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- 1904
- Vulcan cast at McWane Foundry of Sloss Furnaces pig iron. Sent to World's Fair in St. Louis; wins top prize.
- 1910
- Population of Birmingham tops 130,000. Becomes fastest growing urban area in the United States.
- 1929
- Stock market crashes. Banks begin to fail and close.
- 1930s
- Birmingham is one of the hardest hit U.S. cities during the Great Depression. Thousands lose work.
- 1938
- Vulcan statue placed atop Works Progress Administration pedestal atop Red Mountain overlooking "Jones Valley," city of Birmingham.
- 1941
- Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Johnny Rutledge accepts job at U.S. Steel's Fairfield Works (the former Tennessee Coal and Iron)
- 1940s
- Recovery from the Great Depression. Iron and steel production increases dramatically. World War II drives orders for munitions, planes, warships.
- 1944
- University of Alabama moves its medical school from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham. Now state's largest city, doctors are needed in industrial setting.
- 1951
- Dr. Charles "Scotty" McCallum enters medical school in Birmingham. At the same time, 18% of jobs in metro Birmingham are in primary metals.
- 1963
- Birmingham embroiled in civil rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. jailed. Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombed; 4 girls killed.
- 1969
- By designation of the Alabama Legislature, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, or UAB, is born.
- 1979
- Dr. Richard Arrington is elected mayor of Birmingham. He is city's first African-American mayor.
- 1980s
- State and federal banking laws loosened (pdf file). Banks can "merge" branches into one chartered state bank and can buy existing out of state banks.
- 1990s
- Birmingham-based banks continue aggressive acquisition of smaller out-of-state banks.
- 2000
- Vulcan in disrepair. Park closed for fear of falling parts from statue. Vulcan removed from 1970s marble pedestal and disassembled for future repairs.
- 2001
- Banking payrolls top 1 (B) billion dollars in Alabama.
- 2003
- Health Care and social assistance jobs top 14% in metro Birmingham. Financial services jobs top 8%. Primary metals jobs down to 1% of workforce.
- 2004
- Vulcan placed atop original WPA pedestal on Red Mountain. Rededicated on 100th birthday.
- 2004
- Birmingham-based SouthTrust Bank acquired by North Carolina-based
Wachovia in 14.3 (B) billion dollar deal. More
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