1494 Tordesillas line
In negotiations about the New World at Tordesillas, the king of Portugal insists on a new demarcation line which later brings him Brazil

1500 Cabral reaches Brazil
Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral, with a fleet of thirteen ships, makes landfall in Brazil

1549 Brazil a province of Portugal
Brazil becomes a Portuguese royal province, under the control of a governor general

1549 Bahia is capital of Brazil
The first Portuguese governor general of Brazil selects Bahia (now Salvador) as his capital

1693 First American gold rush
Gold is found in Brazil, launching the first great American gold rush

1759 Jesuits an endangered species
The Portuguese expel the Jesuits from Brazil, beginning a widespread reaction against the order in Catholic Europe

1763 Rio becomes capital of Brazil
The capital of the Portuguese colony of Brazil is moved from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro

1788 Tooth-puller leads Brazil rebellion
Tiradentes (the 'puller of teeth') leads the first rebellion against Portuguese rule in Brazil

1792 Tooth-puller beheaded
The Brazilian rebel Tiradentes is beheaded in public in Rio de Janeiro as a warning to would-be revolutionaries

1806 Creoles drive British from Buenos Aires
The Creole militia of Buenos Aires drive out an English force which has captured the city

1807 Portuguese king to Brazil
The Portuguese royal family flees to Brazil on the approach of a French army led by Jean-Andoche Junot

1808 Portuguese court arrives in Rio
The Portuguese royal family and their entourage arrive in Rio de Janeiro

1815 Brazil becomes a kingdom
Brazil is given equal standing with Portugal, forming together the Kingdom of Portugal and Brazil

1821 Dom Pedro is regent of Brazil
The 22-year-old Portuguese prince, Dom Pedro, is made regent of Brazil

1822 Dom Pedro proclaims Brazilian independence
The Portuguese regent, Dom Pedro, proclaims the independence of Brazil and three months later is crowned emperor, as Pedro I

1826 Emperor of Brazil becomes king of Portugal
Pedro I, emperor of Brazil, inherits the throne of Portugal (as Pedro IV) but continues to rule from Brazil

1827 Lavalleja defeats Brazilian army
Lavalleja defeats a Brazilian army at Ituzaingó, in the decisive battle for Uruguayan independence

1831 Pedro I abdicates in Brazil
Pedro I abdicates in Brazil and returns to Europe to recover his Portuguese throne (as Pedro IV)

1840 Second Pedro is emperor of Brazil
The 14-year-old Dom Pedro, son of Pedro I, becomes emperor of Brazil as Pedro II

1850 Slave trade outlawed in Brazil
Brazil, historically the world's second largest importer of slaves from Africa, finally bans the slave trade

1888 Emperor frees Brazil's slaves
The emperor Pedro II frees all the remaining slaves in Brazil without compensating their owners

1889 Military coup ends imperial Brazil
A coup removes emperor Pedro II from his throne in Brazil, putting in his place a military dictatorship

1894 Brazil elects civilian president
Brazil's first civilian president, Prudente de Morais, is peacefully elected, setting the pattern for the next four decades

1900 Amazon town thrives on rubber
Rubber brings prosperity to Manaus, thousands of miles up the Amazon

1908 Coffee the mainstay of Brazil's economy
Coffee replaces sugar as Brazil's main crop, accounting for more than 50% of exports in 1908

1930 Vargas dictator of Brazil
Getúlio Vargas begins a 24-year personal rule in Brazil

1930 Bachianas Brasileiras
Heitor Villa-Lobos composes the first of his Bachianas Brasileiras

1954 Vargas era ends in Brazil
The country's president, Getúlio Vargas, commits suicide when the army in Brazil demands his resignation

1957 Niemeyer to design Brasilia
Oscar Niemeyer is appointed chief architect for his country's new capital, Brasilia

1960 Brasilia becomes capital city
The Brazilian government moves to Brasilia, into public buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer

1964 Military control Brazil
Senior officers in Brazil seize power, alleging the threat of an imminent communist takeover

1979 Amnesty in Brazil
The emergency measures underpinning military rule are repealed in Brazil, and an amnesty restores political rights

1985 Civlian rule restored in Brazil
Civilian rule is restored in Brazil after Tancredo Neves and Jose Sarney are elected president and vice-president

1988 Senna wins Formula One
Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna wins the first of his three Formula One titles

1994 Senna dies in race crash
Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna dies when the steering column of his car shears during the San Marino Grand Prix

1998 Brazilian stock market collapse
A sudden collapse of the Brazilian stock market follows the earlier slump in the Asian markets