History

Zrenjanin through history – chronology of the most important dates and events: 
 
14th – 17th century
1326, July 10 - The first record of the name and settlement of Becskerek in the charter of Buda Cathedral neighborhood
1398, September 30 - The Hungarian King Sigmund stayed in Becskerek
1403 - King Sigmund ceded Becskerek administration to the Serbian Despot Stefan Lazarević
1528 - Construction of the Becskerek fortress completed
1540 – The well-known Gospel of Petar Smederevac from Becskerek, bound in silver, originated from the artistic and goldsmith school
1551, September 25 - Mehmed Pasha Sokolović occupied the fortified Becskerek – the beginning of 165 year-long rule by the Turks
1696, August 18 – The Turkish Sultan Mustafa II visited Becskerek
1698 - Prince Eugene liberated Becskerek, but, after the peace agreement, Becskerek was given back to the Turks for some more time 
 
18th century 
1701 – Demolition of the Becskerek fortress, based on a provision of the Karlovac Peace Agreement
1717 – The Austrian Prince Alexander of Vitemberg entered Becskerek, by which the Turkish rule was finally ended. 
1717 – The first population census, based on which 787 inhabitants lived in Becskerek
1718 – The beginning of the German colonization
1718, September 12 – The Emperor’s decision was handed down on division of Banat into 13 districts, out of which one was Becskerek
1722 – The first elementary school started operating
1728-33 – The Governor of Banat Florimund Klaudius Mersi constructed the Begej Canal, aimed to drain huge marshland areas
1737 – The Spanish settlers called the town "New Barcelona"
1738 – Terrible plague epidemics broke out 
1744 – The Church of Dormition of the Mother of God was constructed in the center of the town, today the oldest preserved building in Zrenjanin 
1745 – Sebastian Kracajzen opened the first industrial plant for beer production
1758 – The first Catholic church constructed on the town square
1760 – The Jewish Community was founded 
1768, May 10 – Visit by the Austrian Emperor Joseph II to Becskerek 
1769, June 6 – By the privilege granted by the Austrian Empress Maria Teresa, Becskerek was raised to the level of a trade center
1769 – The first town hospital started operating
1777 - The Church of Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple was constructed in Gradnulica 
1779, July 13 - Torontal district was formed, with Becskerek as the seat of the district 
1784 – The first pharmacy started operating 
 
19th century 
1807, July 30 – A large part of the town was destroyed in a fire and almost all the buildings in the town center 
1820 – The district building, the present-day Town Hall was constructed  
1832 – The first street lighting was put up
1839 – The town cereal storage space was adapted into a theater hall, today the oldest one in Serbia
1846 – The lyceum started operating 
1847, July 8 – The first printing house was founded in Torontal District, of Pavle Plajc
1849, July 13 – Great bourgeois revolution – the imperial and Serbian army entered Becskerek 
1849, November 18 – Becskerek country was formed, within the Serbian Vojvodina and the Tamiš Banat 
1851, January 4 -  The first town newspaper ''Gross Betschkereker Wochenblatt'' started being published, in the German language
1850 – The Provincial Court started operating in Veliki-Big Becskerek
1854 – The first photographic studio was opened in the South Slavic region, of Istvan Oldal 
1860 – The first town brickyard started operating, Daun’s
1861 – The Serbian reading room was founded in Veliki-Big Becskerek
1862 – The first town glee club – "Serbian Church Glee Club" was founded
1868 – Construction of the Roman Catholic Cathedral on the town square was completed
1867 – "Torontalska štedionica-Torontal Savings Bank" was founded 
1868 – The first steam mill started operating 
1872, April 4 – The first town newspaper in the Hungarian language "Torontal" was started being published 
1872 – Becskerek became a town with regulated town administration 
1879 – For the first time, the streets in the town were given official names 
1883 – The railway line Kikinda – Veliki-Big Becskerek and the town railway station were constructed
1883 – The first sports club was founded in the town – rowing club "Torontal"
1885 – The Guild of the town of Veliki-Big Becskerek was founded (the present-day Association of Individual Businessmen and Entrepreneurs)
1887 – The first town newspaper in the Serbian language "Glas-Voice" was started being published
1888 – Completion of the reconstruction of the district building, by which it got the form preserved to the present day
1888 –The upper Mužlja was settled, nowadays a large town settlement
1889 – The railway line Veliki-Big Becskerek – Vršac was constructed 
1891 – The first  telephone line in the town installed
1893 –The first asphalt sidewalk in the town was constructed, in the main street
1894 – The monumental Financial Palace was constructed, the present-day building of the National Museum
1896, August 17 – The Synagogue was consecrated
1896 – The first electric power plant was constructed and the first electric street lamps were put up
1898 – The narrow-gauge line Veliki-Big Becskerek – Žombolj was constructed, with the route through the center of the town
 
20th century
1906 – The first monument was erected on the town square – to the Hungarian revolutionary Erne Kish 
1906 – The District Museum was founded in Veliki-Big Becskerek
1908 – Construction of the court palace was completed
1910 – The Sugar Refinery started operating 
1914 – The First World War broke out, during which there was no destruction in the town, nor any major war actions 
1918, October 31 – The Serbian National Council was founded in Veliki-Big Becskerek
1918, November 17 – Entry of the Serbian army in Veliki-Big Becskerek and ending of the First World War
1918, November 18 – Administrative power of Torontal District came into the hands of the Serbian National Council 
1926, December 1 –The monument to King Petar Karađorđević was unveiled in the center of the town
1935, November 18 – Veliki-Big Becskerek changed the name into Petrovgrad 
1941, April 14 –The German occupation troops entered the town, the beginning of the Second World War
1941 – The German occupational authorities demolished the Synagogue – the only significant building demolished in the town during the Second World War
1944, October 2 – Units of Red Army and partisan detachments liberated the town
1946, October 2 – Petrovgrad changed its name into Zrenjanin
1952 – The President of SFRY Josip Broz Tito unveiled the monument to Žarko Zrenjanin on the Trg slobode-Freedom Square
1952, November 1 – The weekly "Zrenjanin" was started being published
1956 – The basketball players of "Proleter-Proletarian" won the title of the champion of Yugoslavia, after a ten-year long domination of the Belgrade "Red Star"
1960 – The Two-year Post-secondary Mechanical Engineering and Two-year Post-secondary Technological Schools started operating
1961 – The sports hall "Medison-Madison" was constructed, the oldest purpose-built sports hall in Serbia
1963 – "Vodotoranj-Water Tower" on the Trg slobode-Freedom Square was constructed, the tallest office building in Zrenjanin
1965 – The highway bridge nearby the Secretariat of Interior Affairs was constructed, the biggest bridge in Zrenjanin and on the entire course of the River Begej
1970 – Construction of the apartment complex "Bagljaš" commenced, in which over 20 thousand inhabitants live nowadays
1974 – The Educational and Technical Faculty, the present-day Technical Faculty "Mihajlo Pupin" was founded
1979 – The team of Zrenjanin won in the Eurovision spectacle "Games without Borders" and ranked second in the overall
1984 – The youth chorus "Koča Kolarov" won the title "Summa cum laude", as the best European chorus, in the Belgian town Nerpelt
1986 – The tourist and commercial event "Beer Days" was held for the first time
1987, July – The chorus of the glee club "Josif Marinković" in the English town Langolen won the title "Choir of the World"
1996, December 23 – After several weeks of civic protests, the first democratic government was formed by the coalition "Zajedno-Together", after 52 years of single-party communist rule
1999, March 24 – June 10 – NATO aggression on Yugoslavia, during which Zrenjanin was spared from destruction
 
21st century
2000, October 4 – Over twenty thousand people, on the town streets, participated in the protests against the regime of Slobodan Milošević
2003, September 1 – Storm beyond living memory devastated the town - hundreds of windows and thousands of roofing tiles were broken, the symbols of the Town Hall – stained-glass windows were destroyed
2006, January 17 – The heir to the throne Aleksandar II Karađorđević unveiled the restored monument to King Petar Karađorđević on Trg slobode-Freedom Square
2007, October 1 – The first foreign company started operating within the new industrial zones in Zrenjanin – the Italian company "Pompea"
2007, December 29 – By the new territorial organization of the Republic of Serbia, Zrenjanin got the status of the city