Timeline of Dubai

100,000BCE: First evidence of humans around Dubai
2,500BCE: First date palms cultivated in Dubai.
500s CE: Caravan station established in what is now Jumeirah.
700s: First possible mentions of pearls from Dubai in Chinese records.
1095: First confirmed mention of Dubai by geographer Abu Abdullah Al Bakri.
1590: Venetian pearl trader Gaspero Balbi visits Dubai and remarks on the quality of its pearls.
1787: Al Fahidi Fort is built.
1793: Bani Yas tribe settles in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
1820: Britain negotiates a truce with Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other coastal states.
1833: Maktoum bin Buti becomes the first ruler of Dubai.
1892: Dubai becomes a British protectorate.
1896: Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum's house is built.
1903: British steamships start to call at Dubai.
1907: Dubai boasts 335 pearling ships.
1917: Peak of the Gulf's pearl industry; one gram of pearl was worth 320g of gold.
1930s: Pearl industry collapses following development of cultivated pearls.
1949: Last major pearling expedition from Dubai.
1958: Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, father of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, becomes Ruler of Dubai.
1959: Dubai Airport opens.
1966: Dubai discovers oil off its coast.
1971: Dubai becomes independent of Britain and forms the United Arab Emirates with Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah (Ras Al Khaimah joins in 1972).
1973: Dubai adopts the UAE dirham as its currency.
1985: Dubai's rulers establish Emirates airline.
1989: The first Dubai Desert Classic golf competition is held.
1990: Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, brother of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, becomes Ruler of Dubai.
2001: Construction of Palm Jumeirah begins.
2002: DIFC inaugurated and Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve opens.
2004: Foundation of Burj Khalifa laid.
2006: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum becomes Ruler of Dubai, and Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE
2009: Dubai Metro opens.
2010: Burj Khalifa, the tallest building and artificial structure in the world, opens.

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