Timeline of Port Harcourt

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This is a timeline of the history of Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, Nigeria.

19th century

• 1869 – A civil war in the Bonny Kingdom splits the polity into rival houses; Jaja leads the Opobo (Opubo) group to found Opobo at the Imo River estuary, reshaping trade routes across the Bonny–Imo river corridor near the future Port Harcourt area.^[1][2]
• 1884–1885 – Britain proclaims the Oil Rivers Protectorate over the Niger Delta (confirmed in the wake of the Berlin Conference), extending consular jurisdiction over the Bonny River approaches and adjacent creeks.^[3][4]
• 1893 – The Oil Rivers Protectorate is renamed the Niger Coast Protectorate, consolidating British administration across the eastern Niger Delta prior to amalgamation into Southern Nigeria in 1900.^[5][6]

20th century

Port Harcourt in the 1930s

• 1925 – Braithwaite Memorial Hospital (now Rivers State University Teaching Hospital) begins operating.^[7]
• 1961 – Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Harcourt established.^[8]
• 1965 – Port Harcourt Refining Company founded at Alesa-Eleme.^[9]
• 1971 – Newspaper The Tide begins publication.^[10]
• 1972
  • Rivers State College of Science and Technology opens (later Rivers State University).^[11]
  • Sharks F.C. formed in Port Harcourt.^[12]
• 1975
  • University College, Port Harcourt created (later the University of Port Harcourt).^[13]
  • Port Harcourt Zoo established.^[14]
• 1977 – University College gains university status and becomes the University of Port Harcourt.^[15]
• 1980
  • Rivers State University of Science and Technology replaces Rivers State College of Science and Technology (now Rivers State University).^[16]
  • University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital begins operation.^[17]
• 1981 – Radio Rivers begins broadcasting.^[18]
• 1984 – Rivers State School of Basic Studies commences in Port Harcourt.^[19]
• 1985 – Rivers State Television (RSTV) inaugurated.^[20]
• 1988 – Dolphins football club founded.^[21]
• 1993 – Sister-city relationship with Kansas City formed.^[22]
• 1995 – Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine are buried in Port Harcourt Cemetery.^[23]
• 1996 – Meridian Hospital begins operating.^[24]
• 1999 – Rivers State School of Basic Studies is revamped and renamed Rivers State College of Arts and Science.^[25]

21st century

• 2001 – Liberation Stadium (now Yakubu Gowon Stadium) opens.^[26]

• 2004
  • National Network newspaper begins publication.^[27]

• 2005 – Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashes.^{[citation needed]}

• 2006
  • Port Harcourt International Airport stops operations for maintenance.^{[citation needed]}

• 2008
  • Garden City Literary Festival begins (later renamed Port Harcourt Book Festival).^[28]
  • Street Rhymes Studios opens for business.^{[citation needed]}

• 2009 – Port Harcourt International Airport named Nigeria's third-busiest airport.^{[citation needed]}

• 2010 – Bus electrocutions accident occurs in the region.^{[citation needed]}

• 2011 – 91.7 FM begins broadcasting.^[29]

• 2012
  • Port Harcourt selected 2014 World Book Capital.^[30]
  • Massacre of four Uniport students (Aluu killings).^[31]

• 2013
  • Kelsey Harrison Hospital and Rivers State Dental and Maxillofacial Hospital begin operations.^[32]
  • I'm on Fire becomes a successful Port Harcourt–based mixtape release.^{[citation needed]}
  • Port Harcourt International Fashion Week begins.^{[citation needed]}
  • Garden City Literary Festival is renamed the Port Harcourt Book Festival.^[33]

• 2014 – Port Harcourt hosts the World Book Capital programme events.^[34]

See also

• Timelines of other cities in Nigeria: Ibadan, Kano, Lagos