Short answers, pulled from the story.
Indigenous peoples occupied the broad sloping plateau that would become Toronto for more than 10,000 years before European ships appeared on Lake Ontario. Archaeological sites confirm human occupation in this area dating back thousands of years.
Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York in 1793 on lands purchased from the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. He selected this location because it was less vulnerable to attack by the United States than Newark.
York became the City of Toronto on the 6th of March 1834 when Reformist politician William Lyon Mackenzie served as the first mayor. This transition occurred after American forces captured and plundered the town during the Battle of York in 1813.
Six municipalities including East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, York, and the original city merged into one megacity on the 1st of January 1998. A referendum held in March 1997 showed more than three votes against amalgamation but provincial law allowed the Harris government to ignore results.
The 2021 Census recorded a population of 2,794,356 people living within the city limits of Toronto. Immigrants born outside Canada comprise 46.6 per cent of the total population with over 200 ethnic origins represented among inhabitants.