Timeline of Lubumbashi

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

20th century

1900s-1950s

• 1909
  • 1 September: Elisabethville site designated seat of Katanga province; named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium.^[1]
  • 27 September: Sakania-Elisabethville railway [fr] begins operating.^[1]
• 1910
  • Union Minière du Haut Katanga (mining entity) active.
  • Hôpital Gécamines Sud [fr] (hospital) and Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of Katanga^[2] established.
  • Population: 360.^[3]
  • Émile Wangermée becomes vice governor-general of Katanga.^[1]
• 1910s - "Governor's Residence and Imara and Twendelee schools" built.^[1]
• 1911
  • Journal du Katanga newspaper begins publication.^[4]
  • Population: 1,000.^[3]
  • Etoile mining begins near Elisabethville.^{[citation needed]}
  • Catholic schools Institut Marie-José and Collège Saint-François de Sales established.^(fr)
• 1912
  • Racially segregated "native city" established per ordinance.^[1]
  • Elisabethville becomes seat of Upper Luapula district.^[1]
• 1918 - Bukama-Elisabethville railway [fr] begins operating.
• 1919
  • Population: 8,000 (approximate).^[3]
  • Ruashi mining begins in vicinity of Elisabethville.^{[citation needed]}
• 1920
  • "Management of the Union Minière was transferred from the British to the Belgians."^[3]
  • Catholic Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral built.^{[chronology citation needed]}
• 1920s - "Makutano Club, Jerusalem United Methodist Church, and the Jewish synagogue" built.^[1]
• 1921 - Development of Albert I township begins.^[1]
• 1928
  • Port-Francqui-Elisabethville railway [fr] begins operating.
  • L'Essor du Congo newspaper begins publication.^[4]
• 1930s- "Courthouse and Mazembe stadium" built.^[1]
• 1931 - L'Écho du Katanga newspaper begins publication.^[4]
• 1932 - Wallace Memorial Church built.^[5]
• 1937 - Musée d'Élisabethville [fr] (museum) founded.
• 1939 - Football clubs FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo and FC Saint-Georges formed.
• 1941
  • Elisabethville attains city status.^[1]
  • Development of Kenya township begins.^[1]
• 1944 - Premiere of Joseph Kiwele's Cantate à la gloire de la Belgique.^[6]
• 1945 - Union Africaine des Arts et Lettres founded.
• 1946 - Académie d'Art Populaire d'Elisabethville founded.^[7]
• 1949 - Athénée royal built.^[8]
• 1950 - Development of Katuba township begins.^[1]
• 1950s - "Post office,...CSK headquarters, the theater, St. Mary's Basilica, and the railway headquarters" built.^[1]
• 1951 - Académie des Beaux-Arts d'Elisabethville founded.
• 1954
  • Development of Ruashi township begins.^[1]
  • City seal in use.^[1]
• 1956 - Université officielle du Congo et du Rwanda-Urundi opens.^[4]
• 1957
  • City "divided into 5 communes, one for Europeans and 4 for Africans."^[1]
  • December: Local election [fr] held.^[9]
• 1959
  • Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Elisabethville established.^[2]
  • Population: 183,711 (estimate).^[10]

1960s-1990s

• 1960
  • June: City becomes part of independent Republic of the Congo.
  • July: City becomes capital of breakaway State of Katanga during the Congo Crisis.
  • Boniface Mwepu Katentakanya [fr] becomes bourgmestre (mayor).
• 1960s - "Gecamines tower and the 2 hospitals" built.^[1]
• 1961 - 15 September: Airport bombed by Katangese Air Force.
• 1963 - Mjumbe [ln] newspaper begins publication.^[11]
• 1964 - Stade Albert (stadium) opens.
• 1966 - City becomes capital of Katanga Province.
• 1967
  • La Générale des Carrières et des Mines (mining entity) headquartered in city.^[11]
  • Centre Culturel Français [fr] opens.
• 1970
  • Elisabethville renamed "Lubumbashi."^{[1][chronology citation needed]}
  • Musée national de Lubumbashi [fr] (museum) active.
• 1970s - "Hotel Karavia and Mobutu Stadium" built.^[1]
• 1971 - City becomes part of Shaba Province in the Republic of Zaire.
• 1972
  • Kampemba commune created.^{[citation needed]}
  • University's Centre d'études des littératures romanes d'inspiration africaine active.
• 1974 - Société nationale des Chemins de fer du Congo (national railway) headquartered in Lubumbashi.^[11]
• 1975 - Population: 480,875 (estimate).^[12]
• 1977 - Annexe (commune) [fr] created.^{[1][chronology citation needed]}
• 1981 - University of Lubumbashi active.
• 1984 - Population: 543,268.^[11]
• 1990 - May: Student demonstration at University of Lubumbashi; crackdown.^[11]
• 1994 - Population: 851,381 (estimate).^[13]
• 1997
  • April: Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo take city during the First Congo War.^[11]
  • Floribert Kaseba Makunko becomes mayor.
  • May: City becomes part of Democratic Republic of the Congo.

21st century

• 2007 - Moïse Katumbi becomes governor of Katanga Province.
• 2008 - Marie-Grégoire Tambila [fr] becomes mayor.
• 2010
  • Jean Oscar Sanguza Mutunda [fr] becomes mayor.
  • Congo Express airline (Kinshasa-Lubumbashi) begins operating.
  • Centennial of founding of city.
• 2011
  • February: Airport attacked by secessionist Tigers.^[14]
  • June: Unrest.^[14]
  • 7 September: Prison break; escapees include warlord Gédéon Kyungu.^[15][16]
  • Stade TP Mazembe (stadium) opens in Kamalondo.
• 2013 - March: Secessionist Mai-Mai Kata Katanga unrest.^[17]
• 2014 - January: Mai-Mai Kata Katanga unrest.^[18]
• 2015
  • City becomes capital of the newly formed Haut-Katanga Province.
  • Population: 2,015,502 (estimate).^[13]
• 2016 - December: Political protest.^[19]

See also

• Lubumbashi#History
• List of mayors of Lubumbashi [fr]
• List of cities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Timeline of Bukavu
• Timeline of Goma
• Timeline of Kinshasa
• Timeline of Kisangani