Timeline
8000BCE Agricultural settlements start
4000BCE Birth of the world's first city, Urak, in what is now Iraq
3300BCE Cities spring up along the Nile River
2240BCE In what is now Pakistan, cities are born along the Indus River
2000BCE China sees cities develop along its Yellow River
612BCE Babylon is the world's largest city with about 200,000 inhabitants
100 Rome is the world's most populated city, with nearly half a million inhabitants
1000 With a population of 450,000 people Cordoba is the world's most populated city
1666 Great Fire of London destroys large parts of the city. Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) commissioned to advise on rebuilding of the city and designs the new St Paul's Cathedral, started in 1675
1750 Britain's conquest of India begins
1773 Boston Tea Party – American colonists throw tea cargos into sea in protest at British tax
1774 Reforms to prisons begun at the behest of John Howard
1775 James Watt invents steam engine. The pace of industrialisation and urbanisation accelerates as a result
1775 American War of Independence from Britain begins. American Declaration of Independence follows in 1776. War with America continues until 1783
1768 Colonial expansion continues as Captain James Cook travels to the south Pacific
1807 British slave trade abolished
1800 With a population in excess of one million people, Beijing is the world's most populated city
1800 Cities house 3% of the world's people
1830 Age of the railway begins
1833 Slaves set free by Britain
1833 Child labour regulated and workhouses, homes with compulsory labour, introduced for down and outs under Poor Laws
1880s Skyscrapers evolve in US, using steel or concrete frames or skeleton structures to build high
1843 First European underground sewers in Hamburg, Germany which would mark a breakthrough against waterborne diseases
1851 Paxton's revolutionary Great Exhibition glass and steel edifice displays Britain's prowess to the world
1885 Benz builds and runs first internal combustion engine powerful enough to compete with steam. Within 20 years, Henry Ford founds the Ford Motor Company to mass-produce the motor car
1887 Seven years after its invention by Alexander Graham Bell, there are in excess of 100,000 telephone users worldwide
1900 London is the most populated city in the world, with 6.5 million people
1900 Cities house 14% of the world's people
1901 Marconi transmits radio waves from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland
1903 Groundbreaking flight achieved by Wright brothers, who pioneer powered flight. Within a couple of decades a commercial air industry is taking shape, with jets and rockets developed shortly afterwards
1950 With a population of 12.5 million, New York takes the lead as the world's largest city
1975 Tokyo overtakes as the world's largest city, with a population of nearly 20 million
1975 Cities house almost 40% of the world's population
1979 Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher's aggressive commerce-led policies privatise key state-owned industries, such as rail. Much of the industry that characterised UK cities collapses, leading to large scale exodus of people from northern industrial cities to more service-led cities of the south
1997 Labour returns to office on a platform of regenerating cities and the public facilities, such as health, transport and education
1998 Cities house nearly 50% of the world's five billion population
2000 Mexico City becomes the world's most populated city with slightly more than 26 million people
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