Timeline of Kobe

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Kobe, Japan.

Prior to 20th century

 * 3rd century CE – Ikuta Shrine founded.
 * 1868
 * Port of Kobe opens.
 * Hiogo and Osaka Herald English-language newspaper begins publication.
 * 1870 – Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club established.
 * 1872 – Minatogawa Shrine established.
 * 1878 – Kobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry founded.
 * 1884 – (newspaper) begins publication.
 * 1887 – Population: 103,969.
 * 1889 – Tōkaidō Main Line railway (Tokyo-Kobe) begins operating.
 * 1893 – Population: 153,382.
 * 1896 – Kinetoscope demonstrated at the Shinko Club.
 * 1898
 * Kobe Shimbun (newspaper) begins publication.
 * Population: 215,780.

20th century

 * 1902
 * founded.
 * Kawasaki Dockyard built.
 * 1903
 * Kobe Golf Club formed.
 * Population: 283,839.
 * 1905 – Kobe Seikosho in business.
 * 1907 – City emblem designed.
 * 1908 – Population: 378,197.
 * 1913 – Population: 442,167.
 * 1918 – Population: 592,726.
 * 1920 – Population: 664,471.
 * 1921 – Kobe Light Wave Society formed.
 * 1925 – Population: 644,212.
 * 1926 – Kobe Electric Railway established.
 * 1930 – Ashiya Camera Club formed.
 * 1931 – Nishi city ward established.
 * 1933
 * Hyōgo city ward established.
 * Port Festival begins.
 * 1935 – Population: 912,179
 * 1936
 * Railway Sannomiya Station in operation.
 * Kobe Bank established.
 * 1938 – Flooding.
 * 1939 – Kawasaki Heavy Industries in business.
 * 1940 – Population: 967,234.
 * 1942 – April 18: Aerial bombing by US forces.
 * 1945
 * March 16–17: Bombing of Kobe in World War II.
 * Population: 379,166.
 * 1946 – Tarumi city ward and Kobe Municipal College of Foreign Affairs established.
 * 1949 – Kobe University established.
 * 1950
 * November: Korean-related occurs.
 * Population: 765,435.
 * 1951 – Kobe Oji Zoo founded.
 * 1955 – Population: 979,920.
 * 1956 – Kobe designated a government ordinance city.
 * 1957 – Sister city relationship established with Seattle, USA.
 * 1963 – Kobe Port Tower built.
 * 1967 – Kobe Carnival begins.
 * 1970 – Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art opens.
 * 1971 – (festival) begins.
 * 1972 – Sanyō Shinkansen (hi-speed train) begins operating; Shin-Kobe Station opens.
 * 1975
 * Nuclear-armed vessels prohibited from Kobe Port.
 * built.
 * Population: 1,360,000.
 * 1977 – Subway Seishin-Yamate Line begins operating.
 * 1981 - The first fully Automated guideway transit driverless people mover train technology introduced on Port Island Line.
 * 1981 – opens.
 * 1982 – Kobe City Museum opens.
 * 1988 – Subway Hokushin Line begins operating.
 * 1989 – built.
 * 1991 – built.
 * 1993 – Artificial Rokkō Island created.
 * 1995
 * 17 January: The 6.9 Great Hanshin earthquake shakes the southern Hyōgo Prefecture with a maximum Shindo of VII, leaving 5,502–6,434 people dead, and 251,301–310,000 displaced in the region.
 * June: Post-earthquake city "Restoration Plan" published.
 * December: Kobe Luminarie festival begins.
 * Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel in business.
 * 1996
 * October: Earthquake-damaged Hanshin Expressway rebuilt.
 * Animation Kobe event begins.
 * 1997 – Eco Asia meets in Kobe.
 * 1998 – Akashi Kaikyō Bridge built.
 * 2000 – Population: 1,493,595.

21st century

 * 2001 – Subway Kaigan Line begins operating; Harborland Station opens.
 * 2002 – Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art building opens.
 * 2006 – Kobe Airport opens.
 * 2007 – opens.
 * 2010 – Population: 1,544,200.
 * 2013
 * Kizō Hisamoto becomes mayor.
 * opens.