Brazil Timeline and History Highlights

Brazil Timeline Highlights

Before Europeans arrived, Brazil was inhabited by thousands of small tribes. These tribes developed neither writing nor monumental architecture, and little is known about them before 1500 AD.

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1500 – Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovers Brazil on his way to India. He claims Portuguese land.

1532 – São Vicente was founded as Brazil’s first permanent settlement by Portuguese explorer Martim Afonso de Souza.

1542 – Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana completes the first voyage across the Amazon.

1549 – Jesuit priests arrive and begin converting the locals to Christianity.

1565 – The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.

1630 – The Dutch discover a colony called New Holland on the northwest coast of Brazil.

1640 – Portugal declares independence from Spain. 1661 – Portugal officially takes over the New Holland territory from the Netherlands.

1727 – The first coffee tree is planted in Brazil by Francisco de Melo Parheta. Brazil will eventually become the world’s largest coffee producer.

1763 – Capital moved from Salvador to Rio de Janiero.

1789 – Brazil’s independence movement is blocked by Portugal.

1800s – Millions of slaves are imported to work on coffee plantations.

1807 – Napoleon’s French Empire invades Portugal. King John VI exiled from Portugal to Brazil.

1815 – Brazil is ruled by John VI. elevated to the kingdom.

1821 – Brazil annexes Uruguay, making it a state of Brazil.

1822 – Pedro I, son of John VI, declares Brazil independent. He calls himself the first emperor of Brazil.

1824 – Brazil’s first constitution is adopted. The country is recognized by the United States.

1864 – The War of the Triple Alliance begins. Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina beat Paraguay.

1888 – The Golden Act abolishes slavery. About 4 million slaves are freed.

1889 – The monarchy is overthrown in a military coup led by Deodoro da Fonseca. Federal Republic is established.

1891 – First Republican Constitution adopted.

1917 – Brazil enters World War I on the side of the Allies.

1930 – Getulio Vargas comes to power after the 1930 Revolution.

1931 – Construction of the Christ of Corcovado statue in Rio de Janeiro is completed.

1937 – A new state is established and Vargas becomes dictator.

1945 – Vargas is deported by the military.

1951 – Vargas is re-elected president.

1954 – Army calls for Vargas’ resignation. he commits suicide

1960 – Capital moved to Brazil.

1964 – The military takes over the government.

1977 – Pele retires from football as the all-time leading league scorer and three-time World Cup winner.

1985 – The military relinquishes power and democracy is restored.

1988 – A new constitution is adopted. The president’s powers will be curtailed.

1989 – Fernando Collor de Melo becomes the first democratically elected president since 1960.

1992 – The United Nations Earth Summit is held in Rio de Janeiro.

1994 – The Real is introduced as the official currency of Brazil.

2000 – Brazil celebrates its 500th anniversary.

2002 – Lula da Silva is elected president. He is a very popular president and a working-class leader in this country.

2011 – Dilma Rousseff becomes president. She is Brazil’s first female president.

Brazil History Highlights:

Until the arrival of Europeans, Brazil was inhabited by Stone Age tribes. Then in 1500 the Portuguese arrived and Pedro Alvarez Cabral claimed Brazil as a Portuguese colony. The first settlement was founded in 1532 and Portugal began conquering more and more land. The main export was sugar. Slaves were imported from Africa to work on the farms. Brazil continued to expand through wars and battles.

The Portuguese defeated the French and captured Rio de Janeiro, as well as several Dutch and British outposts. Brazil soon became one of the largest regions in the world. It is now the fifth largest country in the world.

In 1807, the Portuguese royal family escaped from Napoleon and fled to Brazil. King Don João VI returned to Portugal in 1821, but his son remained in Brazil and became Emperor of Portugal. He declared Brazil’s independence in his 1822. In 1889, Deodoro da Fonseca staged a coup and took power from the emperor. He turned the government into a republic with a constitution. Since then, the country has been ruled by both elected presidents and military coups.

Lula da Silva he was elected president in 2002. He was Brazil’s first working-class president, serving two terms until 2010. In 2011, Dilma Vana Rousseff became Brazil’s first female president.