Argentina Timeline
1516 Juan Diaz de Solis became the first European to enter Argentina.
1500s Spanish explorers came in search of gold. There were relatively few Indians in the area compared with the rest of South America. Most of the Indian population was killed off by the disease brought over by the Europeans.
1536 The Spaniards formed a settlement on the bay. It did not last.
1580 Buenos Aires was formed.
1680 The Portuguese established a trading post across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires. The Spanish government then encouraged the growth of Buenos Aires in order to keep up with the Portuguese.
1776 Spain created one large colony. It encompassed its territories in southeastern South America. It was called the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. Buenos Aires became its capital.
1800s Argentina became wealthy from the export of meat and grain to Europe.
1800s Argentina gained it independence from Spain.
1806-1807 The United Kingdom tried to seize Buenos Aires. They were not successful.
1807-1808 France invaded Spain. This gave Buenos Aires a chance to fight for their independence.
25 May 1810 Buenos Aires set up an independent government to administer the Viceroyalty. The other provinces opposed this action, and they eventually broke away.
1812 Jose de San Martin led the fight against .
9 July 1816 The provinces of Argentines officially declared their independence from Spain.
1817 San Martin led troops across the Andes and surprised the Spanish troops in Chile. After his victory in Chile he helped Peru gain its independence. San Martin remains one of Argentina's greatest heroes.
1826 A constitution was drawn up by the national assembly. Bernardino de Rivadavia became the first president.
1827 Rivadavia resigned after he failed to create a strong central government.
1829-1852 Juan Manuel de Rosas ruled Argentina as a dictator.
1852 General Justo Jose de Urquiza led a revolt to overthrow de Rosas.
1853 Argentina became a republic after adopting a constitution. Urquiza became the president. Buenos Aires refused to become part of the country. They set up their own independent state.
1859 Buenos Aires was defeated by General Bartolome Mitre.
1861 Mitre defeated Urquiza.
1862 Buenos Aires agreed to become a part of Argentina on its own terms.
1877 The first refrigerator ship loaded with meat left Buenos Aires to Europe.
1889 A union called, Civica was formed. The organization demanded election reform. It appealed to many immigrants and middle-class business people. It later became the Radical Party.
1910 Roque Saenz Pena became the president. He pushed for election reforms. The new law became known as the Saenz Pena Law. It provided a secret ballot and it required every man over 18 to vote and to register for the armed services.
1914-1918 The Argentina economy flourished during World War I. European countries increased their purchases of Argentina farm products.
1920s Argentina had become one of the wealthiest nations in the world.
1929 The Great Depression hit Argentina.
1930 A military dictatorship took control of the country.
1939-1945 Argentina sympathized with the Axis powers during World War II.
1943 Juan Peron rose to power.
27 March 1945 Argentina declared war on the Axis powers.
1946 Peron was elected president.
1952 Peron's power began to decline
1955 The army and navy revolted. Peron fled the country.
1956 The Constitution of 1853 was restored.
1958 Elections were held, and Arturo Frondizi became the president.
1962 Frondizi was removed from office.
1962-1972 A series of civilian presidents and military dictators ruled Argentina.
15 November 1963 Argentina voided all foreign oil contracts.
1973 Hector Jose Campora was elected president. He was a great supporter of Peron. Peron returned to Argentina. Campora resigned, and Peron was again elected president.
1974 Peron died. His wife, Isabel, had been the vice president. She then became the first woman president in the Western hemisphere.
1976 A military government took control of Argentina. Parts of the Constitution were suspended.
April 1982 War started with the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands.
14 June 1982 Argentina surrendered, but it did not give up its claim to the Falkland Islands.
October 1983 The people called for free elections.
December 1983 Argentina started a democratic civilian leadership government.
1985-1986 Three former presidents and several high-ranking military officials were convicted and sentenced to prison for their involvement in murders and torture.
1989 Three former presidents and several high-ranking military officials were convicted and sentenced to prison for their involvement in murders and torture.
May 1989 Carlos Saul Menem was elected president.
July 1989 Menem introduced an emergency economic program.
1991 Menem linked the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar at the rate of one peso to one dollar.
1999 Fernando de le Rua was elected president.
2000 De la Rua's government increased taxes and made massive spending cuts.
13 June 2000 In Argentina Pres. Fernando de la Rua apologized for his country's role in providing sanctuary to Nazis after WW II.
2001 The Justicialist Party regained control of both houses of Congress.
2001 Many people feared that the government would reduce the value of the peso. Many people rushed to withdraw their money from the bank. The government, in response, limited the amount of money that people could withdraw from their accounts each month. Violent protest broke out. 25 people were killed. De La Rua and his cabinet resigned soon after.
20 December 2001 In Argentina Pres. de la Rua resigned after widespread looting led to 22 deaths. The foreign debt stood at $132 billion.
January 2002 Eduardo Duhalde was chosen by Congress to be the president. He suspended payments on Argentina's foreign debt and ended the on-to-one line of the peso to the dollar. Poor and middle-class Argentines continued to hold protests.
Works Cited
Ratnikas, Algis. Today in History. Online. http://timelines.ws/TODAY.HTML.
Wilkie, Richard W. "Argentina." Worldbookonline.com
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