1649. Town of Providence (later Annapolis) founded.
1650, April. Providence erected as Annarundell County (now Anne Arundel County) (Chapter 7, Acts of 1650); named for Lady Anne Arundell (1615-1649), wife of Cecelius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore.
1652, July 5. Susquehannocks made treaty at Severn River, ceding Eastern Shore and Western Shore lands (except Kent Island & Palmer's Island) to English.
1654, Oct. Annarundell County renamed Providence County.
1655, March 25. Puritans from Virginia defeated Gov. William Stone's forces at Battle of the Severn.
1672, Oct. George Fox, founder of Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), preached at West River. Friends formed Baltimore Yearly Meeting.
1682, Dec. 13. William Penn met at Harwood with Charles Calvert, 3rd Lord Baltimore.
1694/5, Feb. 28 - March 1. Capital moved from St. Mary's City to Anne Arundel Town. Gov. Francis Nicholson (1655-1727/8) laid out plan for capital city.
1695, May. Anne Arundel Town renamed Annapolis.
1696. Construction began on new State House and probably on St. Anne's Church, Annapolis.
![[photo, McDowell Hall, St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/images/1198-1-1082.jpg)
1696. King William's School (later St. John's College) founded at Annapolis by Governor Nicholson and others.
1698. Construction completed on new State House, Annapolis.
1698-1704. County Court met at State House.
1704. Construction completed on St. Anne's Church, Annapolis.
McDowell Hall, St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland, April 2005. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1708, Nov. 22. Annapolis incorporated as a city (Chapter 7, Acts of 1708).
1709. Second Annapolis State House completed.
1709-1769. County Court continued to meet at State House.
1727, Sept. Maryland Gazette, first newspaper in the Chesapeake, published by William Parks at Annapolis (until 1734).
1737, Sept. 19. Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), signer of Declaration of Independence, born in Annapolis.
1743. Maryland Jockey Club founded in Annapolis.
1745. Jonas Green (1712-1767) revived Maryland Gazette.
1745. Tuesday Club formed in Annapolis.
1749, Feb. 7. Benjamin Ogle (1749-1809), Governor of Maryland, born in Annapolis.
1759. Curtis Creek Furnace established.
1764, March 17. William Pinkney (1746-1822), who served as U.S. Attorney General, 1811-14, born in Annapolis.
1767. Annapolis merchants sent Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) to London to study painting with Benjamin West.
1767-1775. Anne Catherine Green (c.1720-1775) continued publication of Maryland Gazette and became first woman publisher in the colonies.
1769-1824. County Court met in small building adjacent to State House.
1770-1772. Second Annapolis State House demolished.
![[photo, State House (from Francis St.), Annapolis, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/25ind/images/statehouse/1198-1-383.jpg)
1771, Sept. 9. First brick theater in America opened on West Street in Annapolis.
1772, March 28. Cornerstone laid for new State House in Annapolis.
1773, Jan. 7 - July 1. Maryland Gazette published debate between Daniel Dulany, Jr. ("Antilon") and Charles Carroll ("First Citizen") on Governor's right to set fees without legislative consent.
1774, June 22. First Provincial Convention (an extralegal body) met at Annapolis, and sent delegates to First Continental Congress.
1774, Oct. 19. Mob burned Peggy Stewart in Annapolis harbor.
1776, June 26. Departure of Robert Eden (1741-1784), Maryland's last colonial governor.
State House (from Francis St.), Annapolis, Maryland, May 2003. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1776, July 6. Maryland Convention declared independence from Great Britain.
1776, Aug. 14-Nov. 11. Constitutional Convention of 1776 (meeting of Ninth Provincial Convention).
1776, Nov. 3. Declaration of Rights (Maryland's Bill of Rights) adopted by Ninth Provincial Convention. Church of England disestablished.
1776, Nov. 8. First State Constitution adopted by Ninth Provincial Convention.
1777, Feb. 5. First General Assembly elected under State Constitution of 1776 met at Annapolis.
1777, Aug. 21. British Fleet of some 260 sail of war ships and transports sailed up Chesapeake Bay, seen from Annapolis. Governor and Council ordered capital city and forts evacuated, and guns and stores removed and secured.
1777, Aug. 22. Fleet Alarm; citing invasion of enemy, Gov. Thomas Johnson ordered companies of Western Shore militia battalions to neighborhood of Susquehanna River in Cecil and Harford Counties.
1777, Aug. 23. By this date, Treasury removed from Annapolis.
1777, Aug. 25. Gov. Thomas Johnson and Council adjourned to Baltimore Town, where government functions carried on until threat of attack subsided.
1777, Sept. 29. By this date, Gov. Thomas Johnson and Council returned to Annapolis.
1781, March-April. Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, encamped at Annapolis with Continental Light Infantrymen en route to Yorktown.
1781, Sept. 16-17. French troops under Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau, encamped at Belvoir en route to Yorktown.
1781, Sept. 21. Encamped at King William's School, French troops sailed from Annapolis to Yorktown.
1783, Nov. 26-1784, Aug. 19. Annapolis served as capital to newly forming American nation when Continental Congress met in the State House.
1783, Dec. 23. George Washington resigned commission as commander in chief of Continental Army in Old Senate Chamber at State House in Annapolis.
1784, Jan. 14. Treaty of Paris, ending Revolutionary War, ratified by Congress at Annapolis.
1784, Dec. 30. St. John's College established at Annapolis and merged with King William's School. General Assembly designated it, with Washington College, as University of Maryland.
1786, Sept. 11-14. Annapolis Convention of delegates from several states met at Mann's Tavern, Annapolis, to discuss revisions to Articles of Confederation. Maryland sent no representatives.
1789, Nov. 21. George Howard (1789-1846), Governor of Maryland, born in Annapolis.
1795, May 19. Johns Hopkins (1795-1873), financier and philanthropist, founder of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and The Johns Hopkins University, born in Whites Hall, Gambrills.
1796, May 21. Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876), who served as U.S. Attorney General, 1849-50, born in Annapolis.
1801-1803. John Francis Mercer (1759-1821) of Anne Arundel County served as Governor of Maryland.
1813, June 13. Chesapeake, first steamboat on Chesapeake Bay, traveled between Baltimore and Annapolis.
![[photo, Anne Arundel County Courthouse, Church Circle, Annapolis, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/an/images/1198-1-1064.jpg)
1824. County Courthouse opened at Church Circle, Annapolis.
1842, Jan. Slaveholders' convention met in State House in Annapolis.
1845, Oct. 10. Naval School founded at Annapolis, when Department of the Navy established officers' training school at Fort Severn.
Anne Arundel County Courthouse, Church Circle, Annapolis, Maryland, April 2005. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
![[photo, Naval Academy grounds, Annapolis, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/37mun/annapolis/images/i004554b.jpg)
1850. Naval School renamed U.S. Naval Academy.
1850, Nov. 4-1851, May 13. Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851 met in Annapolis.
1851, Sept. 11. William Parker, former slave from Anne Arundel County, resisted efforts of Edward Gorsuch of Baltimore County, Maryland, to recapture fugitive slaves at Christiana, Pennsylvania.
1852, Oct. 9. James Booth Lockwood (1852-1884), arctic explorer, born in Annapolis.
U.S. Naval Academy grounds, Annapolis, Maryland, May 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1864, April 27-Sept. 6. Constitutional Convention of 1864 met in Annapolis.
1867, May 8-Aug. 17. Constitutional Convention of 1867 held at Annapolis; Democrats rewrote constitution.
1873, April. William H. Butler, Sr. (c. 1829-1892), elected as Annapolis Alderman, first African American to hold elected office in Maryland.
1875, June 13. John Simms lynched at Annapolis.
1879. Maryland House of Correction opened at Jessup.
1884. Evening Capital newspaper founded by William Abbott at Annapolis.
1884, Nov. 26. George Briscoe lynched at New Bridge, Magothy River.
1898, Oct. 5. Wright Smith lynched at Annapolis.
1899, March 28. Architect Ernest Flagg began building program at U.S. Naval Academy with construction of Dahlgren Hall, first building of "new" Naval Academy.
1902, July 18. Annapolis Emergency Hospital opened at Franklin and Cathedral Sts.
1906, Dec. 1. First public performance of "Anchors Aweigh," composed by Charles A. Zimmerman, Naval Academy bandmaster, and midshipman Alfred Hart Miles, at Army-Navy football game; later dedicated to Class of 1907.
1906, Dec. 21. Henry Davis lynched at Annapolis.
1910, Dec. 5. New building for Annapolis Emergency Hospital dedicated on Franklin St.
1911. U.S. Navy used Greenbury Point, Annapolis, as air station.
1911, Dec. 26. King Johnson, lynched at Brooklyn.
1917, June 23. Federal government selected site for Camp Meade, initially known as Camp Annapolis Junction and Camp Admiral.
1919, June 19. Claiborne to Annapolis Ferry inaugurated.
1922, July 1. Highland Beach incorporated.
1922, Oct. 10. Ku Klux Klan rallied in Annapolis.
1928, March 2. Camp Meade redesignated as Fort Leonard Wood.
1929, March 5. Fort Leonard Wood redesignated as Fort George G. Meade.
1930, July. Annapolis to Matapeake (Kent Island) Ferry started.
1935. Hall of Records opened on the campus of St. John's College in Annapolis.
1937. St. John's College adopted Great Books curriculum.
1939. Ritchie Highway (MD Route 2), first divided highway in Maryland, connected Baltimore and Annapolis.
1940, April 27. Ritchie Highway (MD Route 2) officially opened with ceremony at Severn River Bridge, Anne Arundel County.
1941. Women's Prison of the State of Maryland (now Maryland Correctional Institution for Women) opened at Jessup.
1941. State Roads Commission took over Annapolis-Matapeake Ferry.
1943. Western Shore terminal of Annapolis-Matapeake Ferry moved to Sandy Point.
1943. Slot machines allowed by law in Anne Arundel County (Chapter 321, Acts of 1943).
1944. New Baltimore municipal airport near Linthicum Heights in Anne Arundel County recommended by Baltimore Aviation Commission.
1949, Nov. Annapolis Emergency Hospital renamed Anne Arundel General Hospital.
1950, June 24. Friendship International Airport (now BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport) began service in Anne Arundel County; named after Friendship Methodist Church on whose land airport was built.
1952. Historic Annapolis, Inc., founded by Anne St. Clair Wright.
1952, June 25. Sandy Point State Park opened on northwestern shore of Chesapeake Bay.
1952, July 30. Chesapeake Bay Bridge (now eastbound span) opened.
1952, Sept. First Anne Arundel County Fair held at Labrot Race Track near Sandy Point State Park.
1958, Oct. 1. James W. Rouse's Harundale Mall, Glen Burnie, opened; first enclosed shopping center in State.
1961, Jan. 2. Anne Arundel Community College founded as Anne Arundel Junior College.
1961, Sept. First classes of Anne Arundel Junior College held at Severna Park High School.
1963. Legislation passed to outlaw slot-machine gambling.
1963. Glen Burnie Mall opened.
1964. County Charter provided for elected County Council and County Executive.
1965, July 1. Chesapeake Bay Center for Field Biology founded near Edgewater.
![[photo, John A. Cade Center for Fine Arts, Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/images/1198-1-646.jpg)
1965-1974. Joseph W. Alton, Jr. (1919-2013) (Republican), County Executive.
1966. Second Chesapeake Bay Bridge authorized.
1966, Sept. Anne Arundel County schools desegregated.
1967, Sept. Anne Arundel Community College moved to its present Arnold campus.
John A. Cade Center for Fine Arts, Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, Maryland, January 2004. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1969. Chesapeake Bay Center for Field Biology near Edgewater renamed Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Studies.
1973. Annapolis Mall opened.
1973, June 28. Second parallel Chesapeake Bay Bridge (now westbound span) opened.
1973, Nov. 16. Friendship Airport renamed Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Airport.
1974-1982. Robert A. Pascal (Republican), County Executive.
![[photo, Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/an/images/buildings/1198-1-08617c.jpg)
1981. Evening Capital renamed The Capital newspaper.
1982-1990. O. James Lighthizer (Democrat), County Executive.
1983, July 1. Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Studies merged with Radiation Biology Laboratory to form Smithsonian Environmental Research Center near Edgewater.
Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, April 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
![[photo, State Archives, Hall of Records Building, 350 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/25ind/images/archives.jpg)
1986, July-Aug. State Archives moved to new Hall of Records (now Edward C. Papenfuse State Archives Building), 350 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis.
Edward C. Papenfuse State Archives Building, 350 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, Maryland, 1997. Photo by James Hefelfinger (Hefelfinger Collection, MSA SC 1885-734-7, Maryland State Archives).
1989. Anne Arundel General Hospital renamed Anne Arundel Medical Center.
1990-1994. Robert R. Neall (Republican), County Executive.
1994-1998. John G. Gary (Republican), County Executive.
1998-1999. Harundale Mall, Glen Burnie, demolished.
1998, Dec.-2006, Dec. 4. Janet S. Owens (Democrat), County Executive.
2004, March 2. Electronic voting system used during primary elections at polling places and for absentee ballots in all counties and Baltimore City.
2006, Dec. 4-2013, Jan. 29. John R. Leopold (Republican), County Executive.
2007, March 19. Maryland House of Correction closed at Jessup.
2007, Nov. 27. Middle East Peace Conference held at U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis.
2008, June 17-18. U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue IV held at U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis.
2011. Deconstruction of Maryland House of Correction at Jessup began, which, at the time, was the largest project in the nation using inmate labor, as well as in the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services' Public Safety Works program.
2012, June 6. Maryland Live! (now Live! Casino & Hotel), the third gambling facility in Maryland with video lottery terminals [slot machines], opened at Arundel Mills.
2013, Feb. 22-2014, Dec. 1. Laura A. Neuman (Republican), County Executive.
2014, Dec. 1-2018, Dec. 3. Steven R. Schuh (Republican), County Executive.
2018, June 28. Targeted shooting by gunman of Capital Gazette newspaper employees in Annapolis; five killed.
2018, Dec. 3-. Steuart L. Pittman, Jr. (Democrat), County Executive.
2019, Sept. Anne Arundel Medical Center merged with Doctors Community Health System to form Luminis Health; hospital renamed Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center.
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