History of the Petronas Towers

3500 BC – Stone age settlements occur occasionally at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers. This location is now the center of the modern city of Kuala Lumpur.

800 BC – The Hindu and Buddhist based Sumatran Srivijaya civilization controls the Malaysian peninsula.

1000 BC – A legendary Hindu-Malay kingdom known as Gangga Negara exists in the area of Kuala Lumpur.

1200 – Sultan Muzaffar Shah I of Kedah, which is the territory 100 kilometers north of Kuala Lumpur, becomes the first Malaysian peninsula ruler to convert to Islam.

1400 – The Sultanate of Malacca controls the peninsular area including Kuala Lumpur.

1511 – The Portuguese defeat the sultanate and control the coastal areas in the Malaccan straits.

1542 – Portuguese traders from Goa, India build a replenishment station at Penang, which is an island 300 kilometers north of the coastline that lies east of the Kuala Lumpur location.

1592 – Sir James Lancaster becomes the first Englishman to explore the east coast of the Straits of Malacca, which are 40 kilometers east of Kuala Lumpur’s inland location.

1641 – The Dutch wrest control of the Malaccan Straits area from the Portuguese.

1650 – Chinese, Indian, Arabian and European trading ships pass regularly through the Straits of Malacca on their way to spice centers to the west. Pirates plague commercial shipping in the area.

1750 –Scattered Orang Asli homesites dot the Klang and Gombak river confluence area. The name Kuala Lumpur, which means “muddy confluence” in Bahasa Melayu, becomes commonly used.

1826 – British sign a secret treaty with the king of Siam through which they gain ownership of Penang by acknowledging Siamese ownership of several northern Malaysian territories.

1819 – Three hundred kilometers south of Kuala Lumpur, at the tip of the Malaysian peninsula, Sir Stamford Raffles arranges an accord with local ruler Tengku Hussein to establish a trading post at Singapore.

1857 – Many new tin mines established around Ampang, near Kuala Lumpur.

1860 – A large Orang Asli community is thriving among the rowdy Chinese tin miner’s camp on the Kuala Lumpur site.

1868 – Politician Yap ah Loy brings first municipal organization to Kuala Lumpur.

1874 – The British government convinces the Sultan of Selangor to accept a British Resident.

1880 – The British administrative seat is moved inland from Klang to Kuala Lumpur.

1885 – Many wooden buildings in Kuala Lumpur are replaced with brick structures.

1887 – The first Moorish Islamic Buildings are erected in Kuala Lumpur.

1896 – The Federated Malay States are formed with British protection and Kuala Lumpur is the first capital. The federation includes just the four Malaysian states nearest Kuala Lumpur.

1896 – Under the guidance of the British Resident Frank Swettenham, the Selangor Turf Club is founded to present horse races on the current site of the Petronas Towers.

1909 – The Bangkok Treaty between England and Siam gives the English new territory in the Malaysian peninsula, but maintains Siamese ownership of the area around Kuala Lumpur.

1948 – The Federated Malay States evolve into the Federation of Malaya, with the addition of many un-federated Malaysian states and the previously British Straits Settlements.

1957 – Malaya gains its independence from England and the Federation of Malaya is formed, with Kuala Lumpur as its capital.

1963 – The Federation of Malaysia is formed, including Malaya, Singapore, British North Borneo and Sarawak. Singapore leaves the Federation in 1965.

1970 – The Malaysian Federation state of Selangor cedes Kuala Lumpur to the federation government.

1981- Dr. Mahathir bin Mohammad begins his term as Prime Minister of Malaysia, a period which lasts until 2003 and sees the rapid modernization of the Malaysia’s economy.

1988 – The Sarawak Transportation Company buys 255 acres of exhausted mining land on which to relocate the Selangor Turf club off the future Petronas Towers site.

1989 – Queen Elizabeth II visits Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur.

1990 – The design competition for the Kuala Lumpur City Center redevelopment project is won by the American firm Klages, Carter, Vail & Associates.

1991 – Petronas becomes a partner in the Kuala Lumpur City Centre re-development project.

1991 – International design competition for the two towers is held. Eight firms submit proposals. César Pelli and Associates’ design for the two towers is declared the winner of the competition.

1992 – The last race is held at the Selangor Turf Club and the land vacated.

1993 – Excavation for the Petronas Towers foundations begins.

1994 – Construction on the Petronas Towers begins.

1998 – The first tenants begin moving into the Petronas Towers.

1998 – The newly formed Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra gives its first performance, in the Petronas Towers’ Dewan Filharmonik concert hall.

1999 – The Petronas Towers hold their dedication ceremony on August 31 with Prime Minister and principal Kuala Lumpur redevelopment advocate Dr. Mahathir bin Mohammad presiding.

1999 – The planned city of Putrajaya is constructed twelve kilometers south of Kuala Lumpur and the federal government of is relocated there, but Kuala Lumpur remains the country’s capital.

2005 – The Petronas Towers are evacuated for the second time in their history due to a small fire in the Cineplex. As with the first evacuation, which was for a bomb scare in 2001, no injuries were reported.

2007 – Skyscraper climber Alain Robert climbs up the outside freehand to the 60th floor of Tower Two where he is arrested by police, just as he was 10 years earlier when he climbed to the 60th floor of Tower One.

2009 – Skyscraper climber Alain Robert manages to elude police and finally climbs to the top of Tower Two.