By the early 1800s the former town was home to a major port. Belfast played a key role in the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, becoming the biggest linen producer in the world, earning it the nickname "Linenopolis ''. By the time it was granted city status in 1888, it was a major centre of the Irish linen as well as tobacco - processing, rope - making and shipbuilding industries. Harland and Wolff, which built the RMS Titanic, was the world 's biggest and most productive shipyard. It later also sustained a major aerospace and missiles industry. Industrialisation and the inward migration it brought made Belfast Ireland 's biggest city at the time. It became the capital of Northern Ireland following the Partition of Ireland in 1922. Its status as a global industrial centre ended in the decades after the Second World War.
when did belfast become the capital of northern ireland
1922