from the 1909 Cleveland Industrial Exposition Souvenir Booklet...
The following chronology of the principal industrial and commercial events that have marked the rise and progress of Cleveland, may be found a convenient medium of reference as well as an interesting sequence:
1796 July 22--Gen. Moses Cleaveland and his party of surveyors reached the Cuyahoga river.
1798 August 4--Cleveland's first industrial plant, the Doan blacksmith shop, was in operation.
1799 September 4--Cleveland's first grist mill began grinding.
1801 September 19--David Bryant set up a still he had brought from Virginia.
1810 March 29--Elias Cozad began the construction of a tannery.
1814 September 19--Levi Johnson's schooner "Pilot" was launched. This was Cleveland's first pretentious vessel.
1814 December 23--The village of Cleveland was incorporated.
1817 April 23--The "Walk-in-the-Water," the first steamboat on the lakes, entered the Cuyahoga.
1818 July 31--The Cleaveland Gazette and Commercial Register appeared.
1825 July 4--Ground was broken for the Ohio canal.
1826 December 1--Citizens met and demanded harbor improvements.
1827 July 7--The Ohio canal was formally opened.
1827 September 13--The first ton of coal reached Cleveland.
1827 October 27--The government began the improvement of the river channel.
1834 March 3--The Cleveland & Newburgh Railroad Company was authorized by Legislature. It was four miles long and was abandoned after four years.
1834 November 17--The first suggestion of a high level bridge over the Cuyahoga river was made in the Cleveland Daily Advertiser.
1836 March 5---Cleveland became an incorporated city.
1836 October 29--The Bridge War. The float bridge over the Cuyahoga was partially destroyed.
1837 January 4--The first breakwater legislation was introduced in the City Council.
1839 November 17--Cleveland's manufacturing section suffered its first fire. Outhwaite's soap factory burned.
1845 June 16--The Weddell House was opened. This was Cleveland's leading hotel for many years.
1847 September 15--Cleveland's first telegraph office began business.
1848 July 7--The Board of Trade was founded.
1849 September 19--The barque "Eureka" sailed for California bearing a number of Clevelanders to the land of gold.
1849 December 16--Artificial gas was first used for lighting the city streets.
1850 March 16--First section of first railroad entering Cleveland was completed.
1852 September 1--First state fair held in Cleveland was opened.
1853 June 25--A party of southern and western businessmen visited the city--the first visitation of this kind.
1854 February 1--First through train arrived from Buffalo.
1854 October 27--Fire destroyed the New England Hotel and many other buildings.
1855 May 19--The Sault canal was completed.
1856 September 10--Cleveland's new water works system was completed.
1858 May 29--The Liverpool fleet started on its long voyage.
1859 October 25--The City Council authorized the Kinsman street railway company to lay tracks.
1860 October 25--Ground was broken for the East Cleveland s street railway line.
1861 October 25--Telegraphic communication was established between Cleveland and San Francisco.
1862 March 28--The Board of Sinking Fund Commissioners was created by legislative act.
1862 November 11--First steam fire engine.
1863 February 3--The Council authorized construction of the West Side street railway.
1863 November 3--First through train arrived over A. & G. W. Railway line.
1864 February 22--Northern Ohio Sanitary Fair.
1864 October 22--First fire alarm telegraph system.
1866 November 10--Union depot opened. Pronounced largest and best appointed railway station in the United States.
1867 May 15--L. S. & M. S. Railway established.
1867 December 18--National Manufacturers' Convention.
I868 August 6--The iron steamer, the "J. K. White," was placed in commission.
1868 September 5--Bessemer steel was first produced in Cleveland.
1870 August 5--The first water works crib was launched.
1871 December 27--An Inventors' Exposition was held in the Central Rink. It lasted three weeks and was followed by a demand for a permanent exposition.
1877 January 26--First public exhibition of the Brush light.
1877 July 25--The first telephone was installed.
1878 December 27--The Superior viaduct was dedicated.
1879 April 29--The Public Square was lighted by electricity.
1881 April 27--First meeting of the Builders' Exchange.
1883 February 4--Disastrous flood.
1884 September 7--Great fire on the flats.
1886 February 11--First Manual Training School opened.
1886 August 4--First fire boat launched.
1887 October 16--The Lick telescope was completed--the work of a Cleveland factory.
1889 June 30--First electric motor was run over the East Cleveland street railway line.
1889 October 15--The Pan-American delegates visited the city.
1893 February 6--The Board of Trade was reorganized and became The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce.
1896 July 19--Cleveland's first Centennial Celebration began.
1898 March 24--The first American-made automobile was sold--the product of a Cleveland factory.
1899 May 3--The Chamber of Commerce building was dedicated.
1900 October 5--Clevelanders celebrated the city's first Old Home Week.
1909 June 7--The Cleveland Industrial Exposition opened.
