Some Data from the History of Baku
  •      1191 Shirvanshah Akhsitan I transferred his residence from Shamakhy to Baku. For the first time Baku became the capital of the Shirvanshah state

  •      1501 Shah Ismail Safavi captured Baku

  •      1806 Baku became a part of the Russian Empire

  •      1823 The first paraffin factory in the world was built in Baku

  •      1848 The Russian technician F.Semyonov drilled the first oil well in the world (in America in 1859)

  •      6.12.1859 The Baku province was established. Baku became the principal city of the province.

  •      1859 The first oil refinery in Azerbaijan was built in Surakhany

  •      1859 Gubernatorski Sad (The Governor’s Garden) - the first park in Baku was built

  •      1859 The construction of the Baku port started

  •      1861 A.Ulski, Captain-lieutenant of the Russian Fleet took the first photo of Baku

  •      1863 The first kerosene factory in the world was constructed in Baku

  •      1866 The circuit court was established in Baku

  •      1868 The Baku-Tiflis telegraph cable was built

  •      1871 The first well was drilled in Balakhany

  •      1873 The first national theatrical group in Azerbaijan was created in Baku

  •      1875 “Akinchi” – the first newspaper in the Azerbaijani language was issued

  •      1877 “Zoroaster” - the first oil tanker of the world constructed by the Nobel brothers  started to sail in the Caspian

  •      1878 The first oil pipeline in Russia connecting the oil fields in Balakhany with the oil refinery in Baku was built

  •      1878 The construction of sewage system in Baku started

  •      1879  The Baku-Krasnovodsk telegraph cable was laid at the bottom of the sea

  •      1879 The Baku City Duma was established (on the basis of the Decree of 1870 on cities). It was liquidated on 10.04.1918 and restored during Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and existed till the establishment of the Soviet power.

  •      1879 The first railway in Azerbaijan - Baku-Sabunchu-Surakhany set working

  •      1880 The first electric lamps in Baku were installed on the dock of the company “Caucasus and Mercury”

  •      1881Technical navigators’ school was opened in Baku

  •      1883 The construction of Baku-Tiflis railway was completed

  •      1886 The first telegraph cable was laid in Baku

  •      1886 H.Z.Tagiyev built the first fire station in Baku

  •      1887 The first Russian-Azerbaijani school was opened in Baku

  •      1887 The first telephone exchange started to operate in Baku

  •      1889 The first horse-drawn tram set working in Baku

  •      1894 N.Narimanov opened the first library-reading hall in Baku

  •      1894 The first station on freshening of the sea water was opened in Baku. In 1899 the second one was opened

  •      1897 The use of oil cisterns in the Baku region started

  •      1897-1901 The construction of Tagiyev’s first textile mill (one of the 29 mills of Russia)

  •      1898 Photographer A.Mishon made the first Azerbaijani documentary “Fire in Bibi-Heibat”

  •      1898 The civil engineer N.Fon der Nonne worked out the first professional plan of development of Baku

  •      1900 The construction of the Baku-Darband railway

  •      1901  H.Z.Tagiyev opened the first school for women in Baku

  •      1903 The first mass strike of the workers in the Caucasus took place in the oil fields of Baku

  •      1906 The first electric power station was built in Baku and the first electric lamps appeared

  •      1906 The cement works in the Caucasus was constructed in the settlement of Keshla near Baku

  •      1907 The first motor vehicles appeared in Baku

  •      1907 The oil pipeline Baku-Batumi was built

  •      12.01.1908 The Azerbaijani opera “Leili and Majnun” by U.Hajibayov – the first of its kind in the Islamic East was staged

  •      1909 The first Azerbaijami operetta “Husband and Wife” by U.Hajibayov was staged

  •      1911 The organisation of hydrometeorological services in the Caspian

  •      1912 The first radio station started working in Baku

  •      1912 Universal education was introduced in Baku

  •      1914 The first football association was organised in Baku

  •      1916 The making of one of the first Azerbaijani films “Oil and the Realm of Millions”

  •      1917 The construction of the first part of Shollar water-supply

  •      18-25.03.1918 Anti-Azerbaijani massacre arranged by the Armenian nationalists in Baku and other cities of Azerbaijan

  •      1919 The foundation of Baku State University

  •      03.03.1919 The Azerbaijani Telegraph Agency was founded

  •      1921 The foundation of the first Music Conservatory in the Islamic East

  •      4.1923 The beginning of the exploitation of the first off-shore oil field in the world “Lenin Bay” started

  •      1923 The first arboretum was built in Baku

  •      1923 Baku hippodrome started to function

  •      1.1924 The first passenger flight Baku-Tbilisi was realised

  •      8.2.1924 The first tram line started to operate in Baku

  •      1926 The electric railway Baku-Surakhany the first one in the USSR started to operate

  •      6.11.1926 The Azerbaijan State Radio started to broadcast

  •      1928 The first buses appeared in Baku

  •      1933 The first animated cartoon was made in Baku

  •      1935 The Azerbaijani branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR was founded

  •      1940 Afrasiyab Badalbayli composed the first Oriental ballet “The Maiden Tower”

  •      1941 The trolley bus line started to operate in Baku

  •      1942 The Baku Zoo was opened

  •      23.1.1945 the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences was founded

  •      1949 The beginning of the construction of Oil Rocks

  •      1956 The Azerbaijan State Television started its work

  •      1960 The funicular started to operate in Baku

  •      1960 The house-building plant the first one in the Caucasus was built in Baku

  •      1962  The Baku-Krasnovodsk ferrying (306 km) was opened

  •      1967 The first part of Baku underground was put into operation

  •      28.3.1971 The extraction of the first milliard ton of oil since the beginning of the industrial development of oil in Azerbaijan was marked

  •      25.12.1975 The only plant producing air-conditioners in the USSR was turned over for operation

  •      19-20.1.1990 The occupation of Baku by the Soviet army and the January massacre

  •      1992 The beginning of broadcasting of the first foreign TV channel – Turkish TRT-1

  •      9.3.1992 ANS  -  the first independent TV company in the territory of the former USSR was created

  •      4.3.1994 The first company of mobile communication Bakcell was opened in Baku; in 1996 the second company – Azercell appeared

  •      28.5.1994 On 102 FM waves the first Caucasian independent radio station - ANS CM started broadcasting

  •      20.9.1994 The first oil contract on the exploitation of the oil field “Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli” between the Government of Azerbaijan and International Consortium was concluded

  •      29.10.1995 Fire in the Baku underground. About 300 people died

  •      12.11.1997 The first oil was extracted from the deposit “Chirag”, exploited by the Azerbaijan International Operational Company

  •      7.3.2000 Landslide in Bayil

  •      8.2000 Ichari Shahar, the Palace of Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower were included in the UNESCO list of monuments

  •      25.11.2000 An earthquake of 7 force took place in Baku

  •      24.8.2001 The fighter squadron F–5 “The Turkish Stars” of the Air Force of Turkey publicly displayed an excellent show in the air of Baku for the first time

  •      9-10.11.2001 The first Congress of the World Azerbaijanis was held in Baku