Dates in Detroit History

1701 Detroit is founded by French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac who lands in the area south of Lake Huron known as le détroit (the straits) and establishes Fort Pontchartrain

1760 Britain gains control of Detroit as a result of the French and Indian War

1796 George Washington forces the British out of the city, and the American flag is raised over Fort Pontchartrain at Detroit

1815 Detroit is incorporated as a city

1896 Henry Ford builds his first car in Detroit, and the world’s first convention and visitors bureau — the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau — is founded

1901 The world’s first concrete road is built in Detroit

1913 Henry Ford introduces the assembly line, revolutionizing the auto industry

1928 Tunnel and bridge access to Canada commences with the opening of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge

1935 The Detroit Tigers capture their first World Series, and the Detroit Lions win their first National Football League championship

1936 Pro hockey’s Red Wings win their first Stanley Cup

1937 The Detroit Red Wings win another Stanley Cup, and Joe Louis Barrow — The Brown Bomber — wins the world’s heavyweight boxing championship

1954 The nation’s first shopping mall, Northland Mall, opens in Southfield.

1960 - Barry Gordy launches Motown Records

1963 The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. debuts his “I Have a Dream” speech in Detroit two months before its famous delivery in Washington, D.C.

1974 Coleman Young takes office as Detroit’s first African-American mayor

1977 The Renaissance Center, the largest privately financed project in the world at the time, opens.

1980 Detroit hosts the 32nd Republican National Convention at brand-new Joe Louis Arena

1982 The first Detroit Grand Prix is held on city streets, and Super Bowl XVI is held at the Pontiac Silverdome

1984 The Detroit Tigers claim a fourth World Series title

1989 Cobo Conference/Exhibition Center undergoes a $225 million expansion and the Detroit Pistons win the NBA World Championship title

1992 Detroit is chosen as a site for soccer’s 1994 World Cup, and the Pontiac Silverdome is picked to host the first indoor soccer championship in World Cup history

1997 The Detroit Red Wings win the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Championship. The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the largest museum of its kind in the world, opens.

1999 The first two of three new casinos, MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino, open in downtown Detroit

2000 Greektown Casino opens in Detroit’s historic Greektown section, while Comerica Park makes its debut in Foxtown

2001 Detroit celebrates its 300th anniversary in grand style, New Detroit Science Center opens after massive renovations

2002 Ford Field opens to national acclaim. Detroit Red Wings win their third Stanley Cup in six years and Coach Scotty Bowman retires.

2003 The Tigers narrowly escape title of worst team in major league baseball history with 119 losses

2004 Auto plant tours open to the public at the Ford Rouge Factory (starts and ends at The Henry Ford); The 35th Ryder Cup Matches are held at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills; and the Detroit Pistons win the NBA World Championship title after a 14-year hiatus.

2006 The Tigers become the American League champs.