Once the river side out post of the historical East India Company and the glorious capital of the Indian British Empire till 1912, “Kolikata Nagari " has been a significant commercial center attracting thousands of migrants from all surrounding parts in search of livelihood and an unique conglomeration of cultures and communes.

In 1690, Job Charnok, an agent of the East India Company chose three large villages along the east bank of the river Ganges, named, Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata as site for British trade settlement. The site was carefully selected, being protected by the Hooghly River on the west, a creek to the north, and sorrounded by salt lakes about two and a half miles to the east.

In 1698 the British bought these villages from local landlord Sabarna Chowdhury and congregated them under one identity as Calcutta. Over the centuries through the corridors of time this City of Joy of Dominique Lapiere stood silent witness to many paraphernalia of history- revolutions to renaissance, patriotism to politics, spiritualism to industrialization and so on.

During the 40s, following the partition, thousands of refugees from Bangladesh were forced to settle down helter-skelter in different parts of the city and Kolkata, initially planned as an urban center for accommodating population of 10 lacks, today is burdened with an ever increasing population exceeding 10 million marks long ago.
Today Kolkata is inextricably related to debate and dissension, polemic and processions, a city of cynicism, culture and chaos.

But behind her sea of political ineptitude, environmental hazards and traffic snarls, lies the true beauty, energy, creativity , dynamism and rare humor that makes her a city decked with the jewels of intelligence and sensitivity that can hardly be stigmatized .

· 1784 Sir William Jones took initiative and established The Asiatic Society.

· 1801 Fort William College was established.

· 1804 The Governor House ( presently Raj Bhawan ) was built.

· 1813 The Town Hall was built.

· 1818 First Bengali Magazine, "Digdarshan", was published from Sreerampur, with the help of David Hare.

· 1817 The Hindu College ( presently Presidency College ) was established with efforts from Rammohan Roy, David Hare and Radhakanta Dev. Initially started with 20 students.

· 1829 Rammohan Roy was successful in making 'satidaho' (a Hindu rule) banned by British General Bentinck.

· 1854 First Railways in India ( from Calcutta to Hooghly ).

· 1857 The University of Calcutta was established.

· 1873 First Tram car ( horse drawn ) in Calcutta.

· 1875 "The Statesman", leading English Daily newspaper, started.

· 1875 The Indian Museum was built.

· 1873 First Tram car ( horse drawn ) in Calcutta.

· 1875 "The Statesman", leading English Daily newspaper, started.

· 1875 The Indian Museum was built.

· 1883 Surendra Nath Banerjee called for a National convention ( which led to the forming of Indian National Congress in 1885 at Bombay ).

· 1886 Second convention of Indian National Congress at Calcutta.

· 1888 Indian Football Association established.

· 1896 First motor car appeared on city's street.

· 1902 First Electric tram car from Esplanade to Kidderepore.

· 1905 Lord Curzon, viceroy of India, tried to partition Bengal. There was a strong protest. And finally he failed to do so.

· 1911 British moved the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi.

· 1911 A local football team, Mohanbagan, defeated British in IFA shield final and created national sensation.

 1913 Rabindranath Tagore, the great philosopher, poet and writer received Nobel Prize in literature.

· 1921 King Edward VIII inaugurated the Victoria Memorial building.

· 1924 Chittaranjan Das, was elected as the first Indian mayor of the city of Calcutta.

· 1929 Agnes Goinxha Bejaxhiu (Mother Teresa), came to Calcutta to join Bengal Loreto mission.

· 1939 The World War II hit Calcutta.

· 1941 Tagore died.

· 1941 Subhash Chandra Bose escaped from house arrest by British.

· 1943 Thousands of people got killed in famine.

· 1946 Communal riot killed thousands of people in and around the city.

· 1947 India gained independence. Bengal was divided , Calcutta became the capital city of the state of West Bengal in India. Dr. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh became the first Chief Minister of West Bengal, followed by Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy. Calcutta and surrounding places were flooded with people from East Pakistan ( now Bangladesh ) as a result of the partition.

· 1952 The National Library was moved to Alipore from Esplanade.

· 1962 India-China war affected Calcutta.

· 1971 Tension of India-Pakistan war on freedom of Bangladesh .

· 1970-71 The Naxalite Movement hit the city resulting arrests of hundreds of youths and creating enormous tension among city dwellers.

· 1975 First TV transmission started in the city from August 9th.

· 1977 Left Front led by CPI(M) Party won the state election and came into the power of state Govt.

· 1977 The world famous football player Pele came and played a football match in the city

· 1978 A major flood hit Calcutta.

· 1979 Mother Teresa, a permanent resident of Calcutta was awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

 

· 1984 Metro, the first underground railway in India, started from Tollygunge to Esplanade.

· 1984 First color TV transmission from TV centre ( DoorDarshan ).

· 1989 France's highest civilian award, Legion d'Honour was conferred upon Satyajit Ray by President F. Mitterrand in Calcutta.

· 1992 Satyajit Roy, film director, received prestigious "Life Time Achievement" Oscar award and "Bharat Ratna". He died in the same year.

· 1995 First cellular phone service starts in the city.

· 1997 Mother Teresa died in Calcutta.

· 1998 Amartya Sen (grew up in Shantiniketan and studied at Calcutta) received Nobel Prize in Ecomonics.

· 2001 Calcutta was officially renamed as 'Kolkata' from 1st January,