Decisive Dates

Prehistoric Times

13,000–10,000 BC

A group of mastodon hunters settle in the area now known as Monte Verde, near modern Puerto Montt.

Pre-Columbian Cultures

c.1450

The Incas, led by Tupac Yupanqui, make their way down from Peru and conquer northern Chile, but fail to subdue the Mapuches in the south.

European Conquest and Settlement

1520

The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan becomes the first European to glimpse Chile as he sails through the straits that are later named after him.

1533

Inca rule ends when they are defeated by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro.

1536

Pizarro’s comrade Diego de Almagro travels from Cuzco to Copiapó and then on to the Aconcagua Valley in search of gold.

1541

Pedro de Valdivia sets off to conquer Chile and founds Santiago.

1550–1

Valdivia establishes the settlements of Concepción, Valdivia, Villarrica, and several other cities.

1553

Valdivia is killed by the native Mapuches, led by Lautaro, near Concepción.

1557–61

A new governor, called García Hurtado de Mendoza, re-establishes Spanish rule in Concepción and founds Osorno and Cañete.

1599

A major uprising by indigenous tribes wipes out all Spanish settlements south of the Biobío river in the Central Valley region.

17th Century

Ranching becomes Chile’s primary export trade, with large estates (haciendas or latifundas) employing bonded mestizo peasants to replace encomiendas as European diseases reduce the native population.

18th Century

Around 20,000 Spaniards emigrate to the new colony.

1740

Chile loosens its bonds with the Viceroyalty of Peru, seat of the Spanish American Empire, as direct trade is permitted with Spain and other colonies in the New World.

1750

Chile is permitted to mint its own coins.

Independence from Spain

1808

The French emperor Napoleon invades Spain, dethroning King Ferdinand VII.

1810

Leading Chilean citizens force the Spanish governor in Chile to resign and, following the example of Spanish cities, select a ruling junta in the name of King Ferdinand.

1811

The first Chilean National Congress gathers, swearing loyalty to the Spanish king.

1812

Following a coup d’état, the Carrera government proposes that the Spanish king should recognize Chile’s constitution and sovereignty and establishes democratic rule.

1813

Spain invades Chile.

1814

Chilean nationalists are beaten at Rancagua, and their leaders flee to Argentina.

1817

The nationalists, led by Bernardo O’Higgins, defeat the Spanish forces with the help of Argentine hero General José de San Martín. O’Higgins is appointed Supreme Dictator.

1818

Chilean independence is declared. The nationalists win a decisive victory over the royalist forces at the Battle of Maipú.

Growth and Stability

1823

Slavery is abolished.

1829–30

A lengthy period of “Conservative Republic” is ushered in under Diego Portales.

1839

The first Chilean banknotes go into circulation.

1840s

Prosperity grows as more silver is found in the north, Chilean farmers supply Californian gold-diggers, and Magallanes is founded to take advantage of European trade routes.

1843

The University of Chile is founded in Santiago.

From 1848

German settlement is encouraged, as immigrants flee the revolutions in Europe, bringing European political and revolutionary ideas to Chile. Work begins on Chile’s first railroad, from Copiapó to Caldera.

1850s

Guano is discovered, putting the area north of Coquimbo into dispute with both Peru and Bolivia.

1860

Free primary education is introduced.

1876–8

Flooding in the south and drought in the north lead to famine. Agricultural problems combined with a fall in the demand for silver lead to an economic crisis.

1879

Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru.

1881

Last uprising of Chile’s indigenous peoples. The rebellion is quashed by the army and the territory of the Mapuches is declared state property.

1883

Peru cedes Tarapacá, Tacna, and Arica to Chile.

1884

Bolivia cedes Antofagasta to Chile.

1891

Civil war breaks out over the issue of presidential powers. After defeat, President José Manuel Balmaceda commits suicide.

The 20th Century

1907

The massacre of striking mine workers at Santa María de Iquique ends a period of intense union activity.

1912

The Chilean Socialist Workers’ Party is founded.

1918

The invention of synthetic nitrates makes Chile’s “desert gold” obsolete.

1925

A new constitution separates church and state.

1926

Economic and political crises bring army officer Carlos Ibáñez to power. He creates a powerful state system.

1929

The Wall Street Crash and world depression lead to political instability.

1931

Ibáñez resigns and goes into exile.

1932

Arturo Alessandri returns to power, ushering in a period of economic recovery and political stability.

1945

Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral is awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

1949

Women win the right to vote.

1952

Carlos Ibáñez is elected president and returns to power.

1964

Eduardo Frei leads the Christian Democrat Party to power with US support.

1970

The leftwing coalition Popular Unity, led by Salvador Allende, scrapes to victory as Chile’s first Socialist government.

1971

The Allende government nationalizes the copper mines as part of a sweeping reform program. Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wins the Nobel Prize for literature.

1973

The Allende government is overthrown in a violent military coup, ending in the suicide of Allende in Santiago’s Moneda Palace, which brings General Augusto Pinochet to power. Thousands are tortured and murdered during his regime.

1980

A new Constitution stipulates a referendum on continued military rule to be held in 1988.

1982–3

Chile’s economy nosedives, sparking off strikes and protests.

1986

An attempt to assassinate Pinochet fails.

1988

Fifty-four percent of voters reject Pinochet’s regime in a referendum.

1989

Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin is elected President as the country returns to democracy. General Pinochet stays on as Army commander-in-chief.

1990s

Prosperity increases rapidly, although income distribution remains extremely unequal.

1991

The National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation establishes military guilt in violating human rights, but few of the perpetrators are punished.

1994

Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei, son of 1960s President Frei, is elected to head the Concertación, the center-left government coalition.

1998

Pinochet retires as army commander-in-chief. Later that year, he is detained during a visit to London on human rights charges filed by a Spanish judge and is held under house arrest until March 2000 when he is released on grounds of ill-health.

2000

Ricardo Lagos, a Socialist, is elected to head the Concertación’s third term.

2002

Pinochet is declared mentally unfit to stand trial in Chile and retires from public life until his death in December 2006.

2006

Concertación candidate Michelle Bachelet, a Socialist, is elected as Chile’s first woman president. Secondary schoolchildren, demanding improvements in the quality of state education, mount the largest protests since the restoration of democracy.

2007

The launch of the new Transantiago public transport system in February plunges Chile’s capital into chaos, badly denting the popularity of President Bachelet and her government.

2009

GDP contracts by 1 percent in response to the international financial crisis but counter-cyclical fiscal measures help to take President Bachelet’s popularity to record levels.

2010

Sebastián Piñera, a former businessman, becomes Chile’s first elected right-wing president since Jorge Alessandri (1958–64). In February, a severe earthquake, followed by a tsunami, causes great damage in the Central Valley, particularly to coastal towns and villages. In October the world breathes a sigh of relief as 33 miners, trapped for over two months in the collapsed San José gold and copper mine in northern Chile, are successfully rescued.

2012

Authorities issue a red alert for the Copahue volcano after seismic activity was detected.