Timeline
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9 Mar 1500The fleet under Portuguese nobleman and navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral sails from Lisbon for the Indies, eventually claiming Brazil for Portugal.
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22 Apr 1500Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral lands on the coast of Brazil with a fleet of 13 ships, claiming the "undiscovered country" in the name of Portugal and initiating the Portuguese occupation of the region.
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29 Mar 1549The city of Salvador, Bahia is founded by Tome de Sousa, becoming the first capital of Brazil and a major administrative center.
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20 Nov 1695Zumbi (Zumbi dos Palmares), Brazilian resistance leader against African enslavement by the Portuguese in Colonial Brazil, is executed by decapitation. Today, the 20th of November is celebrated in Brazil by the Afro-Brazilian community in his honor.
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21 Apr 1792The Brazilian revolutionary Tiradentes is hanged in Rio de Janeiro by Portuguese colonial authorities for leading the Brazilian Independence Movement. Afterwards, his body is quartered to discourage further revolts. Today, he is regarded as the first martyr for Brazilian independence and the date of his death is a national holiday.
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20 Sep 1835The Ragamuffin War (1835-1845) begins in Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, as rebels calling for secession of the province and the creation of their own republic clash with Brazil's imperial government. The war raged for a little over nine years until the rebels were defeated and the government restored order.
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28 Sep 1871The Rio Branco Law goes into effect in the Empire of Brazil, granting freedom to all newborn children of slaves, considered the first step toward abolition of slavery in Brazil. The law was named for its primary supporter, Jose Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco.
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15 Nov 1889The First Brazilian Republic is established through the Proclamation of the Republic in Rio de Janeiro, abolishing the constitutional monarchy of the Empire of Brazil and forming a provisional government.
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12 Oct 1909The Coritiba Foot Ball Club is founded in Brazil by German immigrants, led by Frederico "Fritz" Essenfelder, creating one of the oldest football clubs in the country.
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25 Oct 1927The Italian ocean liner *SS Principessa Mafalda* sinks off the coast of Brazil after a fractured propeller shaft damages the hull. The ship, and its lifeboats, had been maintained poorly so the watertight doors would not close, and many lifeboats were unusable, resulting in the deaths of 314 people and the event referenced as "the Italian Titanic" in the English press.
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17 Dec 1961The Niteroi Circus Fire breaks out during a performance by the Gran Circus Norte-Americano in Niteroi, Brazil, when a recently fired employee sets fire to the tent during a sold-out show of 3,000 people, of whom over 500 were killed. It is the worst fire disaster in Brazilian history.
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13 Sep 1987The Goiania Accident occurs in Goiania, Brazil, when two thieves steal an unsecured radioactive capsule, used in radiotherapy, from an abandoned hospital. Over the next few days, the two men tried to sell the device to others, while at the same time experiencing symptoms of radiation sickness. The event led to four deaths, over 100,000 people examined for radioactive contamination, the destruction of contaminated homes, and the removal of topsoil from multiple sites.
