Basic timeline of the significant events happening in chinatown

1822 : Raffles' Town Plan drafted by Lieutenant Philip Jackson.
1843 : Physical development with Pagoda Street, Almeida Street (now Temple Street), Smith Street, Trengganu Street, Sago Street, and Sago Lane, leased or granted for homes and trades.
1854 : Worst riots in the history of Singapore.
1864 : Gas lamps were lit for first time.
1876 : Cheang Hong Lim presented $3,000 for the open-space, which bears his name today, Hong Lim Park.
1892 : Charitable medical institution Thong Chai Building completed.
3 May 1886 : Steam trams commenced operations and plyed through South Bridge Road.
1905 : Singapore Electric Tramways Company No. 2 tramway passed through South Bridge Road.
1906 : Roads lit by electricity.
6 Jun 1917: Worst fire in Chinatown history, 4-storey shophouse at corner of Trengganu Street and Temple Street went up in flames. 10 people jumped to their deaths.
1929 : Trolley bus operated through South Bridge Road.
9 Aug 1966 : Singapore's first National Day Parade. For the first time, Singapore's own military troops proudly marched through heavily-populated Chinatown and were warmly greeted with cheers from packed crowds of people on roadsides, balconies and bridges along the South Bridge Road.
24 Dec 1966 : People's Park Market destroyed by fire.
1968 : People's Park Centre completed.
1927 : Tien Yien Moh Toi Cantonese Opera Theatre built by Eu Tong Sen. Later converted to a cinema renamed Queen's Theatre, today it is called the Majesic Theatre.
11 February 1942 : During World War II, crowded tenements of Chinatown were death traps in continued air raids by the Japanese air force, until the fall of Singapore.
1970 : Opening of People's Park Shopping Complex, first of its kind in Southeast Asia.
1972 : "Walking Tour" of Chinatown by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on her official State visit to Singapore.
7 Jul 1989 : 1,200 buildings were given conservation status.