the dirichlet problem states: given a domain and a continuous function f on its boundary, find a harmonic function u in the domain and continuous on the closure of the domain such that u=f on the boundary. i will give some highlights in the early developments around it. in one direction, motivation from physics and electrostatics, the work by green, neumann and fredholm and the general solution by poincare and perron will be talked about. in another direction, we will mention the dirichlet principle and its relation with dirichlet problem. it will be a very informal talk from a historical perspective and no background will be assumed.