TIMELINE: Liverpool

1207

King John gives Liverpool the status of royal borough. It will remain a relatively minor coastal port for more than six centuries.

1647

Liverpool becomes a free port – before this time it was subject to Chester. In 1710, work begins on the ‘Old Dock’, the first artificial wet dock in Britain.

1699

The Liverpool Merchant is the first recorded slave ship to sail from the city. The vessel arrives in Barbados in September 1700 with a cargo of 220 enslaved Africans.

1756

Williamson’s Liverpool Advertiser is published. Today this remains the earliest local newspaper in the Liverpool Record Office collection.

1830

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opens – the world's first steam passenger railway. It is connected by rail to Birmingham and London in 1838.

1839

The ‘Grand Liverpool Steeplechase’ is held at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool. This is the first of what will become known as the Grand National.

1889

The earliest recorded mosque in Britain is founded at Brougham Terrace, West Derby Road by Sheikh Abdullah William Henry Quilliam, a local solicitor who converts during travels in Morocco.

1894

The first recognised Merseyside Derby takes place between Liverpool and Everton, with the home side running away 3- 0 winners at Goodison Park. An amateur match between the teams took place in 1893.

1917

Captain Noel Chavasse succumbs to wounds received at Passchendaele. He is the only man awarded the VC twice during the First World War.

1956

Lonnie Donegan performs at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre. He is watched by a young Paul McCartney, who soon after trades his trumpet for a guitar.