Moscow History Timeline

Events 1 - 100 of 236

• 1380-09-08 Battle on Kulikovo: Moscow's great monarch Dimitri defeats the Mongols beginning the decline of the Tatars
• 1408-12-05 Emir Edigu of Golden Horde reaches Moscow
• 1448-12-05 Bishop Jona of Moscow chosen as metropolitan of Kiev/Intoxication

• 1478-01-18 Grand Duke Ivan II of Moscow occupies Novgorod

• 1547-06-21 Great fire in Moscow, a third of the largely wooden city destroyed and 2-3,000 killed
• 1552-10-29 Tsar Ivan IV returns to Moscow after conquering the Khanate of Kazan in the Siege of Kazan
• 1561-07-12 "Trinity Church" (now Saint Basil's Cathedral) is consecrated in Moscow, Russia, built to commemorate defeat of the Mongols at battle of Kazan
• 1589-01-26 Job is elected as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
• 1612-11-01 (22 October O.S.) Time of Troubles in Russia: Moscow, Kitai-gorod, is captured by Russian troops under command of Dmitry Pozharsky
• 1613-02-21 Michael Romanov, son of the Patriarch of Moscow, is elected the first Russian Tsar of the House of Romanov
• 1619-06-24 Tsar Michail's father Filaret becomes patriarch of Moscow
• 1642-03-27 The sixth Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Joseph takes office.
• 1648-06-10 Moscow's people uprise against regent Boris Morozov
• 1649-06-01 Russian Tsar Alexis throws English merchants out of Moscow
• 1665-05-05 Dutch politician Nicolaas Witsen visits the politically powerful Patriarch Nikon, head of the Russian Orthodox church in Moscow

• 1699-02-04 350 rebellious Streltsi executed in Moscow

• 1721-01-25 Tsar Peter the Great makes the Moscow patriarchate and Russian Orthodox Church subordinate to the state
• 1728-01-09 Coronation of 12-year-old Peter II Alexeyevich as Tsar of Russia takes place in Moscow

• 1752-06-03 Moscow houses and churches destroyed by fire
• 1752-06-06 3rd great fire in Moscow in 2 weeks; 1/3 of city destroyed
• 1755-01-25 Moscow University is established by Elizabeth of Russia and founded by Mikhail Lomonosov on Tatiana Day
• 1755-04-26 1st Russian university opens in Moscow

• 1812-09-18 Great Fire of Moscow burns out after 5 days, 75% of the city destroyed and 12,000 killed
• 1812-10-19 Napoleon Bonaparte and his Grande Armée begin their retreat from Moscow numbering just 100,000 (started campaign with 500,000)
• 1812-10-24 Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Maloyaroslavets takes place near Moscow, French army then forced to retreat through the snow towards Smolensk
• 1812-11-17 Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Krasnoi during Napoleon's retreat from Moscow

• 1859-11-16 Aleksandr Ostrovsky's play "Groza" (The Storm) premieres in Moscow
• 1862-07-01 The Russian State Library is founded in Moscow

• 1877-03-04 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake" has its world premiere, performed by the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow
• 1877-03-04 Tchaikovski's incomplete ballet "Zwanenmeer" premieres in Moscow
• 1878-02-22 Peter Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony in F premieres at a Russian Musical Society concert in Moscow [February 10 O.S.]
• 1878-11-22 Aleksandr Ostrovsky's classic play "Without a Dowry" (Bespridannitsa) premieres in Moscow [OS 10 Nov]
• 1879-03-29 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.'s opera "Jevgeni Onegin", based on the novel by Alexander Pushkin, premieres Maly Theatre in Moscow, Russia

• 1882-08-20 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" debuts in Moscow

• 1886-03-23 Tchaikovsky's "Manfred" symphony premieres in Moscow, Russia, conducted by Max Erdmannsdörfer
• 1888-03-20 Premiere of the very first Romani language operetta staged in Moscow, Russia
• 1891-04-23 Jews are expelled from Moscow, Russia

• 1904-01-17 Anton Chekhov's play "Cherry Orchard" opens at Moscow Art Theater
• 1904-02-06 Japan notifies Russia that in view of Russia's delaying tactics and provocative military action, Japan is ending negotiations and recalling its members from Moscow
• 1905-12-22 Arrest of St Petersburg Soviet members leads to an uprising of Moscow workers and fighting in the street

• 1914-12-15 Battle of Lodz ends; Russians retreat toward Moscow

• 1921-03-16 Britain signs a trade agreement with the USSR and sends a trade mission to Moscow: this goes against the US, who in the same month refused to sign a trade agreement
• 1922-05-21 Rollin Kirby's "On the Road to Moscow" is the 1st cartoon to receive a Pulitzer Prize
• 1922-09-17 Radio Moscow begins transmitting (12 KWs-most powerful station)

• 1923-07-06 The Central Executive Committee accepts the Treaty of Union, signed in Moscow in December 1922, and the Russian Empire becomes the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
• 1924-01-27 Vladimir Lenin is placed in a Mausoleum in Red Square, Moscow
• 1924-10-12 Sokolnicheskaya Radio begins broadcasting from Moscow
• 1925-11-05 British secret agent Sidney Reilly ('Ace of Spies') is executed in a forest near Moscow by the OGPU, the secret police of the Soviet Union
• 1925-12-21 "Battleship Potemkin", Soviet silent film directed by Sergei Eisenstein, starring Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barksy and Grigori Aleksandrov, premieres in Moscow

• 1927-12-04 Dmitri Shostakovich's 2nd Symphony premieres in Moscow
• 1928-09-28 Valentin Katayev's "Kvadratura Kruga" premieres in Moscow
• 1929-02-13 Vladimir Mayakofsky's "Klop" premieres in Moscow
• 1933-05-24 Dmitri Shostakovich's Preludes premieres in Moscow
• 1934-01-24 Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" is performed in Moscow; roundly criticized by the Communist Party and banned in the Soviet Union until 1961
• 1935-04-28 Moscow underground railway opens (81 km long)
• 1935-05-15 Moscow Metro opens to public; initial phase was 11 km (6.8 mi) long and included 13 stations

• 1936-08-19 Trial against Ljev Kamenev & Grigori Zinovjev because of "Trotskyism" opens in Moscow

• 1937-07-12 -13) Tupolev ANT-25 non-stop flight Moscow to San Jacinto, California
• 1938-11-28 Dmitri Shostakovich's Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2 premieres in Moscow, USSR
• 1940-03-12 Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty in Moscow, surrendering to Russia and ceding 11% of their pre-WWII territory, ending the "Winter War"
• 1941-09-30 German assault on Moscow, Operation Typhoon, begins
• 1941-10-01 Dmitri Shostakovich evacuated by plane to Moscow
• 1941-10-02 Germans launch attack on Moscow
• 1941-10-10 WW2: Battle of Moscow - Germans Wehrmacht forces encounter stronger than expected resistance at the Mozhaisk line, west of Moscow
• 1941-10-12 Soviet government moves from Moscow to Volga as Nazis forces close in on Moscow
• 1941-10-16 Germany advances within 60 miles (96 K) of Moscow
• 1941-10-25 Germany attacks Moscow
• 1941-11-12 Germany's drive to take Moscow halted
• 1941-11-23 German troops conquer Klin, NW of Moscow
• 1941-12-05 Soviet anti-offensive in Moscow drives out Nazi army

• 1942-08-16 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill travels back to Cairo from Moscow
• 1942-08-26 Soviet counter offensive begins in Moscow
• 1943-10-01 Averell Harriman named US ambassador to Moscow
• 1943-10-19 Conference of foreign ministers in Moscow
• 1943-11-03 Dmitri Shostakovich's 8th Symphony premieres in Moscow
• 1944-04-28 Soviet leader Joseph Stalin meets Polish-American priest Stanislaus Orlemanski in Moscow to discuss religion and the future of post-war Poland
• 1944-10-19 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill flies back to London from Moscow

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Birthdays 1 - 100 of 367

• 1350-10-12 Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscow (1359-89), born in Moscow (d. 1389)
• 1415-03-10 Vasili II 'the Blind' Grand Prince of Moscow (1425-62) (d. 1462)

• 1479-03-26 Vasili III of Russia, Great Prince of Moscow (1505-33), son of Ivan III (d. 1533)

• 1557-05-31 Feodor I (Fyodor/Theodore Ivanovich), Tsar of Russia (1584-98), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1598)
• 1578-11-01 Dmitry Pozharsky, Russian prince (known for his military leadership during the Polish–Muscovite War 1611-12), born in Klin County, Moscow Governorate, Tsardom of Russia (d. 1642)
• 1596-07-22 Michael I, first Russian Tsar of the House of Romanov (1613-45), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1645)
• 1629-03-09 Tsar Alexis I of Russia [Aleksey Mikhaylovich], Tsar of Russia (1645-76), born in Moscow (d. 1676)
• 1629-03-19 Alexis of Russia [Alexei Mikhailovich], Romanov noble (Tsar of All Russia, 1645-76), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1676) [9 Mar OS]
• 1657-09-27 Sophia Alekseyevna, Regent of Russia (1682-89), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1704)
• 1661-06-09 Tsar Feodor III of Russia (1676-82), born in Moscow, Tsardom of Russia (d. 1682)
• 1666-08-27 Ivan V, co-tsar of Russia (1682-89), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1696)
• 1669-08-09 Yevdokiya Lopukhina, Tsarina of Russia, first wife of Peter I of Russia, born in Moscow (d. 1731)

• 1690-02-28 Alexei Petrovich, Russian Tsarevich and son of Peter the Great (who fell out with his father and defected to Austria), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1718)
• 1693-02-07 Anna Ivanovna, Empress of Russia (1730-40) [NS], born in Moscow (d. 1740)

• 1727-11-01 Ivan Shuvalov, 1st Russian Minister of Education and founder of the Moscow University, born in Moscow (d. 1797)
• 1749-08-31 Alexander Radishchev, Russian writer (Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow), born in Moscow (d. 1802)
• 1760-09-21 Ivan Dmitriev, Russian statesman (Minister of Justice, 1810-14), and poet ("Liberation of Moscow"), born in Simbirsk, Russian Empire (d. 1837)
• 1769-02-13 Ivan Krylov, Russian fabulist, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1844)
• 1770-07-13 Alexander Balashov, Russian general and statesman, born in Moscow (d. 1837)
• 1782-12-26 Filaret Drozdov, Metropolitan of Moscow (d. 1867)
• 1784-07-27 Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1839)
• 1787-12-01 Pavel Ivanovich Dolgorukov, Russian composer, born in Moscow (d. 1845)
• 1788-01-08 Pavel Kiselyov, Russian general and politician, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1874)
• 1793-07-05 Pavel Ivanovich Pestel, Russian officer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1826)
• 1795-01-15 Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1829)
• 1795-11-24 Josif Josifovich Genishta, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1853)
• 1799-06-06 Alexander Pushkin, Russian writer and poet (Eugene Onegin), born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1837)
• 1800-11-23 Michail Pogodin, Russian historian and author (Povesti), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1875)
• 1801-11-27 Alexander Egorovich Varlamov, Russian composer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1848)
• 1803-08-13 Vladimir Odoevsky, Russian philosopher and writer, born in Moscow (d. 1869)
• 1803-09-03 Alexander Gurilyov, Russian composer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1858)
• 1804-05-01 Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov, Russian poet, born in Moscow (d. 1860) [NS 13/05]
• 1806-04-03 Ivan Kireyevsky, Russian literary critic and philosopher, born in Moscow (d. 1856)
• 1813-06-18 Pavel Annenkov, Russian literature historian (Zametsjatelnoje desjatileti), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1887)
• 1814-08-01 Ivan Gagarin, Russian Jesuit and founding editor of Études, born in Moscow (d. 1882)
• 1814-10-03 Mikhail Lermontov, Russian poet and writer (Demon & other poems), born in Moscow (d. 1841)

• 1821-06-04 Apollon Maykov, Russian poet, born in Moscow, Imperial Russia (d. 1897)

• 1822-02-13 Lev Mej, Russian dramatist and poet (The Tsar's Bride), born in Moscow (d. 1862)

• 1827-05-21 Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Russian reactionary lawyer and senator, born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1907)
• 1830-05-24 Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1897)
• 1832-12-27 Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and patron of art, born in Moscow (d. 1897)
• 1835-06-14 Nikolay Rubinstein, Russian composer and pianist, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1881) (O.S. 2 June)
• 1842-09-13 John H. Bankhead, U.S. Senator from Alabama, born in Moscow, Marion County, Alabama (d. 1920)
• 1842-12-09 Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin, Russian activist and anarchist, born in Moscow (d. 1921)
• 1849-09-23 Mikhail Ivanov, Russian composer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1927)
• 1850-01-15 Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian mathematician, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1891)
• 1853-01-16 Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov, Russian philosopher, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1900)
• 1856-11-28 Alexander Kastalsky, Russian composer, born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1926)
• 1859-10-16 Henryk Pachulski, Polish pianist, composer, and educator (Moscow Conservatory, 1886-1917), born in Łazy, Poland (d. 1921)
• 1861-04-27 Georgy Catoire, Russian composer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1926)
• 1862-07-18 Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich, Russian WWI general, born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1933)
• 1862-09-30 Georgy Eduardovich Konyus (Conus), Russian composer, and music theorist, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1933)
• 1863-01-17 Konstantin Stanislavski, Russian director and actor (Stanislavski Method for acting), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1938)

• 1865-01-31 Tikhon of Moscow [Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin], 11th Patriarch of Moscow and all of Russia, born in Toropets District, Pskov, Russian Empire (d. 1925)
• 1866-02-28 Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian philosopher, playwright and poet, born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1949)
• 1866-12-04 Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-French abstract painter (Dreamy Inspiration), born in Moscow (d. 1944)
• 1867-11-21 Vladimir Ipatieff, Russian-American chemist, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1952)
• 1869-05-05 Hans Pfitzner, German composer (Palestrina), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1949)
• 1869-12-22 Dmitri Egorov, Russian-Soviet mathematician, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1931)
• 1872-01-06 Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (Prometheus) and pianist, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1915)
• 1872-03-08 Paul Juon, Russian-Swiss violinist and composer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1940)
• 1872-03-30 Sergey Vasilenko, Russian composer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1956)
• 1874-06-16 Mikhail Vladimirovich Ivanov-Boretsky, Russian composer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1936)
• 1875-10-24 Konstantin Yuon, Russian painter, born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1958)
• 1877-03-04 Alexander Fyodorovich Gedike, Russian composer and pianist, born in Moscow (d. 1957)
• 1877-06-24 Aleksei M. Remizov, Russian writer (Iveren), born in Moscow (d. 1957)
• 1877-10-24 Pavel Chesnokov, Russian-Soviet composer, born in Voskresensk, Moscow Oblast, Russia (d. 1944)
• 1877-11-09 Sergei Aleksi [Alexy], patriarch of Russian-orthodox church, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1970)
• 1880-01-05 Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer (Skazi), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1951)
• 1880-06-26 Natalia Brassova, Russian noblewoman, wife of Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, born in Perovo, Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1952)
• 1880-10-26 Andrei Bely [Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev], Russian writer (Petersburg), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1934)
• 1881-10-01 Leonid Sabaneyev, Russian composer, born in Moscow (d. 1968)
• 1882-01-22 Theodore Kosloff, Russian-born actor, ballet dancer and choreographer, born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1956)
• 1883-02-01 Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Armenian-Russian theatrical director of the Moscow Art Theatre (Vakhtangov Theatre), born in Vladikavkaz, Russia (d. 1922)
• 1885-02-24 Yosef Sprinzak, Israeli politician, first Speaker of the Knesset (1949-59) and leading Zionist, born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1959)
• 1886-04-05 Jacques Handschin, Swiss musicologist (Der Toncharakter), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1955)
• 1887-11-25 Nikolai Vavilov, Soviet botanist and geneticist (identified the centers of origin of cultivated plants), born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1943)
• 1888-10-09 Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, Russian politician and intellectual, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1938)
• 1889-04-21 Paul Karrer, Swiss organic chemist (Nobel 1937), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1971)
• 1889-04-24 Lyubov Popova, Russian avant-garde artist and painter, born in Ivanovskoe, Moscow (d. 1924)
• 1889-12-24 Vladimir Sokoloff, Russian actor (Road to Morocco), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1962)

• 1891-01-21 Nikolai Golovanov, Russian conductor and composer (Bolshoi Opera), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1953)
• 1891-08-24 Alexander Mikhaylovich Dzegelyonok, Russian composer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1969)
• 1892-05-31 Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian author (Bespokojnaja Joenostj), born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1968) [NS]
• 1892-10-09 Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet (The Train of Life), born in Moscow (d. 1941)
• 1892-11-01 Alexander Alekhine, Russian, French chess player (world champion 1927-35, 37-46), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1946)
• 1893-08-19 Olga Baclanova, Russian actress (Freaks, Docks of NY), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1974)
• 1895-12-28 Carol Ryrie Brink, American Newberry Medal-winning novelist (Caddie Woodlawn), born in Moscow, Idaho (d. 1981)
• 1896-05-07 Pavel Sergeevich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician (topology), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1982)
• 1896-08-09 Leonide Massine, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer (Diaghilev Ballets Russes, 1914-20), born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1979)
• 1896-09-25 Elsa Triolet [Ella Kagan], Russian-French writer and Resistance fighter, born in Moscow (d. 1970)

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• Aleksandr Ostrovsky
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
• Alex Ovechkin
• Alexander Gretchaninov
• Alexander I
• Alexander II