In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.

Work begins on the covering of the Zenne, burying Brussels's primary river and creating the modern central boulevards.

Edouard de Laveleye forms the Belgian Olympic Committee in Brussels.

World War I: German forces occupy Brussels.

World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.

The ''L'Innovation'' department store in the centre of Brussels, Belgium, burns down. It is the most devastating fire in Belgian history, resulting in 323 dead and missing and 150 injured.

The formerly united Free University of Brussels officially splits into two separate entities, the French-speaking Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

An IRA bomb explodes on the Grand Place in Brussels.

Heysel Stadium disaster: At the European Cup final in Brussels, Belgium, 39 football fans die and hundreds are injured when a dilapidated retaining wall collapses after Liverpool F.C. fans breach a fence separating them from Juventus F.C. fans.

The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy.