Timeline of Birmingham, Alabama

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

19th century

 * 1871
 * Birmingham founded and incorporated.
 * Robert Henley becomes mayor.
 * 1874
 * Birmingham becomes seat of Jefferson County.
 * First Colored Baptist Church founded.
 * Cholera epidemic.
 * Birmingham Iron Age newspaper in publication.
 * 1880 - Population: 3,086.
 * 1881 - Alabama Christian Advocate newspaper begins publication.
 * 1882
 * Sloss Furnace begins operating.
 * O'Brien's Opera House opens.
 * 1887 - Howard College active in East Lake.
 * 1888 - Evening News and Birmingham Age-Herald newspapers in publication.
 * 1890
 * Population: 26,178.
 * Labor Advocate newspaper begins publication.
 * 1891 - Birmingham Commercial Club incorporated.
 * 1893
 * Cathedral of Saint Paul built.
 * St. Mark's School opens.
 * 1895
 * Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company headquarters relocated to Birmingham.
 * Birmingham Conservatory of Music established.
 * 1896 - Spencer Business College established.
 * 1900 - Population: 38,415.

1900s-1950s

 * 1901 - March 25: Storm.
 * 1907
 * Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company acquired by United States Steel Corporation.
 * Miles Memorial College active in nearby Fairfield.
 * 1909
 * City expands to include Ensley, North Birmingham, Pratt City, Woodlawn.
 * Birmingham Terminal Station and Empire Building constructed.
 * 1910 - Population: 132,685.
 * 1912 - John Hand Building constructed.
 * 1913 - City Federal Building constructed.
 * 1916
 * October 18: 1916 Irondale earthquake.
 * Robert E. Lee Klan No.1 formed.
 * 1917 - Civitan Club founded.
 * 1918 - Birmingham–Southern College established.
 * 1919 - Alabama Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs formed in Birmingham.
 * 1920
 * Progressive Farmer magazine headquartered in Birmingham.
 * Population: 178,806.
 * 1922 - WAPI radio begins broadcasting.
 * 1923 - Traffic lights installed.
 * 1924 - Avondale Sun newspaper begins publication.
 * 1925 - WBRC radio begins broadcasting.
 * 1927 - Alabama Theatre opens.
 * 1928 - Exchange-Security Bank established.
 * 1929 - Thomas Jefferson Hotel built.
 * 1930
 * Southern Worker newspaper begins publication.
 * Population: 259,678.
 * 1933 - Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union active.
 * 1936
 * Local Steel Workers Organizing Committee formed.
 * Vulcan statue erected atop Red Mountain.
 * 1940 - Population: 267,583.
 * 1942 - Birmingham Historical Society founded.
 * 1949 - WAPI-TV and WBRC-TV (television) begin broadcasting.
 * 1950
 * Birmingham Post-Herald newspaper in publication.
 * Population: 326,037.
 * 1955 - Birmingham Zoo established.
 * 1956
 * Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights headquartered in Birmingham.
 * Alabama Symphony Orchestra active.
 * 1958 - EBSCO Industries in business.
 * 1959 - West End Hills Missionary Baptist Church built.

1960s-1990s

 * 1960
 * Briarwood Presbyterian Church (later megachurch) established.
 * Eastwood Mall in business.
 * Population: 340,887.
 * 1961 - First Baptist Church, Kingston built.
 * 1962 - Two North Twentieth built.
 * 1963
 * April 3: Birmingham campaign for civil rights begins.
 * April 16: Martin Luther King Jr. writes his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", first published in June 1963 issues of Liberation, The Christian Century, and The New Leader.
 * May: Birmingham riot of 1963.
 * September 15: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
 * Birmingham Botanical Gardens open.
 * 1965
 * Airport Drive-In cinema opens.
 * Southern Museum of Flight established.
 * 1966 - Southern Living magazine headquartered in Birmingham.
 * 1969 - Birmingham Terminal Station demolished.
 * 1970
 * Daniel Building constructed.
 * Population: 300,910.
 * 1971 - First Alabama Bancshares headquartered in city.
 * 1972 - South Central Bell Building and First National-Southern Natural Building built.
 * 1975 - Birmingham Vulcans football team formed.
 * 1979 - Richard Arrington, Jr. becomes mayor.
 * 1980 - Population: 284,413.
 * 1982
 * Community Food Bank of Central Alabama and Bama 6 cinema open.
 * Sister city agreement established with Hitachi, Japan.
 * 1986
 * South Trust Tower built.
 * Alabama Humanities Foundation headquartered in Birmingham.
 * 1988 - AmSouth-Harbert Plaza (hi-rise) built.
 * 1990
 * Birmingham Islamic Society formed.
 * Population: 265,968.
 * 1992 - Birmingham Civil Rights Institute established.
 * 1993
 * Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame opens.
 * Spencer Bachus becomes U.S. representative for Alabama's 6th congressional district.
 * 1995 - Sister city agreement established with Székesfehérvár, Hungary.
 * 1996
 * City website online (approximate date).
 * Sister city agreement established with Anshan, China.
 * 1997 - Sister city agreement established with Gweru, Zimbabwe.
 * 1998
 * April 6–9, 1998 tornado outbreak.
 * Establishment of sister city agreement with Pomigliano d'Arco, Naples, Italy, and friendship city agreements with Chaoyang District, Beijing, China, and Maebashi, Japan.
 * 1999 - Friendship city agreement established with Krasnodon, Ukraine.
 * 2000 - Population: 242,840.

21st century

 * 2001 - Church of the Highlands (megachurch) founded.
 * 2003 - Sister city agreement established with Vinnytsia, Ukraine.
 * 2005
 * Birmingham Post-Herald newspaper ceases publication.
 * Locust Fork News-Journal begins publication.
 * Sister city agreements established with Al-Karak, Jordan; Guédiawaye, Senegal; Plzeň, Czech Republic; and Rosh HaAyin, Israel.
 * 2009 - Sister city agreement established with Winneba, Ghana.
 * 2010
 * Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra formed.
 * William A. Bell becomes mayor.
 * Population: 212,237.
 * 2011 - Terri Sewell becomes U.S. representative for Alabama's 7th congressional district.
 * 2015
 * Minimum wage approved in city.
 * Sister city agreement established with Liverpool, England.
 * 2017 - Randall Woodfin becomes mayor.
 * 2020 - Population: 200,733.
 * 2021 - Birmingham Stallions football team is formed
 * 2022 - 2022 World Games were hosted.

Published in 19th century

 * John W. DuBose, ed., The Mineral Wealth of Alabama and Birmingham (Birmingham, 1886)
 * Henry M. Caldwell, History of the Elyton Land Company and Birmingham, Ala. 1892.
 * John W. DuBose, ed., The Mineral Wealth of Alabama and Birmingham (Birmingham, 1886)
 * Henry M. Caldwell, History of the Elyton Land Company and Birmingham, Ala. 1892.
 * Henry M. Caldwell, History of the Elyton Land Company and Birmingham, Ala. 1892.
 * Henry M. Caldwell, History of the Elyton Land Company and Birmingham, Ala. 1892.

Published in 20th century

 * Code of City of Birmingham, Alabama. 1917.
 * Cruikshank, A History of Birmingham and Its Environs (2 vols., Chicago, 1920)
 * Harrison A. Trexler, "Birmingham's Struggle with Commission Government," National Municipal Review, XIV (November 1925)
 * George R. Leighton, "Birmingham, Alabama: The City of Perpetual Promise," Harper's Magazine, CLXXV (August 1937)
 * Florence H. W. Moss, Building Birmingham and Jefferson County (Birmingham, Ala.: Birmingham Printing Company, 1947)
 * John C. Henley, Jr., This Is Birmingham: The Story of the Founding and Growth of an American City. 1960.
 * Paul B. Worthman, "Black Workers and Labor Unions in Birmingham, Alabama, 1897-1904," Labor History, 10 (Summer 1969)
 * Paul B. Worthman, "Working Class Mobility in Birmingham, Alabama, 1880-1914," in Anonymous Americans: Explorations in Nineteenth-Century Social History, ed. Tamara K. Hareven (Englewood Cliffs, 1971)
 * McMillan, Malcolm C. Yesterday's Birmingham. Miami: E.A. Seeman Publishing, 1975.
 * Valley and the Hills: An Illustrated History of Birmingham and Jefferson County. 1981
 * 1991-
 * Lynne B. Feldman, A Sense of Place: Birmingham's Black Middle Class Community, 1890-1930 (Tuscaloosa, 1999)
 * McMillan, Malcolm C. Yesterday's Birmingham. Miami: E.A. Seeman Publishing, 1975.
 * Valley and the Hills: An Illustrated History of Birmingham and Jefferson County. 1981
 * 1991-
 * Lynne B. Feldman, A Sense of Place: Birmingham's Black Middle Class Community, 1890-1930 (Tuscaloosa, 1999)
 * 1991-
 * Lynne B. Feldman, A Sense of Place: Birmingham's Black Middle Class Community, 1890-1930 (Tuscaloosa, 1999)
 * Lynne B. Feldman, A Sense of Place: Birmingham's Black Middle Class Community, 1890-1930 (Tuscaloosa, 1999)
 * Lynne B. Feldman, A Sense of Place: Birmingham's Black Middle Class Community, 1890-1930 (Tuscaloosa, 1999)
 * Lynne B. Feldman, A Sense of Place: Birmingham's Black Middle Class Community, 1890-1930 (Tuscaloosa, 1999)
 * Lynne B. Feldman, A Sense of Place: Birmingham's Black Middle Class Community, 1890-1930 (Tuscaloosa, 1999)
 * Lynne B. Feldman, A Sense of Place: Birmingham's Black Middle Class Community, 1890-1930 (Tuscaloosa, 1999)