Timeline / Before 1800 to After 1930 / LEBANON Date Country Theme 1800 - 1900 Lebanon Cities And Urban Spaces Some features of 19th-century architecture in Lebanon have their origins in the era of Fakhr al-Din II. He had built khans and caravanserais to encourage trade and he introduced the red-tile technique, which became a typical element in Lebanese architecture. The mashrabiyya (wooden screens), used in buildings of Fakhr al- Din’s era, are still used in 19th-century Lebanese architecture. 1821 - 1825 Lebanon Political Context Bashir Shihab II, who was elected as amir in 1788 under Ottoman suzerainty, is overthrown when he backs Acre, and flees to Egypt, later to return and form an army. Bashir Jumblatt, the Druze leader, gathers the Druze factions and declares a rebellion that leads to massacres and battles with the Maronites who support Bashir Shihab. 1825 Lebanon Political Context Bashir Shihab II, helped by the Ottomans and by Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar (governor of Acre), defeats his rival in the Battle of Simqanieh. Bashir Jumblatt dies in Acre at the order of al-Jazzar. Bashir II represses the Druze rebellion, particularly in and around Beirut. This makes Bashir II the only leader of Mount Lebanon. 1831 Lebanon Political Context Bashir II breaks away from the Ottoman Empire, allies with Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha of Egypt and assists his son Ibrahim Pasha in a siege of Acre. This siege lasts seven months before the fall of the city on 27 May 1832. They also conquer Damascus on 14 June 1832. 1836 Lebanon Travelling The discovery of the Jeita Grotto, credited to Reverend William Thomson. Further expeditions reveal the depth and the importance of the cave. 1837 Lebanon Travelling The Galilee earthquake. In the 17th century, Fakhr-al-Din II took over Beaufort castle, but was defeated by the Ottomans who destroyed the upper portion. The earthquake causes further damage to the structure and the ruins become a quarry and a shelter for sheep. 1839 Lebanon Cities And Urban Spaces The Jesuits come to Beirut and build a modest school. 1840 Lebanon Political Context Conflicts between the Druze and the Maronite Christians explode. A Maronite revolt against the feudal class erupts, lasting till 1858. Date Country Theme 1841 Lebanon Economy And Trade Teams of spinners are brought from France to train young women. This was a real social revolution in this rural and traditional part of the country. According to G. Ducousso’s book The Silk Industry in Syria and Lebanon (1912), the French Consul in Beirut counted no fewer than 183 spinning mills in Lebanon. 1848 Lebanon Travelling Established by Congregational and Presbyterian American missionaries, the National Evangelical Church of Beirut is the oldest and largest of nine congregations situated outside Beirut. 1853 - 1890 Lebanon Economy And Trade Antun Bey Najjar, a merchant who made his fortune in Constantinople, builds Khan Antun Bey in 1853. It becomes a great business center and the building served for many institutions such as Beirut’s foreign consulates, the Ottoman administration, postal services, merchants’ offices and Beirut’s first bank, Imperial Ottoman. 1853 Lebanon Cities And Urban Spaces Antun Bey Najjar, a merchant who made his fortune in Constantinople, builds Khan Antun Bey in 1853. It becomes a great business centre and the building is used by many institutions such as Beirut’s foreign consulates, the Ottoman administration, postal services, merchants’ offices and Beirut’s first bank, Imperial Ottoman. 1855 Lebanon Reforms And Social Changes A school is built by the Jesuits in Ghazir (Kisruwan district). 1855 Lebanon Cities And Urban Spaces A school is built by the Jesuits in Ghazir (Kisruwan district). 1857 - 1863 Lebanon Great Inventions Of The 19th Century A paved road, 6 meters wide, is built between Beirut and Damascus. It facilitates the circulation of the diligence (the transport company’s horse-drawn vehicles). 1860 Lebanon Political Context A full-scale war erupts between Maronites and Druze. Napoleon III of France sends 7,000 troops to Beirut and helps impose a partition: Druze control of the territory is recognised as the fact on the ground, and the Maronites are forced into an enclave. This is ratified by the Concert of Europe in 1861. 1860 Lebanon Political Context Yusuf Bek Butros Karam, a Lebanese Maronite born in 1823 fights in the 1860 civil war and leads a rebellion in 1866-67 against the Ottoman Empire’s rule in Mount Lebanon. His proclamations have been interpreted as an early expression of Lebanese nationalism. Date Country Theme 1861 Lebanon Political Context In the aftermath of the Lebanese civil war in 1860, the Ottoman authorities impose a new system of government for the mountain districts of Lebanon. Formerly, the region had been divided into two districts, one with a Maronite Christian administrator and the other with a Druze. The Ottomans combine them into a single district, known as the mutasarrifiyya. 1864 Lebanon Political Context Dawud Pasha (the mutasarrif [governor] of Lebanon, appointed by the Ottomans) restores to Lebanon a part of its lost territory, establishes for the Druze a school in Abayh that still bears his name and struggles against the feudal lords in the south and the clerical party in the north. 1864 - 1910 Lebanon Great Inventions Of The 19th Century During this period the Beirut Tram covers 12 km around Beirut’s centre. It runs until 1910. 1864 Lebanon Travelling Inauguration of the Capuchin cathedral dedicated to Saint Louis IX King of France. The Capuchins had arrived in Beirut in 1628, practising their rites in the old Saint George church where the current Maronite cathedral now stands. Before moving to their present location the Capuchins built their first church, also dedicated to Saint Louis, in Beirut in 1732. 1865 Lebanon Cities And Urban Spaces Sultan ‘Abd al-‘Aziz orders the building of a hospital known as the military infirmary. It will later be turned into a courthouse after the French Mandate and then become the Insitute of Fine Arts of the Lebanese University. 1868 Lebanon Rediscovering The Past Luigi Palma di Cesnola, the American Consul in Cyprus, gives a collection of Cyprian pottery to the Syrian Protestant College (now the American University) in Beirut. This event is the first step towards the foundation of the Archaeological Museum of the American University. 1868 Lebanon Travelling Foundation of the Archaeological Museum of the American University of Beirut after Luigi Palma di Cesnola gives a collection of Cypriot pottery to the newly formed university. 1870 Lebanon Political Context Ottomans appoint Rustam Pasha as mutasarrif (governor). He is an equally firm and economical administrator. 1873 Lebanon Economy And Trade Date Country Theme Beirut Water Works factory is founded, providing water for daily use by the Lebanese people, taking water from Nahr al-Kalb and distributing it through an extensive water network. 1875 Lebanon Reforms And Social Changes Maronite clergy move their school from Ghazir to Beirut. Granted the title of university by the authorities, which allows it to grant academic degrees, mainly doctoral degrees in philosophy and theology, the school takes the name of Saint Joseph’s University. Faculties and institutes are founded in subsequent years including, in 1883, a Faculty of Medicine. 1875 Lebanon Cities And Urban Spaces Maronite clergy move their school from Ghazir to Beirut. Granted the title of university by the authorities, which allows it to grant academic degrees, mainly doctoral degrees in philosophy and theology, the school takes the name of Saint Joseph’s University. Faculties and institutes are founded in subsequent years. 1876 Lebanon Cities And Urban Spaces By 1876 Beirut has increased 10–12 times its size in 1841. Eleven districts are added and Danish acting Consul Julius Loyvted draws the new map and presents it to Sultan ‘Abd al-Hamid II. Banks, quarantine office, quays, railway office, telegraph, post office, police stations and offices for foreign agencies are all established in the existing city centre. 1880 Lebanon Migrations A small number of Lebanese people emigrate to the USA, the first of a wave of migration abroad. 1884 - 1919 Lebanon Economy And Trade The old Egyptian port undergoes several important changes: buildings are extended, a commercial tribunal is constructed, and the land area is expanded by infilling with rocks brought by railway from Nahr al-Kalb. 1885 Lebanon Cities And Urban Spaces Part of the Old Serail in Zahlé is used to house the local prison, with severe overcrowding. The prison was moved to a better location in 2009. Still known as the Old Serail, the restored monument today serves as the Town Hall and houses the offices of the municipality and a museum illustrating Zahlé’s history. 1887 Lebanon Great Inventions Of The 19th Century The foundation, under Wassa Pasha’s rule, of the port of Beirut on the eastern part of the Saint George Bay on Beirut’s northern Mediterranean cost, west of Beirut River. It is one of the largest and busiest ports on the eastern Mediterranean. 1890 Lebanon Cities And Urban Spaces Date Country Theme Khan Antun Bey Square evolves after the construction of the great Ottoman jetty and quays from 1890 that changes the design of the urban area. 1897 Lebanon Cities And Urban Spaces On 9 January 1897 and in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Ottoman Sultan ‘Abd al-Hamid II’s coronation, a clock tower is built near the Grand Serail, Beirut, to make up for the absence of a public clock indicating mandatory Muslim prayer times especially as many foreign institutions had built Western-style clock towers. 1900 Lebanon Migrations A group of about a dozen Lebanese, dissatisfied with the dismal prospect of earning a livelihood from the stubborn northern Lebanese soil, set out to stake their claim on the mythical riches in the new land of Australia.