1010: First citadel built by Ly Thai To in Hanoi. ‘Thang Long’ and the Dai Viet kingdom of the Red River delta flourishes. “All paths cross here”
1049: One Pillar Pagoda built
1070: Temple of Literature
To 1226: Chinese invasions repelled. Tran dynasty begins
1230: Hanoi is divided into 61 districts
1258: Mongols sack the city
1272: First water puppet show recorded
1285: Mongol invaders burn Hanoi but lose
1288: Third Mongol invasion but at the battle of Bach Dang, Tran Hung Dao ousts them again
14th century: Peace, commerce and scholarship – Le Van Huu, Chu Van An, Mac Dinh Chi
1371, 1377 &1378: Kingdom of Champa from the south pillages Hanoi
1407: Chinese Ming Dynasty rule
1428: defeat of Ming Chinese by Le Loi and beginning of Le Dynasty
15th to 18th century Hanoi was one of the largest Asian trading ports
1484: Steles erected in the Temple of Literature
1510-1522: Civil unrest in the capital
1514: Le Tuong Duc enlarged the city and citadel with a sewage outflow covered with grates
1588: Trinh Tung set the area ablaze
1592: inter clan war between Trinh and Nguyen lords destroyed much of the city
1600s: Le kings built first Flag Tower dedicated to the god of war and fire
1627: Alexandre de Rhodes visits
1631: Huge fire destroys much of Hanoi
1645-1700: Dutch merchants set up businesses for trade
1683-1697: British arrive to trade
1771: Tay Son brothers invaded, burned and then started to rebuild Hanoi using bricks from the palace for the city walls
1786: Tay Son rebel forces torched the palace and 2/3 of the city
1802: Nguyen Anh/Gia Long first Nguyen Emperor.
1802-1805: Hue capital built and Emperor Gia Long moved the capital to Hue. Numerous relics and buildings were moved as well. Hanoi became a regional capital. The citadel was built.
1821: Second flag tower built as an military observatory with lantern signals
1828-1837: numerous fires
1831: Hanoi was a provincial fortress and named Ha Noi
1835: Under Emperor Minh Mang onerous taxes on city dwellers were levied and many people fled. Hanoi became a ghost town. Later taxes were lowered and people returned.
1848: Emperor Tu Duc removed the last of the relics, artifacts and dismantled royal administrative buildings and sent the building materials to Hue.
1873: Henri Riviere attacked. General Nguyen Tri Phuong was wounded, taken prisoner and chose to starve to death.
1874: Trade concessions allowed the French to gain a foothold
1882: French attacked, seized the governor Hoang Dieu who committed suicide. Tonkin became a protectorate
1887: Cathedral built
1888: French concession developed
1902: Indochina officially designated, with Hanoi as capital. Doumer Bridge built (Thang Long Bridge)
1907: Short lived free school Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc on Hang Dao Street
1911: The Opera House was built
1912: Flag Tower rebuilt.
1914: 86,600 Vietnamese went to France to work or fight during WW 1. They returned with new ideas and skills. Between the wars Hanoi experiences an economic boom. Note the number of ‘French’ houses built at that time.
1921: Census states there were 4000 Europeans and 100,000 Vietnamese
1924: Ecole Francaise Extreme Orient proposes the Protection of National Monuments
1940: The Japanese invade and take over the administration. Their artillery is stored in the conference hall but explodes one night. It is now the site of the Friendship Palace. Except for that Hanoi emerges unscathed.
1945: On the 19th of August, Ho Chi Minh declares independence in Hanoi.
1946: War returns and street battles rage in Hanoi. Less than a dozen soldiers are left to hold off the French while the others, under cover of darkness retreat across the Red River with a sympathetic boatman. All who remained, including the boatman are hanged.
1954: The decisive battle of Dien Bien Phu signals the end of the French. Soldiers march into Hanoi to cheers.
1956: The north becomes the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, capital – Hanoi
1965: First air raids. Factories and children are moved out of Hanoi.
1972: More air raids
1975: April 30. Reunification and Hanoi again becomes the capital of Vietnam.
1986: Beginning of Doi Moi and the liberalization of the economy.
2003: SEA Games are a grand success and show off the new, open Hanoi
2006: WTO meeting held in Hanoi as Vietnam becomes a member
2008: Hanoi grows to include outlying districts
2010: Happy Birthday Hanoi