1066
The earliest recorded mention of Stockport comes in Domesday Book. At the time the borough is made up of seven places: Bramale (Bramhall), Bretberie (Bredbury), Nordberie (Norbury), Rumelie (Romiley), Warnet (Werneth), Cedde (Cheadle) and Laitone (possibly Leighton in Marple).

1069-70
The Medieval Age begins as William the Conqueror leads his army westwards across the Pennines, laying waste to towns and villages who had revolted against him.

1260
The known history of Stockport really begins with the granting of the borough and market charter by Robert de Stockport. The borough charter contains the list of rights and obligations for the burgesses and the market charter allows a market to be held in Stockport every Thursday (later moved to Friday). It simply provides the market with legitamacy and was the first indicator of expansion.

1280s
The commercial success of the town has a huge boost with the construction of a bridge over the Mersey. It is at a point where the Mersey narrows to flow through a sandstone ravine, enabling the river to be crossed in a single span.

1296
William de Baggilegh becomes Stockport's first mayor.

13 ^th century
Weaving of cloth is recorded as one of the oldest in the borough's industrial occupations.

15 ^th century
The town's cloth and wool manufacture is expanding, with merchants such as the Dodges and Shaas active in the area.

1487
Stockport Grammar School is founded after local cloth and wool merchant Edmund Shaa leaves a legacy to pay the wages of a priest who will act as a schoolmaster, teaching grammar free of charge to any pupil from the town.

1605/06
Between October 1605 and August 1606 the plague comes to Stockport. Starting with a woman affectionately known as 'Mad Mary', 51 people die in the borough. But Stockport gets off lightly compared to Manchester, where a quarter of the town's population die.

1610
Stockport is making a name for itself with a thriving textile industry. The town has even given its name to a type of linen called Stopporth cloth.

1623
Another natural disaster strikes. A widespread famine claims the lives of 256 Stopfordians.

1644
War comes to Stockport. Prince Rupert leads the Royalist army north into Cheshire and marches into Stockport. The 3,000-strong defending force is reported to have fled in the face of the massed Royalist force, estimated at 10,000.

1649
The most infamous Stopfordian, John Bradshaw - Lord President of the court at the trial of Charles I - heads the list of signatories on the death warrant of the King. Later, after restoration of the monarchy, his body is exhumed from Westminster Abbey, along with Oliver Cromwell's, drawn on a sledge to Tyburn, hanged and beheaded.

1650
Hat-making is beginning to come to the fore. Manufacture is carried out in domestic workshops.

1664
First estimates of population make Stockport the fifth largest town in Cheshire. The population is recorded as 1,400-1,500 in 308 households.

1664/1665
The Black Death strikes Stockport. The Great Plague kills 168 residents.

1732
Stockport's first silk mill opens in an area known as the Park.

1745
Stockport is marched on by the troops of Bonnie Prince Charlie during the Jacobite rebellion. The troops have marched south and crossed the Mersey at Cheadle.

1770
Stockport becomes one of the most important manufacturing towns in the country.

1772
Looks like people spoke too soon, as, by this year, the silk industry is in depression.

1780s
A new era dawns for the town as the silk mills begin to move over to cotton. The introduction of new machinery, such as the spinning jenny, sees Stockport gain the rank of second biggest cotton producer, behind Manchester.

1790
Construction begins on Stockport's new jail. It becomes known as the House of Correction or New Bayley.

1790
The night watchmen, Stockport's first police force, is introduced. It only has two constables.

1806
Stockport Sunday School, eventually the world's largest, is opened.

1812
Food shortages and high prices spark rioting across Stockport. Luddites attack factories and other property in the town and two men are subsequently tried and hanged for their part in riots and thefts.

1818
Workers within the cotton industry take strike action due to poor wages.

1819
The Radical movement comes to Stockport. A series of meetings takes place in the Market Place and Sandy Brow culminating in the shooting of Constable William Brich while guarding a radical leader.

1821
Stockport sees the light. Gas lights are introduced.

1822
The Stockport Advertiser is published for the first time.

1823
The town is described by a visitor as 'an irregular, ill built, badly lighted, dirty place, which no traveller ever passed through and wished to see again'.

1823
The practice of burying suicide victims with a stake driven through the heart is abolished.

1826
The Police Act is passed appointing 150 'police commisioners'. The appointments are made according to a property qualification and the commissioners then hold monthly meetings and appoint salaried officers to put the Act into operation.

1832
Stockport finally gets a voice in the House of Commons. The Reform Act makes Stockport a parliamentary borough, allowing an MP to be elected.

1832
Perhaps appropriately, following a cholera epidemic, the foundation stone is laid for Stockport Infirmary.

1835
The Municipal Corporations Act creates an elected town council. Forty-two councillors are directly elected, who in turn appoint 12 aldermen.

1840
A wonder of modern engineering and Stockport's principal landmark, the viaduct, is completed.

1851
A boiler explosion at Park Mill, Stockport, claims the lives of 22 men.

1852
The influx of new immigrants from Ireland heightens racial tensions and sparks an anti-Irish riot. One man dies, the town's two Catholic churches are ransacked and Irish homes in Rock Row are attacked.

1852
The local health board is established.

1854
Just as Stopfordians are getting used to the smell, the first sewers are laid in Higher Hillgate, Edgeley and Heaton Norris.

1858
The town's first public baths, built by the corporation on St Petersgate, opens, allowing the public to wash as well as swim.

1861
The covered market opens in Stockport.

1861-65
The 'Cotton Famine' creates a severe depression.

1869
Death rates in Stockport are higher than any other town in the country at 31 or 32 people per 1,000.

1875
The public library over the market hall opens.

1900
Stockport County are promoted to the Football League.

1902
The first electric tram begins to run between Manchester and Stockport.

1908
The Town Hall is officially opened by Prince and Princess of Wales in July.

1939
The air raid shelters open, providing accommodation for nearly 4,000 people.

1940
The first air raid on Stockport is on the night of October 2. Tragically this raid claims the most lives - four - of any raid during the war when bombs missed the town's gasworks and hit homes in Portwood.

1944
V1 attack on Christmas Eve. One of Hitler's infamous Doodlebug flying bombs strikes Garners Lane in Adswood. One person dies, two houses are destroyed and 42 seriously damaged.

1945
Plans are published for possible future development of the town, including the confinement of industry to six main zones, a new market hall and a sports stadium.

1967
Stockport air disaster claims 72 lives.

1972
Stockport twins with Beziers.

1974
Metropolitan Borough of Stockport forms, incorporating urban districts of Cheadle and Gatley, Bredbury and Romiley, Hazel Grove and Bramhall, and Marple.

1982
The M63 motorway extends to the town centre.

1982
Stockport twins with Heilbronn, Germany.

1992
The Pyramid, Stockport's other famous landmark, opens.

1999
Stockport bids to become a city. Still waiting...

Published December 1999