Chile
History Timeline
Travel through our timeline of major events in Chile's history.
313,000 B.C.- 10,000 B.C.:
Nomadic hunters settle along what is now South America's west coast.
1450:
Incas from Peru conquer northern Chile.
1520:
Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan becomes the first European to sight Chile as he sails through the strait now named for him.
1541:
Pedro de Valdivia begins the Spanish conquest of Chile. He founds Santiago, the capital of Chile.
1818:
Chile wins its independence from Spain after Jose de San Martin and Bernardo O'Higgins lead an army to defeat the Spanish at the battles of Chacabuco and Maipu.
1879-1883:
Chile goes to war against Peru and Bolivia. Chile wins Antofagasta, Bolivia's only outlet to the sea, along with mineral-rich areas of Peru.
1925:
A new constitution grants workers extensive rights and calls for the president and congress to be popularly elected.
1973:
General Augusto Pinochet leads the armed forces in the overthrow of Allende. Pinochet establishes a brutal dictatorship.
1989:
Patricio Alywin is elected president.
2005:
In January, Pinochet is put under house arrest for human-rights offenses.