedway racing ended at Sloper Road Stadium.
   
• The Odeon Cinema was opened in Queen Street.  

1937

• Grandstands at both Ninian Park and Ely Racecourse were destroyed by fire in separate incidents.
   
• Temperance Town - where the Bus Station in Central Square now stands - was demolished.
   
• Unemployment in the city reached over 20 percent due to the huge drop in shipping in the docks, and the tonnage of coal exported was on a downward spiral.
   
• Shirley Bassey was born in Splott.
   
• The BBC Welsh Home Service in Cardiff was established.
   
• The first family planning clinic in Cardiff was opened despite Police opposing the plans.
   
• The last town crier of Cardiff, Thomas Kenefick, was appointed this year.  

1938

• In Cathays Park the Welsh Board of Health building (now the National Assembly for Wales) and the Temple of Peace were opened.
   
• The National Eisteddfod of Wales was held in Cardiff for the third time.
   
• The fourth Marquis of Bute sold a substantial part of his Cardiff landholdings to Western Ground Rents.
   
• The first Commonwealth Games gold medals for Wales were won by two Cardiff men.
   
• The future US president, John F. Kennedy, visited Cardiff in the summer while staying at St Donat's Castle and attended Mass at St David's Cathedral.
   
• Despite worldwide recession, there were 8,300 cars owners in Cardiff.
   
• Gas masks were distributed throughout the City in preparation for the impending Second World War.  

1939

• The flats in Westgate Street were completed.
   
• Ely Racecourse was closed.
   
• Billy, the Victoria Park seal, died.  Her bones are stored in the National Museum of Wales, in Cathays Park.
   
• Coal shipments had now dropped to five-and-a-half million tons, a fall of 50 per cent in just 25 years.
   
• The first four months of World War Two saw large numbers of private and public air raid shelters constructed in Cardiff.
   
• Air raid wardens began patrolling and the Auxiliary Fire Service recruited nearly 3,000 volunteers.  

1940 - 1949

1940

• In the second year of the war, food rationing was introduced in January.
   
• There were a number of raids on the city in which 20 people died.
   
• The Royal Ordnance Factory at Llanishen was opened.
   
• World-famous show jumping champion David Broome was born in Fairwater this year.

1941

• No census data is available for this year at present.  I would be grateful if someone could supply this.
   

• The heaviest German raid of the war on Cardiff occurred in January when 156 people were killed.
   
• Llandaff Cathedral was very severely damaged, Dewi Sant Church in Howard Gardens was destroyed and Cardiff Arms Park was also hit.  In a later March raid, some 50 people were killed and St David's Roman Catholic Cathedral was also badly damaged.
   
• King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, visited the city after these raids.
   
• The small Victoria Park zoo was closed this year.

1942

• The first trolley buses ran in the city but the last barge travelled on the Glamorganshire Canal.
   
• Six people died in a March air raid.
   
• Services were resumed at Llandaff Cathedral in April.

1943

• In a German air raid on the city in May 46 people were killed, mainly in the Heath area. Another three were killed in a March attack.
   
• The City Council bought the Glamorganshire Canal this year.

1944

• Nine people died in Llanishen in March during a German air raid.  The last raid on the city took place in May. About 75 per cent of the supplies for the American forces in Europe were shipped out through Cardiff docks following the D-Day landings in June.
   
• The docks were so busy at this time that about 15,000 people were employed there.The wartime blackout restrictions were now eased and a gun site on Flat Holm became non-operational. By this time 30,000 homes in Cardiff had been damaged and about 600 destroyed: 345 people, including 47 children, had been killed and over 900 injured, some 430 seriously.
   
• This year, Parc Cefn Onn was given to the city by George Williams.

1945

• VE Day and VJ were celebrated as World War Two ended.  200 survivors of the 77th Heavy Artillery Regiment returned to the city after four years as prisoners-of-war of the Japanese.

1946

• Welsh National Opera put on its first staged productions at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
   
• Just one million tons of coal were shipped out of Cardiff this year.
   
• The records of many leading coal mining and shipping companies were lost in a fire in the docks which destroyed Merthyr House.
   
• The light cruiser HMS Cardiff was broken up.

1947

• The ever generous Bute family gave Cardiff Castle and over 400 acres of parkland to the city.
   
• The Winter period brought Arctic weather to the City for over six weeks, which made the post-war food and fuel rationing very difficult to maintain.
   
• The last case and death from diphtheria occurred in the City this year.
   
• The Taff Swim was held in Roath Park Lake after being postponed since 1939.

1948

• The Welsh Folk Museum (now the Museum of Welsh Life) was opened at St Fagans on land given by the Earl of Plymouth.
   
• The famous Hayes Island Snack Bar was opened.

1949

• Churchill Way was opened with the covering of the Dock Feeder.
   
• The Cardiff (later Welsh) College of Music and Drama was founded.
   
• A Bishop of Llandaff became Archbishop of Wales for the first time.
   
• The first Welsh-language primary school in Cardiff was opened.

1950 - 1959

1950

• Castell Coch was given to the state by the Bute family.
   
• The last electric tram in Cardiff ran from St Mary Street to Whitchurch Road.
   
• The last shipment of coal left Bute East Dock.
   
• The world's first regular helicopter service began between Cardiff, Wrexham and Liverpool.
   
• Speedway racing was resumed at Penarth Road.
   
• A Ministry of Labour office, later a Jobcentre, was opened in Westgate Street.  

1951

• The census showed Cardiff had a population of 243,632.
   

• Sophia Gardens Pavilion was erected.
   
• Maindy Stadium was opened.
   
• The Glamorganshire Canal was finally closed.
   
• Cardiff's boundaries were extended to include Rumney and St Mellons.  

1952

• The last execution took place in Cardiff Prison with the hanging of Mahmoud Mattan, but his conviction was quashed in 1998 after new evidence came to light.
   
• The Wenvoe transmitter was opened bringing BBC television to the Cardiff area.
   
• Cinemas were allowed to open on Sundays for the first time.
   
• The Prudential Building - now the Hilton Cardiff Hotel - was built.  

1953

• Cardiff Institute for the Blind on Newport Road was built.
   
• Trelai Park in Caerau was opened.
   
• Thornhill Crematorium was also opened.
   
• The open air market was moved from Hayes Island to Mill Lane.
   
• Speedway racing finally ended at Penarth Road.  

1954

• Cardiff Airport was moved from Pengam Moors to its current home in Rhoose.
   
• Sloper Road Stadium was closed.
   
• Central Square bus station was opened.  

1955

• After a 10 year campaign, Cardiff was officially recognised as the capital city of Wales, co-incidentally, 50 years after becoming a city.
   

• HMS Llandaff was launched on the Clyde.  

1956

• Cardiff ceased being a fishing port after 70 years.
   
• Velindre Hospital in Whitchurch was opened.  

1957

• The Prince of Wales (now Wetherspoons) closed as a theatre but continued to show films.
   
• The former Cardiff Technical College in Cathays Park became the Welsh College of Advanced Technology and is now part of the University of Wales.
   
• After 100 years, the Cardiff Times ceased publication.  

1958

• The Commonwealth Games came to Cardiff for eight days in July and the 50-metre Wales Empire Pool was built for the event.
   
• Commercial television arrived in the area with TWW (Television Wales and the West) having studios at Pontcanna.
   
• The Labour Party gained control of the City Council for the first time this year.
   
• A major redevelopment scheme got under way in Butetown.
   
• The Glamorganshire Canal in the city was filled in.
   
• The ruins of Herbert House in Greyfriars Road were demolished in 1958 and the Pearl Assurance Building (now Capital Tower) was built on the site.  

1959

• This year Cardiff had its first woman Lord Mayor, Helena Evans.
   
• There was no South Wales Echo or Western Mail for six weeks due to a printers strike. Both papers were sold by Lord Kemsley to the Thomson Organisation this year.
   
• Manor Way, which runs through Whitchurch, was opened.
   
• Tiger Bay, the movie partly shot in Cardiff was in cinemas this year.
   
• St David's Roman Catholic Cathedral was reopened after repairs to damage caused by the War.    

1960 - 1969

1960

• There was serious flooding at the end of the year when the River Taff burst its banks.
   
• The statue of David Lloyd George outside the National Museum was unveiled.  

1961

• This year's census showed that Cardiff had a population of 283,998.
   

• Pubs in Cardiff were allowed to open again on Sundays for the first time since the 1880's.
   
• The first betting shops started trading in the City.
   
• There was a record crowd of 61,506 at Ninian Park for a Wales-England international.
   
• Due to Health and Safety issues, the last Taff Swim was held in Roath Park Lake.
   
• After being based in St Mary Street for over 80 years, the South Wales Echo and the Western Mail moved to Thomson House in Havelock Street.
   
• The city's first multi-storey car park was opened in Greyfriars Road.
   
• Cardiff's first bingo club was opened in on Cowbridge Road in Canton.  

1962

• A severe blizzard in December interrupted city life.
   
• The main building of the University College in Cathays Park was completed.
   
• An outbreak of smallpox led to a mass vaccination programme in the city.

1963

• The pedestrian subway under the River Ely linking Ferry Road with Penarth was closed.
   
• The new Arts Building of the University College in Cathays Park was opened.
   
• In Bute Terrace the Gas Board Snelling House - later the The Big Sleep hotel - was completed.
   
• The Rover car factory was opened in Tremorfa.
   
• This was a sign of the City's change from shipping and exports to becoming more of an Industrial town, due to docks no longer providing employment  

1964

• The restoration of Llandaff Cathedral after wartime damage was completed.
   
• The Welsh Office was established in the former Welsh Board of Health building in Cathays Park.
   
• Bute West Dock was closed and after nearly 150 years the last coal shipment, only 229,000 tons, left the dock in August.
   
• The first traffic wardens in the city went on duty.
   
• James Callaghan MP, became Chancellor of the Exchequer.  

1965

• The Urdd Gobaith Cymru National Eisteddfod was held in Cardiff for the first time.
   
• The Samaritans opened a branch in Cardiff.
   
• The Salvation Army's Stuart Hall in The Hayes was demolished.
   
• The West Wing extension of the National Museum was opened.
   
• Bessemer Road wholesale fruit and vegetable market began trading after being moved from Mill Lane.  

1966

• The Central Hospital at the Heath was opened.
   
• The last county cricket match was played at Cardiff Arms Park.
   
• The controversial Buchanan Plan for the redevelopment of Central Cardiff was published.  

1967

• The BBC moved from Park Place to new studios in Llandaff. Colour television was broadcast for the first time in the City.
   
• The remains of Grey Friars were demolished.
   
• Cardiff's boundaries were extended to include Llanedeyrn, Whitchurch, Radyr and Rhiwbina.
   
• The 12-storey tower block of the University College in Cathays Park was completed.
   
• The first county cricket game was played at Sophia Gardens.
   
• James Callaghan became Home Secretary.
   
• An extremist bomb badly damaged the Temple of Peace in Cathays Park.  

1968

• Churchill House office block in Churchill Way was opened.
   
• The new police headquarters building in Cathays Park was completed. Cardiff West MP, George Thomas, was appointed Secretary of State for Wales.
   
• HTV (Harlech Television) replaced TWW (Television Wales and the West) as the commercial television station for the area.  

1969

• The Royal Pageant of Wales was held in the city to mark the investiture of the Prince of Wales.
   
• The city police force was merged with Glamorgan to form the South Wales Police.
   
• Fairwater ski slope was opened.
   
• Peacocks were reintroduced to Cardiff Castle grounds for the first time since the War.
   
• Glamorgan won the county championship for a second time in a game at Sophia Gardens.  

1970 - 1979

1970

• The last trolley bus ran in Cardiff, and buses without a Conductor started to come into service.
   
• Bute East Dock was finally closed.
   
• The first Plaid Cymru councillor was elected to Cardiff City Council.
   
• The 25-storey Pearl Building (now Capital Tower) was completed on the site of the former Franciscan friary.  

1971

• This year's census showed that Cardiff had a population of 293,220.
   

• The University Hospital of Wales at the Heath was opened. In order to deal with the massive increase in traffic to the area and the Hospital, the Gabalfa flyover, Eastern & Northern Avenues were opened.
   
• The Commercial Bank of Wales was founded by Sir Julian Hodge.
   
• The Crest Hotel (now the Holiday Inn) in Castle Street was opened.

1972

• The newly straightened River Ely was completed after two years.
   
• Bute West Dock was filled.
   
• Wood Street Congregational Church was demolished to make place for the City Planning Offices.
   
• Chapter Arts Centre in Canton opened.
   
• The National Sports Centre in Sophia Gardens also opened this year.
   
• The two cooling towers of the disused Cardiff Power Station on Colchester Avenue (which my Father climbed up in his youth!) were demolished.  

1973

• The Cardiff-born scientist Brian Josephson was joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics.
   
• The Inland Revenue tower block in Llanishen was completed.
   
• Cardiff General Station was officially renamed to became Cardiff Central.
   
• The Westgate Street Fire Station was demolished to make way for a multi-storey car park.  

1974

• Brunel House (then the regional headquarters of the 'Valleylines' train service) was opened.
   
• The city's main fire station was moved from Westgate Street to Adamsdown, opposite the Prison.
   
• Cardiff became part of the new county of South Glamorgan in local government reorganisation, losing the independent 'County Borough' status it had gained in 1889.
   
• Cardiff's boundaries were extended to include Lisvane, St Fagans and Tongwynlais.
   
• James Callaghan became Foreign Secretary.
   
• The Students' Union building was opened in Park Place.  

1975

• The Panasonic factory in Pentwyn started manufacturing electrical components, and still does under the name of Matsushita Electric (UK) Ltd.
   
• The Welsh College of Music and Drama was moved from the castle after 26 years there to new premises on North Road.
   
• The pedestrianisation of Queen Street began.
   
• The first bus lanes were introduced to Cardiff's City centre.
   
• Companies House in Maindy was opened.  

1976

• James Callaghan became Prime Minister.
   

• A new Salvation Army hostel was opened in Bute Street.
   
• There were water cuts in the Summer due to a prolonged drought.
   
• The frigate HMS Llandaff was decommissioned.
   
• Cardiff celebrated its 1,900th birthday this year.
   
• Cardiff Rugby Club celebrated its centenary.
   
• In Splott, a new covered swimming pool was opened.  

1977

• The last greyhound races took place at Cardiff Arms Park. Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum was opened in the docks.
   
• The first Royal Variety Show in Wales was held at the New Theatre.
   
• Seccombes department store (based in Queen Street) closed this year.
   
• The Planning Offices (South Gate House office block) was completed. These were demolished in 2005.

1978

• East Moors steelworks closed with the loss of over 3,000 jobs, a signal of the end of Cardiff industrial connections.
   
• The original Capitol Cinema closed.
   
• The 150-year-old Ebeneser Welsh Chapel in the city centre was demolished.
   
• A February blizzard disrupted the city.
   
• Many of the mature trees in Cathays Park had to be cut down because of an outbreak of Dutch elm disease.
   
• The National Eisteddfod of Wales was held in Cardiff for the fifth time.
   
• The city's first Welsh language comprehensive school, Ysgol Glantaf, was opened in Llandaff North.
   
• The Western Leisure centre was opened in Ely.
   
• At the bottom of Cathedral Road near Sophia Gardens, Transport House was opened. It is the home to various Unions.

1979

• The Welsh Office extension in Cathays Park was completed.
   
• Concorde landed at Cardiff-Wales Airport for the first time.
   
• A fire in the City Hall dome caused major damage.
   
• Serious flooding occurred at the end of the year as the River Taff overflowed again.
   
• The third warship called Cardiff was launched in Portsmouth.
   
• The Devolution Proposal for Wales was defeated in a referendum. Cardiff voters were against the idea of a Welsh Assembly.

1980 - 1989

1980

• Commercial radio first started broadcasted in the City.
   
• The M4 around the city was completed.
   
• The new Llandaff Bridge over the Taff was opened.
   
• Llandaff Cathedral a demonstration took place in protest at the ordination of the first woman deacon.

1981

• This year's census showed that Cardiff had a population of 285,740.
   

• St Fagans won cricket's Village Championship Trophy at Lords.
   
• Cardiff won the WRU Cup Final for the first time. Wales lost to England in the first rugby league international to be played at the Arms Park.
   
• The Plaza Cinema in North Road, Gabalfa were closed.
   
• A new YMCA was opened in The Walk.
   
• The open air market was moved to Bridge Street from Mill Lane.
   
• Princess Diana became a city Freeman.

1982

• Heavy snow caused the roof of Sophia Gardens Pavilion to collapse.
   
• Pope John Paul II made the first-ever Papal visit to Wales in June, celebrated Mass in Llandaff Fields and was made a Freeman of Cardiff.
   
• The Welsh-language television channel S4C was established in the city.
   
• St David's Centre was opened followed by St David's Hall.
   
• In Ely, Crosswell's Brewery closed.
   
• Two Cardiff-based journals Rebecca and Arcade both ceased publication.
   
• A flood protection scheme was inaugurated in April to protect the City from the River Taff.
   
• In Pentwyn, the private BUPA Hospital was opened.

1983

• The Cory Hall and the YMCA in Station Terrace were demolished.
   
• Cardiff Singer of the World competition was launched by the BBC in St David's Hall.
   
• The Ely Link section of the Peripheral Distributor Road and the East Moors viaduct with the South way Link were opened.
   
• A major reconstruction of the Central Square Bus Station was completed.
   
• Valleylines took over from the Taff Vale Railway to operate train services in Cardiff and the Vale.

1984

• Guildford Crescent Baths, now the site of the Ibis Hotel, were closed.
   
• The National Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park, was opened.
   
• This was the last year in which corporal punishment was allowed in schools in Cardiff.
   
• The Celtic Film and Television Festival was held in Cardiff this year - the first time that Wales had hosted the event.
   
• The Prince of Wales Theatre became a disco.

1985

• Cardiff Heliport was opened on East Moors.
   
• Red Dragon Radio took over Cardiff Broadcasting as the principle commercial radio station in Cardiff.
   
• The first Techniquest exhibition centre was opened in Castle Street.
   
• A well-known shipping company, Reardon Smith, went out of business this year after 80 years in the port.

1986

• Wales National Ice Rink was opened and Cardiff Devils ice hockey team formed.
   
• The Royal Mail sorting office was moved from Westgate Street to Penarth Road.
   
• British Rail introduced the City Line between Coryton and Radyr.
   
• In the Hayes, the Holiday Inn - now the Marriott Hotel - was opened.

1987

• Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was established to transform largely derelict land in the south of the city, which was to become Cardiff Bay.
   
• Queen's West shopping arcade and the St David's open-air Market were opened.
   
• David Bowie fronted the first music concert held in the Arms Park.

1988

• The Grangetown Link was constructed.
   
• The new County Hall was completed at Atlantic Wharf- the first building in the new Cardiff Bay.
   
• The Central Library was moved to new premises in St David's Link.
   
• HTV moved its studios from Pontcanna to Culverhouse Cross.
   
• Techniquest moved from the city centre to the Bay.
   
• The University College merged with the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology to form the University of Wales, Cardiff.
   
• Cardif-born Colin Jackson won an Olympic silver medal.
   
• The lighthouse on Flat Holm ceased being manned after 250 years as it switched to automatic control.
   
• Wales's first ten-pin bowling centre was opened on Newport Road.
   
• Cardiff, already well known for producing quality animation, played host to the British Animation Awards.

1989

• Leckwith Athletics Stadium was opened.
   
• The Cardiff Bay Hotel (in the late 90's the Hanover Hotel, now the Novotel Hotel) was opened, which had carefully been built into an old dockside railway warehouse.
   
• The Wales on Sunday newspaper was launched.
   
• The Central Link Road from Adam Street (Adamsdown) came into use.
   
• The Bank of Wales building on Kingsway was completed.

1990 - 1999

1990

• 'The Tube' - a tourist attraction and visitor centre in Cardiff Bay, was opened this year.
   
• Jury's Hotel in Mary Ann Street was opened.
   
• The Capitol shopping centre was also opened.
   
• A Rolling Stones concert was held at Cardiff Arms Park.
   
• The Magistrates' Courts in Fitzalan Place were opened in March.

1991

• The census showed that Cardiff's population had risen to 296,900.
   

• Rising racial tensions on the estate of Ely came to a head, and the ensuing 'Ely Riots' were the result. The reported trigger for those riots was a dispute between two shopkeepers, one Asian, who had starting to sell bread which was seen to be taking trade away from the other.  The escalation of the riots, which took place at the top end of Wilson Road, were fuelled by high unemployment and crime.  In addition to this, immigrants were being given housing in the area, and the local residents argued that the Council were allegedly treating locals on the housing waiting list as non-priority cases.
   
• The Norwegian Church was moved to its present position in Cardiff Bay.

1992

• Cardiff's first multi-screen cinema, the five screen Odeon in Queen Street, was opened this year.

1993

• The Dalai Lama of Tibet visited Cardiff in May.
   
• The Queen opened the Courtyard Galleries in the National Museum and the Cardiff International Arena.
   
• Lennox Lewis beat Frank Bruno at Cardiff Arms Park.
   
• The Celtic Ring sculpture was unveiled in Cardiff Bay to mark the start of the 55-mile-long Taff Trail between Cardiff and Brecon.
   
• Cardiff City won the Welsh Cup for the 22nd time.

1994

• One million passengers were handled in a year for the first time at Cardiff Airport.
   
• The weekday South Wales Echo changed from broadsheet size to tabloid.
   
• Construction began on the Cardiff Bay barrage.
   
• The Station Hotel (once the Merchant Navy Hotel) near the Central Station was demolished.
   
• The Pentwyn link road to the M4 was opened in June.
   
• The Celtic Challenger, the last ocean-going ship registered in Cardiff, sailed on its maiden voyage.

1995

• The Bute Tunnel and the Taff Viaduct were opened in March.
   
• Harry Ramsden's fish restaurant welcomed its first customers in October.
   
• A new building housing the revamped Techniquest proved to be very successful.
   
• Nippon Electric Glass located a plant in the Bay.
   
• Sunday shopping was introduced in Cardiff.
   
• The Cafe Quarter in Mill Lane opened.
   
• Plans for a Cardiff Bay Opera House were rejected.
   
• The Welsh National Tennis Centre, Ocean Way, was opened on the site of the former East Moors Steel & Iron works.
   
• Nicky Piper of Ely won two titles in the city - the World Boxing Organisation's Intercontinental and the Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles.

1996

• Local government reorganisation saw Cardiff revert to the unitary status it had enjoyed from 1889 to 1974, which meant it was now a County of its own, and a Capital City.
   
• Cardiff's boundaries were extended to take in Creigiau, Pentyrch and Gwaelod-y-Garth.
   
• The Merchant Navy Memorial was unveiled in Cardiff Bay.
   
• A Tina Turner concert was held in Cardiff Arms Park.

1997

• A 26-lane ten-pin bowling Hollywood Bowl and the 3,000 seat 12-screen UCI Cinema opened in the Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village in Cardiff Bay.
   
• A new retail park was also opened in the Bay, and is home to Asda, Argos, and Ikea amongst others.
   
• Cardiff increased its representation in Parliament from three to four MPs, one of whom was the city's first woman MP, Julie Morgan.
   
• The Royal Ordnance Factory at Llanishen, where parts for British nuclear warheads had been made was closed by the Ministry of Defence.
   
• Cardiff Devils won ice hockey's Superleague title.
   
• A statue of the champion boxer 'Peerless' Jim Driscoll was unveiled in Bute Terrace while a statue of Billy the seal was unveiled in Victoria Park.
   
• In September, Cardiff again voted against the establishment of a National Assembly for Wales.
   
• Barry Jones of Cardiff won the World Boxing Organisation's super-featherweight title in the city.
   
• In Adam Street the new Territorial Army centre was opened after the old TA building near the Millennium Stadium was demolished.

1998

• The most important diplomatic event in Cardiff's history occurred in June when the city was host to the European Union summit meeting.
   
• President Nelson Mandela of South Africa visited the city during the meeting and was made a Freeman of Cardiff.
   
• Cardiff was also visited by the Emperor and Empress of Japan in May.
   
• Bank One International of Chicago decided on Cardiff as the site of its European headquarters.
   
• The Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum in the Bay was closed after 21 years to make way for the Mermaid Quay complex. The museum was transferred to Swansea.
   
• The Wales Empire Pool was demolished after 40 years as the site was needed for the Millennium Stadium development.
   
• The city's second Welsh-language comprehensive school was opened at Plasmawr.
   
• The Cardiff-based band Catatonia were enjoying their success this year, while 12-year-old Cardiffian soprano Charlotte Church, was a huge success with her first CD.
   
• Red Dragon radio station was sold to Capitol Radio of London.

1999

• Cardiff City celebrated its centenary.
   
• The final stages of the Rugby Union World Cup were held in the Millennium Stadium. In the opening game at the stadium in June, Wales defeated the world champions, South Africa for the first time.
   
• St David's Hotel in the Bay and the Hilton Cardiff in the city centre, both 5-star hotels, were opened.
   
• The election of the first National Assembly for Wales too place in May which was officially opened by the Queen in temporary accommodation in Crickhowell House in the Bay.
   
• The Cardiff Bay barrage was completed after over five years' work to create a permanent fresh water lake and provide eight miles of waterfront.
   
• In the centre of the city there was a major refurbishment of the Central Station. The Centre for Visual Arts was opened in the converted Old Library.
   
• Ely Paper Mill closed after over 130 years with the loss of almost 500 jobs.
   
• There were now almost 20,000 university students studying in the city.
   
• The Mermaid Quay leisure complex was opened.
   
• The new mile-long Bute Avenue connected the city centre with its new waterfront.
   
• In March, regardless of the public outrage, Cardiff Royal Infirmary closed, and the emergency services transferred to a brand new state of the art emergency unit on the University Hospital of Wales campus.

21st Century  (2000 - 2099)

2000

• In December, Businesses and deprived communities in Cardiff, were approved to receive a share of about £70,000,000 of the Objective 2 European Funding programme for South East Wales.
   
• Welsh peer Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos was given the Freedom of Cardiff City in December. Lord Cledwyn supported Cardiff to become Capital of Wales in the 1950's, and as the home of the Welsh Assembly, in 1998.  Lord Cledwyn passed away in 2001.

2001

• This year's census showed that Cardiff had a population of 305,353.
   

• Welsh singing sensation Tom Jones, performed to a huge crowd from inside Cardiff Castle.
   
• 7.5 million pounds worth of Televisions and Microwaves were destroyed in a fire at Panasonics' Warehouse in Pentwyn.
   
• The County Council's free newspaper, the Capital Times, conducted a major survey in Cardiff asking residents about what they thought about the City. The second survey of its kind, revealed that an overwhelming 97 percent of respondents rated Cardiff a good or very good place to live.
   
• In November, The Cardiff Bay Barrage won the best civil engineering scheme in The Concrete Society's 2001 awards in London. This was the Barrage's fourth major award.

2002

• Cardiff celebrated the Queen's Golden Jubilee in June. Cardiff was one of six UK cities short listed to be the 2008 European Capital of Culture. Liverpool won the title in 2003.

2003

• In December, Arriva Train Wales took over the train service franchise in South Wales - this signalled the end of Valleylines which had faithfully served the South Wales area since 1983.
   
• Cardiff University and the University of Wales College of Medicine merged this year.  The merger created nearly 3,000 jobs, and became the home to more than 20,000 students.
   
• Cardiff's £700 million International Sports Village received great news in November, when the council's planning committee gave the green light to the application for a 50 metre international standard pool, five years after the Empire Pool was demolished.

2004

• BBC Wales started filming the new series of Doctor Who for 16 years, in Cardiff this year.  Queens Arcade, the Hayes, and the UGC Cinema in Mary Ann Street were some of the landmarks that could be spotted in the very first episode.
   
• The Wales Millennium Centre for the performing arts was opened.

2005

• This year Cardiff celebrated its 100th year as a City, and 50th Year as Capital of Wales.
   

• Popes Photo Service in Canton, closed its doors for the last time at the end of the year, after 81 years of trading.
   
• After just 11 years in Cardiff Bay, Nippon Electric Glass (NEG), which made old style TV screens, closed down this year due to a severe drop in demand, fuelled by the lower cost of LCD and Plasma Screen technology which are fast becoming the standard.
   
• After 125 years in trading, once of the few remaining family owned stores in Cardiff, David Morgans, closed in January of this year.

 2006

• The first works began in the Hayes for the new development of the St. David's 2 project.
   
• The 120 year-old Central Hotel at the end of St. Mary Street was demolished after the building was damaged beyond repair, as a result of a serious fire in 2005.  A new apartment block will be constructed on the site, and ready for tenants by the end of 2007.
   
• Sophia Gardens joined an exclusive list of just 8 venues able to hold Test Matches. The home of the Glamorgan County Cricket Club is also the only venue in Wales, the other 7 being in England.  In 2009, Sophia Gardens will host the Ashes Test match between England and Australia.
   
• On 1st March 2006 (St. David's Day) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II arrived in a snow covered Cardiff to open the new debating chamber for the Welsh Assembly.
   
• The old Docks (now Cardiff Bay) branch of Barclays Bank in Mount Stuart Square will finally close it's doors to customers after serving the community for over 125 years.  All is not lost however; when the bank moves to Mermaid Quay to take advantage of improved access.  It is not yet known what will happen to Barclays' former building (the 'Exchange Building'), although it is hoped that it's listed status will prevent it from being empty for too long.
   
• Cardiff was one of many cities in the UK that sweltered during a three week heat wave that broke temperature records across Wales.  There were also water shortages still remaining from the warm winter, which led to Welsh Water's decision to temporarily cut supplies to some homes in Cardiff and the Valleys.
   
• The Main Post Office in the Oxford Arcade (The Hayes) served its final customers on 9th August. The office moved to a new site in the Queens Arcade shopping centre (off Queen Street), which had been created with a Royal Mail investment of over £1 million. The move will help to make way for the £650m St. David's 2 redevelopment of the City Centre.
   
• In December, South West England and South Wales bore the brunt of a number of successive Winter Storms, which damaged homes, brought down power lines, delayed transport networks and uprooted many trees in Cardiff.

2007

• Seeing in the New Year across the UK were more 80mph gales and after a brief respite of a few weeks, Cardiff had one of it's heaviest snowfalls in decades in mid February which lasted for two days and got up to 8 inches in many places.
   
• Also in February, demolition began of the Southern end of the Hayes and Oxford Arcade, not long after the nearby Toys 'Я' Us was razed to the ground.
   
• On April 2nd, the National Assembly for Wales introduced a nationwide smoking ban.