| Period | Description |
|---|---|
| FIFTEENTH CENTURY | |
| June 7, 1494 | Treaty of Tordesillas divides the world between Spain and Portugal, giving Portugal claim to eastern portion of as yet undiscovered continent of South America. |
| 1500-1815 | Colonial Period |
| SIXTEENTH CENTURY | |
| April 22, 1500 | Pedro Álvares Cabral, en route to India, discovers Brazil. |
| 1500-50 | Logging of brazilwood. |
| 1530 | Expedition of Martim Afonso de Sousa, major captain of Brazil, to colonize and distribute land among captains (donatários ). |
| 1530 | Beginning of sugar era. |
| 1532 | Founding of first colonies at São Vicente and Piratininga. |
| 1536 | Crown divides Brazil into fifteen donatory captaincies. |
| 1542 | Francisco de Orellana descends the Amazon. |
| 1549 | King names Tomé de Sousa first governor general of Brazil (1549-53). De Sousa establishes his capital at São Salvador da Bahia. |
| Evangelization begins with arrival of Jesuit priests. | |
| 1551 | Bishopric of Brazil created. |
| 1555 | French establish colony in Guanabara Bay. |
| 1565 | Governor Mem de Sá founds São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro). |
| 1567 | Governor Mem de Sá expels French and occupies Guanabara Bay. |
| 1580 | Crown of Portugal passes to King Philip II of Spain, uniting Europe's two greatest empires under single ruler. |
| SEVENTEENTH CENTURY | |
| 1603 | Portuguese penetrate to Ceará. |
| 1604 | India Council established to oversee administration of Portuguese empire. |
| 1615 | Portuguese take over French town of São Luís do Maranhão. |
| 1616 | Portuguese found Belém. |
| 1621 | States of Maranhão (embracing the crown captaincies of Ceará, Maranhão, and Pará) and Brazil (centering on Salvador, Bahia) created. |
| 1624-25 | Dutch temporarily capture Salvador da Bahia. |
| 1630 | Dutch seize Recife, Pernambuco, and attempt unsuccessfully to conquer Northeast (Nordeste). |
| October 28, 1637-39 | Captain Pedro Teixeira explores Amazon and founds Tabatinga. |
| 1640 | Portugal declares independence from Spain. Duke of Bragança takes throne as João IV. |
| 1641 | Victory of Jesuit-trained Guaraní in Battle of Mbororé. |
| 1642 | India Council renamed Overseas Council. |
| 1654 | Under Treaty of Taborda, Dutch withdraw from Brazil. |
| 1680 | Colônia do Sacramento founded by Portuguese on Río de la Plata, across from Buenos Aires. |
| 1693 | Era of gold and diamond mining begins. |
| EIGHTEENTH CENTURY | |
| 1705 | Under Treaty of Spanish Succession, Portuguese give up Colônia do Sacramento. |
| 1708-09 | War of Outsiders over control of gold-mining areas. |
| 1710-14 | War of the Mascates (merchant class of Recife defeats planter class of Olinda). |
| 1720 | Governors general of Brazil renamed viceroys. |
| 1727 | Coffee introduced into Brazil. |
| January 13, 1750 | Treaty of Madrid replaces Treaty of Tordesillas, and uti possidetis adopted to settle boundaries. José I (king of Portugal, 1750-77) assumes the throne in Portugal. Marquês de Pombal assumes effective power as José I's secretary of state. |
| 1756 | Guaraní War leads to expulsion of Jesuits. |
| 1759 | Pombal expels Jesuits from the empire. |
| 1761 | Treaty of El Pardo annuls Treaty of Madrid. |
| 1763 | Viceregal capital moved from Salvador, Bahia, to Rio de Janeiro. |
| 1777 | Treaty of San Ildefonso confirms Spain's possession of Banda Oriental (Uruguay) and Portugal's possession of Amazon Basin. Pombal dismissed. |
| February 1777 | King José I dies. |
| 1789 | Minas Conspiracy (Inconfidência Mineira), first attempt to establish a republic, exposed. |
| April 21, 1792 | "Tiradentes," Minas Conspiracy leader, is executed in Rio de Janeiro. |
| 1798 | Bahian conspiracy against Portugal exposed. |
| NINETEENTH CENTURY | |
| 1807 | French invade Portugal. Pedro de Alcântara de Bragança e Bourbon (King João VI) and son Pedro flee to Brazil with British naval escort. |
| 1808-21 | Kingdom of Portugal and Brazil |
| March 7, 1808 | João VI arrives in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil's ports open to foreign trade. |
| 1810 | João VI signs treaties with Britain, giving it trade preferences and privileges of extraterritoriality. |
| 1815 | Portugal confers kingdom status on Brazil. |
| 1817 | Pernambuccan revolution against British regency fails but deepens anti-British sentiment. |
| 1821 | Uruguay annexed as Cisplatine Province. |
| April 25, 1821 | João VI sails for Lisbon. |
| September 1821 | Côrtes in Portugal votes to abolish Kingdom of Brazil. |
| 1822-31 | The First Empire |
| January 1822 | Declaring Brazil independent, Pedro I forms new government headed by José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva. |
| September 7, 1822 | Pedro proclaims Brazilian independence. |
| October 12, 1822 | Brazilian independence proclaimed, with Pedro as constitutional emperor. |
| December 1, 1822 | Pedro crowned emperor of Brazil. |
| 1824 | Pedro promulgates first constitution. United States recognizes Brazil. |
| 1825-28 | War with United Provinces of Río de la Plata (Cisplatine War). |
| August 29, 1825 | Portugal recognizes Brazilian independence by signing treaty, and Britain follows suit. |
| 1827 | Britain consolidates commercial dominance of Brazil under Anglo-Brazilian Treaty. |
| 1828 | Argentina and Brazil agree to creation of Uruguay as independent nation. |
| 1831-89 | The Second Empire |
| April 7, 1831 | Pedro I abdicates in favor of five-year-old son Pedro II. A three-man regency assumes control, ruling in Pedro II's name. |
| 1834 | Amendment of 1824 constitution institutes federalism (for six years) and one-man regency. |
| 1835-37 | Cabanagem rebellion in Pará. |
| 1835-45 | War of the Farrapos (ragamuffins), also known as the Farroupilha rebellion, in Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. |
| 1837-38 | Sabinada rebellion in Salvador, Bahia. |
| 1838-41 | Balaiada rebellion in Maranhão. |
| July 18, 1841 | Coronation of Pedro II (emperor, 1840-89). |
| 1842 | Rebellions in Minas Gerais and São Paulo. |
| 1844 | Anglo-Brazilian Treaty expires and is not renewed. |
| 1850 | Land Law limits land acquisition to purchase. African slave trade outlawed. |
| 1864-70 | War of the Triple Alliance, allying Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay against Paraguay. |
| 1869 | Brazilian forces defeat Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano López and occupy Paraguay until 1878. |
| 1870 | Triple Alliance defeats Paraguay. |
| May 13, 1888 | Golden Law abolishes slavery. |
| November 15-16, 1889 | Army deposes Pedro II. Republic proclaimed. Deodoro da Fonseca assumes office as president. Pedro leaves the country. |
| 1889-1930 | Old or First Republic |
| 1890 | Church and State separated. |
| February 24, 1891 | First constitution promulgated. |
| November 1891 | Deodoro da Fonseca dissolves Congress and is ousted. |
| 1893 | A civil war erupts in South (Sul). |
| November 1894 | First civilian president, Prudente José de Morais Barros, takes office. |
| TWENTIETH CENTURY | |
| August 1914 | Contestado rebellion in South challenges colonel-dominated system. |
| October 26, 1917 | Brazil declares war on Germany and joins Allied powers. |
| July 5, 1922 | Tenente (Lieutenants') Movement begins with Copacabana revolt. |
| 1924-27 | Prestes Column marches through backlands but fails to foment popular revolution. |
| 1930-45 | Transitional Republic |
| October 3, 1930 | Revolts of 1930 bring Getúlio Dorneles Vargas to power. |
| July 9, 1932 | São Paulo rebellion brings civil war. |
| July 16, 1934 | A new constitution promulgated, and Congress elects Vargas to presidency. |
| November 10, 1937 | Estado Novo (New State) established, and previously drafted constitution promulgated. |
| August 22, 1942 | Brazil declares war on Axis powers. |
| 1944 | Brazilian Expeditionary Force sent to Italy. First steel mill opens. |
| October 29, 1945 | Military deposes Vargas. |
| 1946-64 | 1946 Republic |
| September 18, 1946 | A new constitution promulgated. |
| October 1947 | Brazil breaks diplomatic relations with Soviet Union. |
| January 1951 | Vargas assumes office as reelected president. |
| August 24, 1954 | Vargas commits suicide after armed forces and cabinet demand his resignation. |
| January 1956-January 1961 | President Juscelino Kubitschek implements new economic strategy combining nationalist, developmentalist emphasis with openness to world economic system, creating economic boom. |
| 1960 | Capital moved inland to Brasília. |
| January 1961 | Jânio Quadros assumes presidency. |
| September 2, 1961 | A parliamentary system established. |
| August 1961 | Quadros resigns presidency; replaced by João Goulart. |
| 1963 | National plebiscite ends parliamentary system and restores full presidential powers to Goulart. |
| March 31, 1964 | Armed forces depose Goulart. |
| 1964-85 | Military Republic |
| April 1964 | Marshal Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, elected by purged Congress, assumes presidency. First Institutional Act passed. |
| October 27, 1965 | Second Institutional Act bans all existing political parties and imposes legal guidelines for new parties. |
| February 6, 1966 | Third Institutional Act replaces direct election of governors with indirect elections by state assemblies and substitutes presidential appointees for mayors of capital cities. |
| March 1967 | New constitution promulgated. General Artur da Costa e Silva inaugurated president. |
| September 1, 1967 | Fourth Institutional Act gives military complete control over national security. |
| December 13, 1968 | Fifth Institutional Act gives Costa e Silva dictatorial powers. |
| 1975 | Brazil signs nuclear energy accord with Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). |
| 1977 | Divorce legalized. |
| April 1977 | Brazil renounces military alliance with United States. |
| January 1979 | Decree ends Fifth Institutional Act, grants political amnesty. |
| 1985 | Military steps down from political power. Democracy restored. |
| 1985-Present | New Republic |
| 1988 | "Citizen constitution" promulgated. |
| March 22, 1988 | Presidential model reinstated. |
| November 15, 1989 | First direct presidential election since 1960. |
| June 1992 | United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED), known as Earth Summit or Eco-92, held in Rio de Janeiro. |
| September 1992 | President Fernando Collor de Mello impeached. |
| April 21, 1993 | National plebiscite reaffirms presidential republic. |
| March 9, 1994 | Congress approves constitutional reform reducing presidential term of office to four years, making it coterminous with term of congressional deputies. |
| July 1, 1994 | New currency, the real , introduced at parity with United States dollar. |
| October 3, 1994 | Fernando Henrique Cardoso wins presidential election in first round. |
| December 12, 1994 | Former president Collor acquitted of corruption. |
| January 1, 1995 | Cardoso assumes office as president. |
Data as of April 1997