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1900 The Museum is incorporated as the "Colorado Museum of Natural History" on December 6.
1901 The east end of City Park is selected as the site for the new Museum.
1908 Museum is opened to the public for the first time on July 1.
1916 Donation of the Museum's first dinosaur skeleton is received.
1917 Museum's first field work outside Colorado is done in South Carolina and Florida.
1921 Museum's first field work outside the contiguous United States is done in arctic Alaska.
1927 Museum's discovery of Folsom projectile point increases human antiquity in North America by thousands of years.
1929 Museum inaugurates special programs for students and teachers.
1930 Bronze bear statue, "The Grizzly's Last Stand," is given to the Museum by John A. McGuire.
1932 Staff wages are reduced and activities curtailed as a result of the Great Depression. Museum Art Gallery is closed and art collections are transferred to the Denver Art Museum.
1936 Curved backgrounds, domed ceilings, tilted glasses and fluorescent lights are introduced into habitat dioramas.
1940 Phipps Auditorium is dedicated. Museum's first elevator and new ground floor entrance are installed.
1946 Museum's annual attendance tops one million for the first time.
1948 Colorado Museum of Natural History changes popular name to "Denver Museum of Natural History".
1954 Museum produces TV series about its field work for local station. Botanical Garden Foundation headquarters in Museum and plants rose garden and Robert E. More Pinetum on the Museum's west and south sides.
1955 Planetarium is installed and gives first show on December 22.
1962 Phipps Auditorium reopens after interior is destroyed by fire.
1968 New Charles C. Gates Planetarium is dedicated. Museum receives the Mary W.A. and Francis V. Crane collection, its first major donation of anthropological artifacts.
1972 Museum receives full accreditation from the American Association of Museums. Museum's membership program is begun.
1977 56-foot fin whale skeleton is donated.
1982 Admission fee is collected for the first time in the Museum's history beginning January 1. Dinosaur Stegosaurus becomes Colorado's state fossil. Phipps Auditorium is converted into IMAX Theater.
1983 IMAX Theater open July 1.
1987 Museum hosts its first "blockbuster" traveling exhibit, Ramses II: The Great Pharaoh and His Time." Hall of Life merges with the Museum. Tyrannosaurus rex cast is installed in new public entrance.
1988 Denver metropolitan area voters approve the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Funds from SCFD are used to support exhibitions, collections and education.
1992 The first major temporary exhibition produced by the Museum, AZTEC: The World of Moctezuma" opens.
1995 Prehistoric Journey, the largest permanent exhibition, depicting the 3.5 billion year history of life on Earth, opens in October.
1998 The Museum launches its first Web site and the Library's catalog becomes the first collection database accessible through the Web site.
2000 Museum modifies name to "Denver Museum of Nature and Science." Museum celebrates 100 years of accomplishments and achievements to Denver community, the Rocky Mountain region and the world of science.
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