Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Roman Senate ordered the creation of a settlement for refugees expelled from Vienne in 43 BC. These displaced people encamped at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers to establish what became known as Lugdunum.
Two Emperors were born within these walls: Claudius and Caracalla. Claudius delivered a speech preserved in the Lyon Tablet regarding Gallic Senators during his time associated with the city.
In 1793, the citizenry rose up against the National Convention during the French Revolution before Revolutionary armies besieged the city for over two months. The Convention ordered the name changed to Commune-Affranchie or Emancipated Commune on the 12th of October 1793 after more than 2,000 people were executed following the surrender.
On the 3rd of September 1944, the 1st Free French Division liberated the city alongside Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur. Today the city hosts a museum dedicated to the Resistance and Deportation that is strongly linked to Klaus Barbie's activities.
In 1998, UNESCO designated the historic site of Lyon as a World Heritage Site citing exceptional testimony to over two millennia of urban settlement continuity. Specific regions include the Roman district, Fourvière hill, Renaissance district Vieux Lyon, silk district slopes of Croix-Rousse, and Presqu'île.