| 1827 - A series of meetings held, first to discuss how to offset the threatened loss of business from the City of Baltimore by the C & O Canal Later, a meeting was held to take steps to draught the charter of the company. Chartered February 28th, Incorporated April 24th. 1828 - The "First Stone" of the B & O was laid by Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 1829 - Experiments with horse - drawn, dog - drawn and sail - driven cars are halted when Peter Cooper begins experimenting with his "Tom Thumb" locomotive. 1830 - May 24 - The first section of the railroad, thirteen miles was opened to Ellicott's Mills. August 25 - Race between Tom Thumb and horse drawn car at Relay. The Tom Thumb lost the race, but proved the days of horse drawn trains on the B&O were over. 1831 - July 12 - The "York" became the first locomotive in regular operation on the B & O. December 1 - The line was completed to Frederick, Md. 1832 - April 1 - The line was completed to Point of Rocks, MD. June 21 - The "Atlantic" became the second locomotive to go into regular service on the B & O. 1833 - The first "Bollman Truss" bridge was installed, on the Washington branch. 1834 - December 1 - The line was completed to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Four locomotives now in service: They are the "Atlantic", "Traveler", "Arabian", and "Mercury". 1835 - The Washington Branch, from Baltimore to Washington D.C. was completed. After this, the original route of the B&O became known as "The Old Main Line". July 1 - The first trip from Baltimore to Washington and back was made on the day the Thomas Viaduct was completed. Four locomotives now in service on the Washington Branch: They are the "George Washington", "John Adams", "Thomas Jefferson", and "James Madison". 1836 - The railroad bridge at Harper's Ferry was completed. The company now has eleven locomotives in service. 1837 - The "Lafayette" goes into service. It was the first locomotive with a horizontal boiler. 1838 - B & O begins to carry the mail between Baltimore and Washington. 1842 - NOVEMBER 5 - The line was completed to Cumberland. 1843 - November - The laying of the first telegraph line in the country was begun, reaching from Baltimore to Washington. 1844 - The first telegraph message in the world was sent from Washington to Baltimore. The message was sent by Miss Anne Ellsworth through Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor. The message was "What hath God wrought?" 1846 - May 11 - The first Presidential message ever sent by telegraph was sent to the Baltimore Sun. 1852 - December 24 - The last spike was driven connecting the line between Baltimore and the Ohio River at Wheeling, W. Va. 1859 - Troops were rushed over the line to Harper's Ferry in response to John Brown's raid on the Union Arsenal. 1861 - The railroad was used by the Government for the movement of troops and supplies and suffered great damage from both sides until the war's end in 1865. 1864 - The first steel rails were laid. 1871 - The B&O reached the city of Pittsburgh. 1874 - New B & O office building built at Baltimore & Calvert streets, completed 1882. The B&O reached the City of Chicago. 1893 - The Company's collection of locomotives is exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair. 1927 - The Centenary Exhibition of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was held in Halethorpe, MD.
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