Some Jerusalem milestones

1892 – The Jerusalem railway station opens between Hebron and Bethlehem roads, part of the Jaffa– Jerusalem railway until its closure in 1998. In 2013, its renewal as a cultural and entertainment center is strengthened with the addition of café and restaurants.

1898 – German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II visits

Jerusalem (and Bethlehem).

1925 – The Hebrew University opens. The world’s largest library for Jewish studies – the National Library of Israel – is located on its Givat Ram campus.

1932 – The Biblical Zoo is established – as a small petting zoo on Rav Kook Street, moving in 1941 and 1947. The new zoo we know today opened in the Manahat/Malha neighborhood in 1992.

1934 – Hadassah Medical Center opens in Jerusalem.

1946 – Irgun underground organization bombs the King David Hotel’s southern wing, targeting the British administrative headquarters for Mandatory Palestine – with 91 killed and 46 injured.

1949 – The seat of government moves from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem: to the Knesset’s temporary residence in Beit Frumin on Jerusalem’s King George Avenue. In 1966, the Knesset moves to its permanent residence in Kiryat Ben Gurion.

1957 – Yad Vashem opens.

1961 – Notorious Nazi Adolf Eichmann is tried in Jerusalem. Sentenced to death, he is hanged in 1962.

1965 – Teddy Kollek – “the greatest builder of Jerusalem since Herod” – becomes mayor, holding office until 1993.

1965 – The Israel Museum opens, as the country’s

largest cultural institution.

1967 – “The Temple Mount is in our hands”: Reunification!

1971 – The Jerusalem Theatre opens with one hall,

the Sherover.

1975 – An explosive device hidden in a refrigerator explodes in Zion Square, killing 14 people and injuring 62.

1983 – Protest vigil against Lebanon War begins outside prime minister Menachem Begin’s residence, with a calendar-like sign flipping to a higher number every time a soldier is killed.

1983 – Emil Grunzweig becomes a martyr of the

Israeli Left after a grenade is thrown into the dispersing crowd of a Peace Now march.

1993 – Ehud Olmert upsets Kollek in the mayoral

election.

1993 – The plan to establish an integrated

transportation system in Jerusalem is approved.

1993 – Jerusalem Venture Partners is founded, a fledgling step in establishing a hi-tech presence in the capital.

1999 – Mobileye, the Jerusalem-based tech giant which develops autonomous driving technologies, is founded. In 2017, it is acquired by Intel.

2001 – Sbarro bombing in the heart of the city center

kills 15 and injures 130.

2001 – Tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi is

assassinated at Jerusalem’s Hyatt Hotel.

2006 – IDF soldier Gilad Schalit is kidnapped. The vigil by his parents outside the Prime Minister’s Residence goes on until his release in 2011.

2018 – The UK’s Prince William visits Jerusalem.

2019 – The remains of Zionist icon Ze’ev Jabotinsky

and his wife Johanna are transferred to Jerusalem.

2019 – The US Embassy opens in Jerusalem.