The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Pre-Colonial
50,000–45,000 BP – Near Penrith, a far western suburb of Sydney, numerous Aboriginal stone tools were found in Cranebrook Terraces gravel sediments dating to this time period; at first when these results were new they were controversial. More recently in 1987 and 2003, dating of the same strata has revised and corroborated these dates.
30,000 BP – Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity occurred in and around the Sydney basin, as evidenced by an archaeological dig in Parramatta, in Western Sydney. The finds show that the Aboriginal Australians in that region used charcoal, stone tools and possible ancient campfires.
21,100–17,800 BP – Stone artifact assemblages dating to this time period discovered in Shaws Creek (near Hawkesbury River) and in Blue Mountains. A rock shelter with flakes dating to this period discovered near Nepean River.
5,000–7000 BP – The Sydney rock engravings, a form of Australian Aboriginal rock art consisting of carefully drawn images of people, animals, or symbols, date to this time period.
4,000–2,000 BC – The first backed stone artifacts developed, such as blades and spears. The stones would drill, scrape, cut and grind material. They were also associated with woodworking.
1,000–500 BC – Bone and shell usage dating to this period discovered. They would've been attached to fishing spear prongs, which would mean that multi-pronged fishing spears occurred at this time. The evidence of spear-throwing is suggested by an excavated shell in Balmoral Beach.
c 500 CE – Likely large tsunami.
18th–19th centuries
1770s–1790s
1770 – Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook, in command of HMS Endeavour, sights the east coast of Australia and lands at Kurnell.
1779 – Joseph Banks gives evidence supporting a colony in Botany Bay.
1783 – James Matra proposes colony in New South Wales.
1786 – British government decides to found convict settlement in Botany Bay.
1787 – First Fleet of eleven vessels under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth.
1788
Phillip arrives in Botany Bay but moves site of settlement to Sydney Cove.
French vessels under the command of Lapérouse land in Botany Bay.
Parramatta founded.
Convict Henry Kable successfully sues ship's master for stealing his goods on voyage.
Punitive expedition after killing of two convicts by aborigines fails to find any culprits.
1789
Smallpox epidemic kills many of indigenous population.
Rose Hill Packet built for service on Parramatta River.
Six marines hanged for theft from government stores.
Farquhar's comedy 'The Recruiting Officer' performed by convicts.
1790
Phillip speared by Willemering at Manly Cove.
Second Fleet arrives with many deaths and convicts in poor condition.
William Dawes creates word-list of Dharug language with the help of Patyegarang.
Glebe granted as endowment to Church of England.
1791
Successful convict farmer James Ruse granted land at Rosehill.
Convict station established at Old Toongabbie.
Mary Bryant and other convicts escape by open boat to Timor.
Third Fleet arrives with provisions.
First convicts arrive from Ireland in the Queen.
1792
Burial Ground established.
Visit of first trading vessels, the Philadelphia and Hope from America.
Phillip returns to England, accompanied by Bennelong and Yemmerrawanne.
1793
John and Elizabeth Macarthur begin building Elizabeth Farm at Rosehill.
Visit of Malaspina's Spanish exploratory expedition.
First free settlers arrive on the Bellona.
First church built.
Watkin Tench's Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson published in London.
1794 – Maurice Margarot and four other radical political prisoners arrive.
1795
Bennelong returns from visit to England.
Descendants of cattle that had escaped in 1788 found at Cowpastures (Camden).
First printing press used to print government orders.
Complex legal case Boston v Laycock over shooting of pig by soldier.
Initiation ceremony of 15 indigenous youths at Farm Cove.
1796
White population: 4,000.
Political prisoner Thomas Muir escapes on American ship.
Bushranger "Black Caesar" shot and killed.
First theatre opens.
1797
Prospect, a western Sydney suburb, became the boundary between colonists and indigenous Australians. Hostility grew where a state of guerrilla warfare existed between indigenous people and the settler communities at Prospect and Parramatta. The aboriginal people were led by their leader, Pemulwuy, a member of the Bidjigal tribe who occupied the land.
First windmill.
First merino sheep brought from Cape of Good Hope by Captain Waterhouse.
Three survivors of Sydney Cove shipwreck reach Sydney after walking from Gippsland.
1798
First church burns down.
David Collins' An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales published in London.
Arrival of London Missionary Society preacher Rowland Hassall.
1799 – Five men convicted of murdering two aboriginals on the Hawkesbury but not punished.
1800s–1840s
1800 – Hundreds of rebels of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 arrive as convicts.
1801
Female Orphan School first state charitable institution.
Lieutenant Governor Paterson wounded by John Macarthur in a duel.
1802
Visit of Baudin's French exploratory expedition.
Matthew Flinders departs Sydney on Investigator for circumnavigation of Australia, accompanied by Bungaree.
Pemulwuy shot and killed.
1803
Sydney Gazette newspaper begins publication.
First Vaucluse House built.
First officially-permitted Catholic masses said by Fr Dixon.
Masonic meeting broken up by order of the Governor.
1804
Castle Hill convict rebellion
Fort Phillip construction begins.
1805 – first whaling vessels based in Sydney.
1806 – Visit of Russian ship Neva en route to Alaska.
1807
Surveyor James Meehan draws detailed plan of Sydney Town.
Merchant Robert Campbell establishes first shipbuilding yard at Kirribilli.
1808 – New South Wales Corps depose Governor Bligh in Rum Rebellion.
1810
Macquarie Street laid out and Hyde Park reserved as a public park.
First post office opened, with Isaac Nichols postmaster.
Liverpool founded.
Maori chief Ruatara stays with Rev Samuel Marsden at Parramatta and prepares mission to New Zealand.
1811 – Mary Reibey inherits and expands the business interests of her husband Thomas Reibey.
1813
Crossing of Blue Mountains opens route from Sydney to west.
Benevolent Society founded as charity for general purposes.
First steam engine imported.
Middles punched out of 40,000 Spanish dollars to create Holey dollar local coinage.
1814 – Native Institution established for education of black children.
1815 – Sydney connected to inland by Cox's Road over Blue Mountains.
1816
Macquarie revives annual Aboriginal Feast Day at Parramatta.
Royal Botanic Gardens open.
Sydney Hospital built.
Cadmans Cottage built at The Rocks.
1817
Bank of New South Wales established.
Construction of Fort Macquarie begun on Bennelong Point.
Surveyor John Oxley departs to explore the Lachlan River.
1818
Macquarie Lighthouse operational.
Arrival of John Shying, first known Chinese immigrant.
1819
Hyde Park Barracks built.
Design of St James' Church commissioned from Francis Greenway.
Visit of de Freycinet's French exploratory expedition.
Land in north-western Sydney granted to aboriginal guides Colebee and Nurragingy.
14-year-old aboriginal girl at Parramatta wins first prize in school examinations.
1820
Devonshire Street Cemetery established.
Deaths from flu epidemic.
1821
First Catholic church, St Mary's, begins construction.
Philosophical Society (later Royal Society of New South Wales) founded.
1822 – Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales founded.
1823 – Sydney Royal Easter Show begins.
1824
St James' Church consecrated.
New South Wales Supreme Court proclaimed.
The Australian newspaper begins publication.
1825 – New South Wales Legislative Council established in Sydney.
1826
Scots Church opened.
Eliza Darling establishes the first friendly society, the Female Friendly Society of the Town of Sydney.
Sydney Australian Subscription Library and Reading Room founded.
Visiting painter Augustus Earle paints portraits of leading citizens.
1827 – Australian Museum established.
1828
Thieves steal some £14,000 in Bank of Australia robbery.
North Head begins use as quarantine station.
1831
Weekly Sydney Herald newspaper begins publication.
The King's School, Parramatta founded.
Land granted to indigenous woman Maria Lock and her white husband.
1833
Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts founded.
Randwick Racecourse opened.
Theatre Royal opened.
Eight killed in explosion of brig Ann Jameson at King's Wharf.
1834
John Bede Polding appointed first Catholic bishop.
Markets consolidated at Paddy's Markets site at Haymarket.
Australian Union Benefit Society formed to support workers in distress.
Commercial Banking Company of Sydney founded.
1835 – Tooth & Co build Kent Brewery at Blackwattle Creek.
1836
Visit of Charles Darwin on voyage of the Beagle.
First Anglican bishop installed.
Great North Road completed connecting Sydney to Hunter Valley.
1837
Government House and Botany-Sydney aqueduct built.
James Mudie's The Felonry of New South Wales defames many leading citizens.
1838
Seven perpetrators of Myall Creek Massacre hanged.
David Jones (shop) in business.
Australian Club founded.
1839
Penal establishment for secondary punishment opened on Cockatoo Island.
First ice imported to Sydney from Boston.
1840
Farmers & Co. in business.
Visiting Maori chiefs' attempted sale of South Island to W.C. Wentworth and associates prevented by Governor Gipps.
1841
Caroline Chisholm establishes Female Immigrants Home
Darlinghurst Gaol in operation.
Scarlet fever epidemic.
First photograph in Australia.
Construction begun of Victoria Barracks in Paddington.
Street gas lights turned on, supplied by Australian Gas Light Company
1842
City incorporated; city council elected.
Area of city: 11.65 square kilometres (approximate).
Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney established.
1843
Depth of depression with failures of Bank of Australia and Sydney Banking Company.
Riot during campaign for first elected Legislative Council.
1844 – Hero of Waterloo Hotel built.
1846
Hero's welcome to Ludwig Leichhardt on his return from overland expedition to Port Essington.
First Australian meat canning plant opened.
Opening of Pitt Street Congregational Church.
1847
Isaac Nathan's opera Don John of Austria produced at Royal Victoria Theatre.
Herman Melville's Omoo describes a whaling voyage from Sydney.
1848
House of the Good Shepherd and Sydney Female Refuge founded as women's refuges.
First shipment of Irish Famine orphans arrives on the Earl Grey.
1849
Arrival of Hashemy, last convict transport.
Foundation of AMP Society to provide life insurance.
1850s–1890s
1850
University of Sydney established.
Freeman's Journal newspaper begins publication.
1851 – Parliamentarian Stuart Donaldson and explorer Thomas Mitchell fight last known duel in Australia.
1852 – University of Sydney appoints first professors, John Woolley, Morris Birkbeck Pell and John Smith.
1853 – Manly ferry services begin.
1854
Sydney Cricket Ground opens.
St Paul's College, Sydney University founded.
1855
First New South Wales Government Railways train operates from Redfern to Parramatta.
Sydney Mint established in General Hospital and Dispensary building.
Stonemasons first workers to win Eight-hour day.
Lola Montez shocks theatregoers with her "libertinish and indelicate" Spider Dance.
1856
First Pyrmont Bridge built.
St Philip's Church rebuilt.
Anglican Moore Theological College opens.
First Australian medical school established at Sydney University.
1857
Wreck of Dunbar at The Gap kills 121.
Fitzroy Dock dry dock completed on Cockatoo Island Dockyard.
St Vincent's Hospital founded by Sisters of Charity.
St John's College, Sydney University founded.
Construction of Fort Denison completed.
Australian Museum opened to the public.
1858
Sydney Observatory built.
Royal Navy takes over Garden Island for use as naval base.
1859
Parliamentary electoral districts of East Sydney and West Sydney created.
Great Hall of the University of Sydney completed.
1861
Thomas Sutcliffe Mort establishes freezing works at Darling Harbour.
First horse-drawn trams run from Circular Quay to Redfern station.
Population: 95,000 city and suburbs.
1863 – Imprisoned bushranger Captain Thunderbolt escapes from Cockatoo Island by swimming.
1865 – St Mary's Cathedral destroyed by fire.
1866 – Bridge St building demolished in nitroglycerine explosion.
1867
Henry Kendall's poem Bell-Birds published in Sydney Morning Herald.
Measles epidemic kills some 750, mostly young children.
First burials at Rookwood Cemetery.
1868
Belmore Park opens.
St Andrew's Cathedral consecrated.
Prince Alfred survives shooting by Irishman Henry O'Farrell at Clontarf.
First mention of Granny Smith apple, discovered by Maria Smith at Ryde.
1869 – State Government purchases Subscription Library and opens Sydney Free Public Library.
1871
Trades & Labor Council formed as peak union body.
Sydney Exchange and Academy of Art founded.
1872
Sydney connected to Europe by telegraph.
Fish market opens in Woolloomooloo.
Tooheys opens Darling Brewery.
1874 – Art Gallery of New South Wales opened.
1875 – Holtermann panorama of Sydney Harbour photographed.
1877 – Waverley Cemetery established near city.
1878
Great Synagogue completed.
Speakers' Corner established in The Domain.
Robinson-Finlay wedding takes place.
1879
St Aloysius College, Jesuit school established.
Sydney Riot of 1879 over unpopular umpiring decision.
Sydney International Exhibition held; Garden Palace built.
Art Gallery of New South Wales opens.
Opera House opens in King Street.
Dymocks Bookseller in business.
New South Wales Zoological Society founded.
Royal National Park established near city.
Joseph Conrad's first visit to Sydney.
1880
The Bulletin magazine first published.
Jesuit school Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview established on Lane Cove River.
Children's Hospital opened.
Wirth's Circus begun.
1881
Population: 237,300 city and suburbs.
First telephone exchange.
Coast Hospital (later Prince Henry) for infectious diseases opened at Little Bay.
1882
Sydney Showground opens.
St Mary's Cathedral consecrated.
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital opened.
Garden Palace destroyed by fire.
Construction of Eveleigh Railway Workshops begun.
Sydney Technical College formed, incorporating Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts.
Royal Easter Show moves to Moore Park site.
The Australian Golf Club established.
1883
Melbourne–Sydney railway built.
Sydney High School and Sydney Wharf Labourers Union established.
Sydney University Medical School founded by Professor Anderson Stuart.
Sydney Cricket Ground hosts third and fourth tests in first test tour in Australia.