Biblical Period
Fugitives in Egypt, Mary and Jesus are said to have passed through what is today Maadi on their way to Upper Egypt.
circa 1672
In his final volume 17th-century Ottoman travelwriter Evliya Shelebi refers to the area of al-Maadi (arabic plural for the word "ferry") as Cairo's southernmost port--liman and customs house--gumruk. "From there you crossed over to the Nile's west bank by ferry--maadi'a before traveling south to Upper Egypt and the Sudan."
September 1882
- Nationalist leader Ahmed Orabi Pasha defeated by British at Tal al-Kebir and deported to Ceylon. A seventy-two year period of British military occupation begins.
1884
- Lord Cromer appointed British consul-general in Egypt and becomes its de-facto ruler for the next 22 years.
1886
- Veteran Sudanese army officer of the 1883-4 Khartoum Campaign Amir-Alai Kashim (Khashm) al-Moos Pasha (1850-1912) retires in Maadi al-Khabiri Village. He is subsequently buried in nearby Mosque bearing his name (today located at the western end of Road 9 near railway crossing). Maadi al-Khabiri was then populated by families of Sudanese army personnel stationed in nearby Tora's second Garrison--Ikinji Alai. Having lost two conscripted sons during Gordon's campaign Al-Moss was respected by both the British and Turkish military establishments.
July 1887
- Talks begin between Egyptian government and Suares Brothers for construction of a private railway line from Bab al-Luk to Helwan replacing older (Digla) line from Citadel Midan via Bassatine and Tora to Helwan.
New line would include following stations. Bab al-Luk terminal, Sayeda Zeinab, Old Cairo Cemeteries, Mary Guirguiss, Maadi, Tora al-Balad and Helwan terminal.
1989
- 1 November 1889. The khedive of Egypt, Abbas Hilmi II, and entire cabinet attend inauguration of new Bab al-Luk - Helwan railway line. The Metropolitan Cairo & Helwan Railway Company is launched.
1901
- son of local squire celebrates his wedding near Maadi Khabiri village.
1904
- Talks between the Empain Group led by Baron Edouard Empain and Boghos Nubar Pasha, and the Cassel Group led by Felix Suares, regarding the possible merger of the the Cairo Tramways with the Bab al-Luk - Helwan Railway line fail.
- Professor archeologist Hermann Junker discovers pre-dynastic human skeletons on Willibald Luthy's property following severe flashfloods.
- April 20: Egyptian Delta Land & Investment Company (EDLICO) registered in London with a capital of 100,000 pounds Sterling. Controlling shares of new company remain with Egyptian Delta Light Railways Co.
- April 30: Egyptian Delta Light Railways Company (EDLR) buys the Helwan line from the Suares consortium.
- December: Government gives formal sanction for the taking over of Helwan Line by EDLR.
- December 7: EDLICO purchases 371 acres from Elie and Victor Mosseri in vicinity of Maadi al-Khabiri at LE 19.50 per acre.
1905
- January 17: EDLICO purchases 434 feddans (feddan=acre) from Mosseri cousins.
- January: EDLICO's authorized capital increased by 150,000 poounds Sterling.
- March 6: complaints in the press from some of the very few residents of Maadi village, the Maadi monastery and Bassateen, that the Helwan railway has reduced its stops at the rural Maadi railway station
- June 24: Maadi village become an administrative dependency of Helwan instead of Giza
1906
- Second set of tracks between Sayeda Zeinab and Tora, on the Cairo-Helwan, line are laid.
- February 15: EDLICO's first general manager, Alexander James Adams, resigns.
- July: EDLICO alters Articles of Association and takes control of its own management from Delta Light Railways Company.
1907
- Control of EDLICO is moved from London to Cairo. The capital is increased.
1909
- June 23: New Maadi railway station inaugurated.
1910
- Cairo-Maadi Agricultural road under construction with earmarked land raised a few meters above low flood level between Athar al-Nabi and Maadi.
1911
- January 1: There are now 32 houses in Maadi, of which 29 are occupied.
1912
- Cairo-Maadi Road (old Agricultural road) completed and Ministry of Finance disburses necessary funds for extension of said road from Maadi to Helwan.
1913
- May 16: Flashfloods from the Mokattam Hills and Wadi Digla devastate Maadi. Train service stop.
- St. Charles Borromeo Convent inaugurated.
- World's first solar energy power generator installed in Maadi by Professor Frank Shuman of New York.
1914
- March 31: Delta Land Railways sells Helwan line to ESR
- August 26: World War I breaks out.
- December 1: Australian 2nd Light Horse Brigade camp at Maadi.
- December 14: The British depose Khedive Abbas Hilmi II and appoint his uncle Hussein Kamel as Sultan.
1915
- March 2: EDLICO Bungalow Hospital taken over by Australian army.
1916
- March 6: Reginald Henriquez dies and Tom Dale appointed new general manager at EDLICO.
1917
- October 9: Sultan Hussein Kamel dies and is succeeded by his brother Sultan Fouad.
1918
- Nationalist leader Saad Zaghloul demands independence for Egypt.
1921
- Saad Zaghloul returns from exile and deported to the Seychelles.
- The Maadi Sporting Club opens.
- 14 March: Ministry of Finance approves leasing 140 feddans of "Amiria" desert land to EDLICO for the use as a golf course by the new Maadi Sporting Club (MSC)
1922
- February: Britain declares Egypt independent state. Sultan Fouad becomes King.
EDLICO headquarters moves from Cairo to Maadi.
1925
- February: EDLICO purchases 71 acres of land east of Digla Line from heirs of Suares Cie.
1926
- March 18: Severe earthquake shock felt in Maadi at 16:04.
- July: February: EDLICO purchases 214 acres of land east of Digla Line from heirs of Suares Cie.
- August 9: First recorded railway level crossing accident. A 10-year old Swiss dies.
1929
November 23: Opening of the first Maadi Church Bazaar by Lady Percy Lorraine
- December 21: The Ismaili barracks (Thakanat) inaugurated by King Fouad.
1930
- March 30: Digla level-crossing accident. Miss Cleave fatally injured.
- April 25: Laying foundation stone of St. John the Baptist Church.
1931
- Second pre-dynastic site discovered at Digla by the German Institute of Archaeology.
January 2: First evensong performed at St. John the Baptist Church.
- August: Hold-up and assault on Cairo-Maadi road leads to death of Italian and serious wounding of his Greek fiancée.
1932
- opening of Madame Aurelie School ny Madame Aurelia Zani-Lontos.
- May 10th: English School opens new premises at No. 22 Road 82.
- May 22nd: Inauguration of Marconi Telephone and Wireless Station in Digla.
1933
August 22: Lady Percy Lorraine inaugurates electric lighting of the Cairo-Helwan Road.
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1934
- Meyr Y. Biton Synagogue on Mosseri Avenue inaugurated.
1935
- The number of houses in Maadi al-Sarayat reached 269.
1936
- April 28: King Fouad dies. Sixteen year-old Farouk ascends throne.
- August: Anglo-Egyptian Treaty signed in London.
- Maadi railway station platforms extended.
1939
- February 17: H.M. King Farouk inaugurates Farouk al-Awal Mosque
- April 7: Dr. Josef Goebbels alleged to have visited Maadi
- September 3: World War II breaks out.
1940
- February 12th: New Zealand troops welcomed in Digla Camp by General Freyberg.
- April 7: General Freyberg inaugurates New Zealand camp swimming pool by taking the first jump
- June 10: Italy declares war on Allies and EDLICO's Chairman Elie Mosseri dies.
- September 30: HRH Prince Nayef Ibn Abdallah weds Mahramah Sultan in Maadi.
1941
New Zealand Prime Minister Fraser
- April 8: EDLICO Chief engineer John A. Clyma dies.
- May 18: New Zealand's Premier Peter Fraser visits New Zealand camp in Digla.
- July 11: Maad resident John Ball - Director of Egyptian Survey department dies.
1942
April 19: The Duke of Gloucester visits the Ismaili Barracks and NZEF in Digla.
1943
- March 13: Victor Carmona fatally assaulted by NZEF Maori in burglary.
1945
- January 1: Torrential flashfloods crash down Wadi Digla flooding Maadi.
- February 24: Prime Minister Ahmed Maher assassinated.
- April 18: The Lawn Tennis Association championships of Egypt played at Maadi Sporting Club.
- May 14: Maadi hit by second flashflood. Surrounding villages devastated.
- June 2: Inauguration of Maadi Child Welfare Association's new premises.
1946
- February 4: New Zealand Forces memorial unveiled on Fouad al-Awwal Square.
- The Cairo School for American Children (CSAC) opens on Road 7.
- The Maadi Yacht Club opens.
1948
- May 17: Foundation stone of the Mobarah Hospital on Road 5 laid by HRH Princess Fawzia.
- August 3: EDLICO offices on Road 7 bombed. Muslim Brothers suspected.
- December 28: Prime Minister Mahmoud Nokrashi Pasha assassinated by Muslim Brothers.
1949
- March 28: Von Cramm, Cuceli, Massip and Mottram play at the Maadi Sporting Club's tennis tournament.
- October 14: Regime of Capitulations and Mixed Courts end.
- November 29: Gottfreid Von Cramm beats Adli Shafei for Raymond Flower Cup at Maadi Sporting Club.
1950
- October 8: Aviation College plane kills two brothers at Izbet Nafea.
- November 26: Del Bello, Drobny, Cemik, Sturgess, Geoff Brown play tennis at Maadi Sporting Club.
- Victoria College opens in Digla.
1951
- February 8: Mobara Hospital inaugurated by HRH Princess Fawzia.
- June 18: Hooting banned by decree issued by Cairo governor Mahmoud Ghazaly Pasha.
- September 25: Fred Perry, Frank Wilde in action at Maadi Sporting Club.
- December 17: Maadi's oldest citizen Fares Nimr Pasha dies aged 96.
1952
- Maadi Nokta upgraded to Qism by interior minister Murtada Maraghi.
- April 2: Bernard Ferdinand Lyot, inventor of the solar chronograph dies while on train from Bab al-Louk to Helwan.
- May 1: Mobil Oil (then called Socony-Vacuum) opens first petrol service station in Maadi.
- May 7: Barrister and Maadi Sporting Club secretary William Rogers Fanner dies
- July 22: King Farouk appoints Maadi's Naguib al-Hilali Pasha Prime Minister.
- July 23: Officer's coup de-stabilizes monarchy.
- 1-day old Cabinet resigns.
- July 25: King Farouk abdicates in favor of infant son and departs from Alexandria aboard Mahroussa.
- August 1: Communication Minister Rashad Mohana inaugurates new telephone exchange.
- October 26: Monsignor Jean Cayer inaugurates Latin Church chapel on Road 15.
- December 18: Premier Mohamed Naguib opens Maadi Child Welfare Bazaar at Maadi Sporting Club.
1953
- January 27: John Crawford a.k.a. Duke of Maadi dies at Anglo-American Hospital.
- June 18: Monarchy abolished. General Mohammed Naguib becomes first president of the Republic Egypt.
- November 2: Cardinal Tisserent of the Vatican inaugurates St. Leon Catholic-Coptic Seminary on Road 15.
1954
- The last British troops evacuate Egypt.
- Hassan Mazloum Pasha resigns from chairmanship of EDLICO and is replaced by Taher al-Lozy Bey.
- Work begins on new Maadi-Cairo Corniche.
- Maadi Association for Landlords, Tenants and Householders (MALTH) ceated.
- November 4: Kowaleski, Arkinstall, Howe, Skonecki, P. Raemy play at Maadi's Sporting Club Open tennis tournament.
- November 14: President Naguib deposed by RCC (Revolutionary Command Council).
1955
- September 12: Egypt hit by earthquake at 08:00. Cairo reports casualties.
- September 13: Three American children burnt alive in garden on Fouad al-Awwal (al-Nahda) Avenue
- First regular bus service No.13 from Maadi to Ataba Square in Cairo.
- CSAC renamed CAC and moves to house of Prince Mohammed Ali Ibrahim.
1956
- January 15: Electrification of Bab al-Louk - Helwan railway line completed.
- June: Geoffrey Dales resigns from EDLICO and leaves Egypt.
- June: All-Egyptian Board of Directors at EDLICO for the first time.
- July 23: Gamal Abdel Nasser nominated president.
- July 23: Maadi-Cairo Corniche inaugurated by Minister of Planning Abdel Latif al-Boghdadi.
- July 26: Suez Canal nationalized.
- October 29: Israel invades Sinai. Hours later, France and Britain attack Port Saiid and occupy Canal Zone.
- November 4: EDLICO sequestered. Board no longer functions.
1957
- October 27: Maadi's first bank--Bank of Alexandria ex-Barclays-opens on Road 9.
1958
- February: Egypt and Syria unite. United Arab Republic proclaimed.
1959
- February 22: Economy Minister Hassan Abbas Zaki appoints Mohamed Nazif EDLICO's new Sequestor (CEO) replacing Hassan Mohamed Hussein.
1960
- March: EDLICO de-sequestrated. Mohamed Nazif appointed General Manager.
1961
- July 20: EDLICO nationalized. Free enterprise in Egypt laid to rest.
- September 28: Syria backs out of union.
- New Zealand memorial removed. 37 palm trees are axed in the process.
1962
- January: Borhan Hassan Saiid Nour appointed General Manager of "Maadi Suburb Co." (new legal entity that replaced EDLICO) a subsidiary of General Authority for Cooperative Housing.
- August 8: Former EDLICO chairman Hassan Mazloum Pasha dies in Alexandria.
- Agricultural engineer-landscaper and Maadi resident Nihad Ahmed Khulusi creates the new "Childrens' Garden" at the Maadi Sporting Club.
1963
- death of Albanian Biktashi sage Sirri Baba residing on Road 14
1964
- Dissolution of MALTH
1965
- 3 march 1965: Arrest of Wolfgang Lotz a.k.a. Champagne Spy on charges of espionage for account of Israel. He was charged with the attempt to liquidate German rocket scientists residing in Maadi via letter bombs some of which exploded at the Maadi Post Office.
- Between 1935-55 Maadi's population did not exceed 130 familes. During that time Maadi was the elected place of residence for several exiled members of the Imperial Ottoman family. Among them:
Princess Amina Nazik kadin (wife of Sultan Mohammed VI Vahidedine) died in Maadi January 26, 194
Prince Ertughrul Vahidedine
Prince Ali Vasip (Mosseri Avenue)
Princess Mukbile Omer Hilmi (Mosseri Avenue)
Princess Lutfiyeh Reshat (Road 10)
Princess Behiye Reshat (Road 13)
Prince Mahmud Namik (Rolo Avenue)
Prince Omer-Faruk (Canal Street)
Princess Nejla-Hebatullah (Road 14)
Princess Hanezade (Road 78)
Princess Rukiyeh-Sabiha (Road 81)
Princess Mihriban-Mihrishah Izzetin (Menashe a.k.a. Princess Fawzia Ave)
Egyptian Royals who elected to live in Maadi at various periods between 1935-55
Princess Fawzia (sister of King Farouk)
Princess Khadiga Aziz Hassan
Princess Amina Bahrouz Fadel
Princess Ulfet Osman Fadel
Princess Zeyneb Ibrahim Hilmi
Princess Nimetallah Ibrahim Halim
Prince Zaki Ibrahim Halim
Prince Omar Saiid Halim
Princess Karima Mohammed A. Halim
Prince Mohammed-Ali Ibrahim
Prince Amr Ibrahim
Egyptian Prime Ministers from Maadi
Ibrahim Abdel Hadi Pasha
Naguib al-Hilali Pasha
Ali Baligh Sabri
Breakdown of Maadi residents as per 1950-52 Maadi telephone list
209 Egyptian Moslems
027 Egyptian Copts
009 Egyptian-Turkish Royals
084 Western Europeans + Americans
011 Greeks and Greek Cypriots
024 Syrians (incl. Lebanon)
080 Jews
001 Palestinian
068 Institutions
TOTAL 513
for complete telephone list click TELEPHONE NUMBERS
for Maadi architect list up to 1950
click ARCHITECTS
villa Naguib al-Hilali Pasha
villa Baligh Sabri Bey
IN MEMORIUM
sample of villas that disappeared after 1980
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