Timeline of Kharkiv

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

Prior to 20th century

Historical affiliations

Zaporozhian Cossacks under Tsardom of Russia 1654–1721
Russian Empire 1721–1917
Ukrainian People's Republic 1917–1918
Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic 1918
Ukrainian People's Republic 1918–1919
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic 1919–1922
Soviet Ukraine 1922–1941
Nazi Germany 1941–1943 (occupation)
Soviet Ukraine 1943–1991
Ukraine 1991–present

• 1654 – Kharkiv founded by Zaporozhian Cossacks (regiment's capital of Kharkiv Regiment).
• 1689 – Church of the Intercession (Kharkiv) [uk] built.^[1]
• 1734 – Kharkov Collegium founded.^[2]
• 1764 – Church of the Holy Trinity built.^[1]
• 1765 – Town becomes capital of Sloboda Ukraine governetore in Russian Empire.^[2]
• 1777 – Assumption Cathedral built.^[1]
• 1797 – Town becomes part of the Kharkov Governorate.
• 1805 – Kharkiv University established.^[2]
• 1817 – Population: 12,892.^[3]
• 1820 – Building of Noble Assembly, Kharkiv [ru] constructed on Market Square, Kharkiv [ru].
• 1835 – Town becomes capital of Kharkov Governorate.^[2]
• 1867 – Population: 59,968.^[4]
• 1868 – Railway begins operating.^[2]
• 1878 – Student protest.^[5]
• 1882
  • Jewish Bilu group moves to Palestine.^[6]
  • Population: 133,139.^[7]
• 1885 – Technological Institute founded.^[8]
• 1886 - Kharkiv Public Library^[9] and Museum of Art and Industry^[10] established.
• 1893 – Myronosytska Church rebuilt.^[1]
• 1895 – Kharkov Locomotive Factory begins operating.
• 1897 – Population: 170,682.
• 1900
  • Revolutionary Ukrainian Party founded in city.^[2]
  • Population: 197,405.^[4]

20th century

Kharkiv at the turn of the 20th century

• 1901 – Annunciation Cathedral consecrated.^[1]
• 1903 – "People's palace" established.^[4]
• 1906 – Tram begins operating.^{[citation needed]}
• 1913
  • Choral Synagogue built.
  • Population: 258,360.^[11]
• 1917 – December: First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets (Kharkiv) held in city.
• 1918
  • February: City becomes capital of Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic.^[2]
  • April: troops loyal to the Ukrainian People's Republic take control of Kharkiv together with the German Army.^[12]
• 1919
  • January: Kharkiv taken by the Red Army.
  • March: Annual congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) begins in Kharkiv.
  • June: Kharkiv taken by the White Army.
  • December: Kharkiv retaken by the Red Army.
• 1920
  • City becomes capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.^[2]
  • Museum of History opens.^[10]
• 1921
  • Polish diplomatic mission established.^[13]
  • Futurist Komkosmos group formed.^[14]
• 1922 - City becomes part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
• 1924 - Kharkov Steam Locomotive Plant housing built.^[1]
• 1925 - Football Club Metalist Kharkiv formed.
• 1926
  • Traktor Stadium opens.
  • Population: 417,342.^[15]
• 1927
  • Nova Generatsiia literary journal begins publication.^[1]
  • Morozov Design Bureau (arms industry) established.
• 1928
  • Modernist Derzhprom building and Construction Workers Club built.^[1][16]
  • Literaturnyi iarmarok journal begins publication.^[17]
• 1929
  • Institute of Political Education established.
  • Palace of Labor, and textile workers' club built.^[1]
• 1930
  • International Conference of Revolutionary Writers held in city.^[14]
  • National Aerospace University – Kharkiv Aviation Institute founded.
• 1932
  • Holodomor (famine).^[18]
  • City becomes part of the Kharkiv Oblast.
• 1933 - House of Trade and House of Planning Organizations^[1] and KhTZ Stadium built.
• 1934
  • Ukrainian SSR capital relocated from Kharkov to Kiev.^[15]
  • Kharkov Opera House [uk] opens.
  • International Hotel built.^[1]
  • Red Factory Theatre built (approximate date).^{[citation needed]}
• 1935
  • College of Textile and Design established.^{[citation needed]}
  • Shevchenko monument erected in Postyshev Park [ru].^[1]
• 1939 – Population: 833,432.^[15]
• 1940 – April–May: Execution of Polish officers in Kharkov [ru] as part of the Katyn massacre.^[19]

German troops entering Kharkiv in 1941

• 1941
  • 1,200 political prisoners burned alive by the retreating Soviets in the Kharkiv tragedy.
  • 20–24 October: First Battle of Kharkov; Germans in power.
  • Nazi prison established by the Germans.^[20]
• 1942 – 12–28 May: Second Battle of Kharkov.
• 1943
  • 19 February-15 March: Third Battle of Kharkov.
  • 12–23 August: Fourth Battle of Kharkov; Soviets in power.
• 1947 – Zerkalʹnaya struya (fountain) built.
• 1954
  • Kharkov Airport opens.
  • Institute of Fire Safety established.^[21]
• 1959 - Population: 934,136.
• 1962 - Institute of Radioelectronics established.^{[citation needed]}
• 1964
  • Lenin monument erected in Dzerzhinsky Square.
  • Kharkiv State Academy of Culture active.
• 1965 – Population: 1,070,000.^[22]
• 1972 – 18 May: Airplane crash occurs near city.
• 1975 – Kharkiv Metro begins operating.
• 1979 – Population: 1,485,000.^[23]
• 1981 - Kharkiv TV Tower erected.
• 1984 - Kharkiv Metro Bridge opens.
• 1985 - Population: 1,554,000.^[24]
• 1988 – Museum of Literature established.^[10]
• 1989
  • Population: 1,609,959.
  • Sister city relationship established with Cincinnati, USA.^[25]
• 1990
  • UkrSibbank (bank) headquartered in city.
  • Mykola Lysenko Kharkiv Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre [uk] built.
• 1991 – City becomes part of independent Ukraine.^[26]
• 1995 - 1995 Kharkiv drinking water disaster.

21st century

• 2001 - Population: 1,470,902.
• 2002 - Roman Catholic Diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia established.^[27]
• 2004 – Palace of Sports "Lokomotiv" arena opens.
• 2006 – 22 April: Supermarket bombings.
• 2010 – Hennadiy Kernes becomes mayor.
• 2012
  • June: Some UEFA Euro 2012 football games played in Kharkiv.
  • 15 December: Beheadings
• 2014
  • 28 April: Attempted assassination of mayor Kernes.
  • Kharkiv Battalion established.
  • Population: 1,451,132.

War damages after a Russian airstrike in 2022

• 2015 – 22 February: Bombing.
• 2018 – Population: 1,430,515 (estimate).^[28]
• 2021 – 21 January: Fire.
• 2022 – 24 February: Battle against Russia Begins.

See also

• History of Kharkiv
• Other names of Kharkiv (e.g. Charkow, Harkov, Kharkoff, Kharkow)
• List of mayors of Kharkiv