| 1492 | Christopher Columbus lands on San Salvador | |
| 1494 | Columbus establishes La Isla Española on what is now called Hispaniola | |
| 1509 | Ponce de León founds the first Spanish colony in Puerto Rico | |
| 1513 | Juan Ponce de León discovers Florida | |
| 1526 | Explorer Lucas Vazquez de Ayllón establishes San Miguel de Gualdape | |
| 1528 | Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca embarks on a journey in the Southwest | |
| 1539 | Hernando de Soto leads an expedition through the southern United States | |
| 1540 | Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and his expedition explore the Southwest | |
| 1565 | St. Augustine established on the east coast of Florida | |
| 1598 | San Juan de los Caballeros established in New Mexico | |
| 1680 | The Pueblo Revolt | |
| 1690 | San Francisco de los Tejas established in Texas | |
| 1769 | Father Junipero Serra builds the first California Mission | |
| 1803 | The Louisiana Purchase | |
| 1821 | United States purchases Florida from Spain | |
| 1836 | Texas declares independence from Mexico | |
| 1846 | California declares independence from Mexico Mexican-American War begins | |
| 1848 | The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed between Mexico and the United States | |
| 1898 | The United States wins the Spanish-American War Spain hands over Puerto Rico to the United States | |
| 1914 | Panama Canal opens | |
| 1942 | The Bracero program invites Mexican laborers to work in the United States | |
| 1948 | Operation Bootstrap in Puerto Rico | |
| 1952 | The Immigration and Nationality Act | |
| 1952 | Puerto Rico declares itself to be an “associated free state” | |
| 1960s | The first wave of South American immigrants comes to the United States | |
| 1962 | Cuban Missile Crisis | |
| 1962 | Cesar Chavez organizes the National Farm Workers Association | |
| 1965 | The Immigration Act of 1965 | |
| 1968 | The Bilingual Education Act | |
| 1979 | Political turmoil and civil wars result in refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua | |
| 1980 | Mariel Boatlift | |
| 1986 | The Immigration Reform and Control Act | |
| 1990s | Thousands of balseros (rafters) are allowed to leave Cuba | |
| 1996 | Latino March on Washington | |
| 2006 | “A Day Without Immigrants” National Boycott |