One of the oldest European settlements in North America, the area was colonized by British fisherman by the 1620s and established as an official British settlement after 1630. It would become a thriving community in large part due to the fishing industry and trading post for various European countries. The British and the French would continue to fight over the city until 1762, when the British won control for the final time.
Signal Hill, which overlooks the city of St. John’s, is the site where the first transatlantic wireless communication took place. The transmission, in Morse code, was received by Guglielmo Marconi in 1901.
