Countries Portugal | History by KabAstro

Events in Portuguese History

World's Oldest Treaty

1373-06-13 Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of Perpetual Alliance (world's oldest still in existence) signed in London between King Edward III of England and King Ferdinand I of Portugal [1]

English kingmaker Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt dining with the King of Portugal, John I (center) in 1386

1383-10-22 The 1383-85 Crisis in Portugal: A period of civil war and disorder begins after King Fernando dies without a male heir to the Portuguese throne

King John I of Portugal

1385-04-06 The Portuguese Council of the Kingdom meets in Coimbra and declares John, Master of the Order of Aviz, King John I of Portugal

1385-08-14 Portuguese defeat Castilians at Aljubarrota, retain independence
1386-05-09 Treaty of Windsor between Portugal and England is ratified at Windsor cementing and strengthening ties between the two kingdoms. The treaty guarantees the mutual security of both nations and strengthens commercial ties. It is the oldest diplomatic alliance still in force. [1]
1479-03-06 Treaty of Alcaçovas: Portugal gives the Canary Islands to Castile in exchange for claims in West Africa
1479-09-04 King Alfonso I of Portugal recognizes Isabella as queen of Castile
1484-07-06 Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River

Dias Returns Home

1488-12-15 Bartolomeu Dias returns to Portugal after becoming 1st known European to sail round the Cape of Good Hope

1491-05-03 Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptized by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I
1493-05-04 Spanish Pope Alexander VI divides America between Spain and Portugal

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494-06-07 Treaty of Tordesillas: Spain and Portugal divide the new world along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa

Front page of the Portuguese-owned treaty

1496-12-05 Jews are expelled from Portugal by order of King Manuel I

First Voyage of Vasco da Gama

1497-07-08 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama departs on his first voyage, will become the 1st European to reach India by sea

1497-11-18 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama reaches the Cape of Good Hope
1497-11-22 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama rounds Cape of Good Hope on way to first voyage from Europe to reach India
1497-12-16 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama is 1st European to sail along Africa's East Coast, names it Natal
1498-05-20 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut, India becoming the first European to reach India by sea

Cabral Departs Lisbon

1500-03-09 Pedro Álvares Cabral departs Lisbon, Portugal at the head of a 13 ship expedition to India that will also claim Brazil for Portugal

Cabral Claims Brazil for Portugal

1500-04-22 Pedro Álvares Cabral is the first European to discover Brazil, landing near Monte Pascoal, claims it for Portugal

Pedro Álvares Cabral sees the land that would later be known as Brazil for the first time

1500-08-10 Portuguese sea captain Diego Diaz is first European to sight Madagascar
1500-09-13 Predro Álvares Cabral and his Portuguese expedition arrive in Calicut, India
1501-01-16 Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral and 6 ships set off from Kannur, India, on their return voyage to Lisbon
1501-07-15 Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral arrives back in Lisbon after successfully discovering Brazil and returning from India
1502-01-01 Portuguese expedition under Pedro Álvares Cabral are first Europeans to discover Bay of Guanabara naming it Rio de Janeiro after mistaking it for a river entrance
1502-02-12 Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India
1502-05-21 Portuguese explorer João Da Nova discovers the uninhabited Saint Helena island in the South Atlantic Ocean

Conquest of Hormuz

1507-10-27 Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque captures the Persian fortress of Ormuz on Hormuz Island

Admiral and Duke of Goa Afonso de Albuquerque

1509-02-03 The Battle of Diu, naval battle at port of Diu, India between Portugal and the Ottoman Empire, establishes Portuguese trading control
1510-02-17 Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque first conquers the city of Goa, entering it with little conflict
1510-05-30 Portuguese forces under Afonso de Albuquerque abandon Goa after its former ruler Yusuf Adil Shah, the Muslim King of Bijapur reconquers the city
1510-12-10 Muslim ruler of Goa, Yusuf Adil Shah and his Ottoman allies surrender to Portuguese forces led by Afonso de Albuquerque who puts the Muslim population to the sword
1511-07-25 Portuguese forces under Afonso de Albuquerque first assault the prosperous trading city of Malacca, Malay Peninsula
1511-08-10 Portuguese troops occupy parts of Malacca
1511-08-24 Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Sultanate of Malacca
1515-04-01 Portuguese fleet under Afonso de Albuquerque captures the Persian fortress of Hormuz, renaming it the Fort of Our Lady of the Conception
1517-08-15 Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.

Magellan Expedition

1519-09-20 Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan sets off on the 1st successful circumnavigation of the globe (Magellan killed on route)

1520-11-28 Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan begins crossing the Pacific Ocean
1521-03-06 Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan is the first European to sight Guam in the western Pacific
1521-03-16 Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines, landing at Homonhon Island after crossing the Pacific Ocean
1521-04-07 Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan's fleet reaches Cebu
1522-06-24 Portuguese begin construction of Fort Kastela on the island of Ternate in the Maluku Islands after being encouraged to so by Sultan Bayanullah of Ternate
1529-04-22 Treaty of Saragosa: Spain and Portugal divide eastern hemisphere
1536-05-23 Pope Paul III installs Portuguese inquisition

1st Jesuit Missionary

1541-04-07 Spanish missionary Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon for the Portuguese East Indies as the first Jesuit missionary

Catholic Missionary and Saint Francis Xavier

1541-08-18 A Portuguese ship drifts ashore in the ancient Japanese province of Higo (modern day Kumamoto Prefecture). (Traditional Japanese date: July 27, 1541)
1542-02-02 Portuguese under Christovão da Gama capture a Muslim-occupied hillfort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente.
1542-05-06 Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, then capital of Portuguese India
1542-08-28 Turkish-Portuguese War (1538-1557) - Battle of Wofla: the Portuguese are scattered, their leader Christovão da Gama is captured and afterwards executed.
1543-02-11 Battle at Wayna Daga: Ethiopian and Portuguese troops beat Muslim army
1556-04-13 Portuguese converted Christian Marranos who revert to Judaism burned by order of Pope
1565-03-01 Portuguese soldier Estácio de Sá founds the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1570-02-28 Anti-Portuguese uprising on Ternate, Moluccas
1572-03-12 Poet Luís Vaz de Camões publishes the epic poem "Os Lusíadas" in Portugal
1578-08-04 Battle of The Three Kings [Battle of Alcazar quivir): Moroccans defeat a Moroccan-Portuguese alliance in northern Morocco with 10,000 killed
1580-06-27 Duke of Alva's army occupies Portugal
1580-08-25 Battle of Alcantara, Spain defeats Portugal

Philip II

1581-03-25 Portuguese Cortes (King's Court) calls Philip II King of Portugal, further legitimatizing his rule

1581-04-15 Portuguese assembly the Cortes of Tomar recognizes Philip II of Spain as King of Portugal after a succession crisis

Gregory Conquers Julius Caesar

1582-10-04 Last Julian calendar day in Spain, Portugal and pontifical states. To sync to the Gregorian calendar, 10 days are skipped and the next date is Oct 15.

Pope Gregory XIII with the calendar that was to make his name

1590-07-06 English admiral Francis Drake takes Portuguese Forts at Taag
1605-02-25 Portuguese garrison on Ambon surrenders to Admiral Van der Haghen
1607-04-25 Battle at Gibraltar: Dutch fleet beats Spanish Portuguese fleet
1612-08-29 Battle of Surat, India: English fleet beats Portuguese
1625-05-01 Portuguese and Spanish expedition recaptures Salvador (Bahia) from the forces of the Dutch West India Company

Battle in the Bay of São Salvador

1627-03-03 Dutch privateer Piet Heyn attacks and conquers 22 Portuguese ships in Bay of Salvador, Brazil

1627-06-10 Dutch privateer Piet Heyn attacks Portuguese ships in the Bay of All Saints, Brazil
1640-12-01 Portugal regains independence after 60 years of Spanish rule following a revolution by Portuguese nobility; the Portuguese Restoration War begins and lasts until 1668 with recognition by Spain of the country's independence
1640-12-15 Duke of Braganca crowned King Johan IV of Portugal
1641-06-01 France and Portugal sign anti-Spanish covenant
1653-01-03 The Coonan Cross Oath is taken in the Saint Thomas Christian community in an effort to avoid submission to Portuguese rule in India
1654-01-26 Portuguese troops conquer last Dutch base on Recife
1654-07-20 Anglo-Portuguese treaty is reinforced, England guarantees Portugal’s independence and receives trade concessions
1658-06-23 Dutch troops occupy last Portuguese Fort at Jafnapatnam in Ceylon
1659-01-14 Battle at Elvas: Portuguese beat Spanish

Anglo-Portuguese Marriage Treaty

1661-06-23 Marriage contract for King Charles II of England and Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza agreed, giving Tangier and Bombay to England

1661-08-06 The Treaty of The Hague is signed whereby the Dutch Republic sells New Holland (Brazil) for 63 tonnes of gold to Portugal
1663-06-08 Battle at Amegical: English & Portuguese fleet defeats the Spanish
1665-06-06 Battle at Monte Carlo: English and Portuguese armies beat Spain
1665-06-17 Battle of Viciosa (Monte Claros): English & Portuguese army beat Spain
1665-10-29 Battle of Mbwila [Ambuila]: Portuguese defeat forces of the Kingdom of Kongo and decapitate King Antonio I of Kongo / Nvita a Nkanga
1667-05-23 King Afonso VI of Portugal flees
1668-02-13 Treaty of Lisbon: Spain recognizes Portugal
1675-08-10 Portuguese-Jewish synagogue opens in Amsterdam
1703-05-02 Portugal signs treaty with England to become a Great Covenant
1703-09-12 English army under Arch Duke Charles of Austria lands in Portugal
1703-12-27 England & Portugal sign Methuen-Asiento-trade agreement
1707-01-01 John V succeeds his father Pedro II as King of Portugal
1707-04-25 Battle of Almansa; Franco-Spanish forces defeat British and Portuguese
1712-07-17 Great Britain, Portugal and France sign ceasefire [or 19th]
1713-04-11 Great Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, Prussia, Savoy, Portugal & France agree the Treaty of Utrecht; France cedes Maritime provinces in North America to Britain
1739-09-01 35 Jews sentenced to life in prison in Lisbon Portugal
1755-11-01 Lisbon earthquake kills more than 50,000 in Portugal

Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797)

1797-02-14 Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis defeats larger Spanish fleet under Admiral Don José de Córdoba y Ramos near Cape St. Vincent, Portugal. Captain Horatio Nelson distinguishes himself.

British ships with captured Spanish vessels in the foreground and the rest of the British fleet in pursuit of the fleeing Spanish

1801-06-06 Peace of Badajoz: Spain-Portugal
1803-03-03 Colégio Militar is founded in Portugal by Colonel Teixeira Rebello
1804-04-02 Forty merchantmen are wrecked when a convoy led by HMS Apollo runs aground off Portugal.

Portuguese Royal Family Escape

1807-11-27 Portuguese Royal Family and its court of nearly 15,000 people leave Lisbon for their colony of Brazil to escape invading Napoleonic troops

Embarkation in Lisbon of the Portuguese Royal Family on their way to Brazil in 1807

1808-03-07 Portugal's regent Dom Juan IV arrives in Rio De Janeiro

Battle of Vimeiro

1808-08-21 Battle of Vimeiro: British and Portuguese forces led by General Arthur Wellesley defeat French force under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro, Portugal, the first Anglo-Portuguese victory of the Peninsular War.

1st Duke of Wellington and British Prime Minister Arthur Wellesley

Conquest of Cayenne

1809-01-06 Napoleonic Wars: Invasion of Cayenne, by combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces, begins

1820-08-24 Constitutionalist insurrection at Oporto, Portugal; see Portugal's crises of the Nineteenth Century.
1820-09-15 Constitutionalist revolution in Lisbon, Portugal

Brazil Declares Independence

1822-09-07 Pedro I, son of King Joao VI declares Brazil's independence from Portugal (National Day)

Emperor of Brazil and King of Portugal Pedro I

1823-07-02 Bahia Independence Day: End of Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia
1825-08-29 Portugal recognizes the Independence of Brazil
1834-05-26 Portuguese Civil war ends, Dom Miguel capitulates
1874-07-23 Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos is appointed the Archbishop of the Portuguese colonial enclave of Goa
1878-09-30 1st Portuguese immigrants arrive in Hawaii

Treaty of Interest

1884-02-26 British & Portuguese treaty signed in Congo by Leopold II

King of the Belgians Leopold II of Belgium

1887-12-01 Sino-Portuguese treaty recognizes Portugal's control of Macao
1891-01-31 First attempt of a republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto, Portugal
1902-05-10 Portugal goes bankrupt, but its parliament passes a bill converting its external debt. Contributing to Portugal's troubles is recent revolt in its colony of Angola, put down 6 September
1902-05-15 "Bailundo Revolt" begins after Ovimbundu kingdom & allies revolt against Portuguese Empire in Benguela Highlands, central Portuguese Angola
1904-03-22 "Bailundo Revolt" ends after almost 2-years in Portuguese victory over Ovimbundu kingdom & allies
1904-10-01 Netherlands and Portugal lay down boundaries splitting the island of Timor in two
1906-04-13 Mutiny on Portuguese battleships Dom Carlos & Vasco da Gama
1906-05-19 Portugal's King Carlos I names Joao Franco premier

How Portugal Lost Its Monarchy

1908-02-01 King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luis Filipe are assassinated by Republican sympathizers in Terreiro do Paco, Lisbon

A seemingly well-fed Carlos (left) at a shooting party, thought to be in the 1890s

1910-10-04 Portugal becomes a republic, King Manuel II flees to England
1910-10-05 Portugal overthrows monarchy, proclaims republic
1911-04-30 Portugal approves female suffrage
1911-08-24 Manuel d'Arriaga elected first president of Portugal
1911-09-02 Joao Chagas forms Portuguese government
1916-03-09 Germany declares war against Portugal
1917-05-13 1st appearance of Mary to 3 shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal
1917-07-13 Vision of Virgin Mary appears to children of Fatima, Portugal
1919-02-02 Monarchist riot in Portugal
1921-10-19 Portuguese Prime Minister António Granjo and other politicians are murdered in a Lisbon coup
1926-05-28 Military coup by General Manuel Gomes da Costa in Portugal
1926-05-31 Portuguese president Bernardino Machedo resigns after coup
1926-07-09 Coup under General Sinel de Cordes in Portugal
1927-02-03 Uprising against regime of general Carmona in Portugal
1927-02-13 Uprising against Portuguese regime of Gen Carmona defeated

Estado Novo Regime

1932-07-05 António de Oliveira Salazar becomes the premier and dictator of Portugal (1932-1968), founding the authoritarian Estado Novo (New State) regime

Dictator of Portugal António de Oliveira Salazar

1933-08-30 Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar forms secret police (PIDE)
1934-09-17 USSR joins League of Nations (Netherland, Switzerland & Portugal vote no)
1935-11-12 Egas Moniz performs the first modern brain surgery on the frontal lobes to treat mental disorders, at Santa Marta Hospital in Lisbon, Portugal
1941-12-17 Dutch and Australian troops land on Portuguese Timor
1946-02-08 Portuguese Dictator António de Oliveira Salazar forbids opposition parties
1946-06-18 Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, a Socialist calls for a Direct Action Day against the Portuguese in Goa. A road is named after this date in Panjim
1949-07-06 Freak heat wave sent central coast of Portugal to 158°F for 2 minutes
1951-06-11 Mozambique becomes an oversea province of Portugal
1951-07-22 General Francisco Craveiro Lopes appointed President of Portugal
1953-11-08 Salazar's party wins all parliamentary seats in Portugal
1961-01-21 Portuguese rebels seize cruise ship Santa Maria
1961-04-18 CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united front of African movements opposing Portuguese colonial rule
1961-07-06 Portuguese ship explodes near Mozambique, kills 300
1961-07-08 Portuguese steamer "Save" breaks up off Mozambique, 227 die
1961-12-17 India seizes Goa & 2 other Portuguese colonies
1961-12-18 India annexes Portuguese colonies of Goa, Damao & Diu
1962-01-30 UN General Assembly censures Portugal over Angola
1963-08-12 Portuguese dictator Salazar firm on African colonization
1964-07-26 Train from Povoa de Varzin, Portugal derails near Oporto, 94 die
1968-03-03 Greek, Portuguese & Spanish embassies bombed in the Hague

Event of Interest

1968-03-21 Portuguese socialist Mário Soares banished to Sao Tomé, having been arrested by secret police under dictator António de Oliveira Salazar

Assassination Attempt on John Paul II

1982-05-12 In Fatima Portugal, a Spanish Traditionalist priest who opposed Vatican II reforms and saw Pope John Paul II as a perpetrator of them, is stopped prior to his attempt to attack the Pope with a bayonet

1982-10-30 Portugal revises constitution
1983-04-25 Portugal's Mário Soares' Partido Socialista wins parliamentary election
1985-06-26 Portugal's Socialist Prime Minister Mário Soares resigns amid predictions that Parliament would be dissolved and elections called
1986-01-01 Spain & Portugal are 11th & 12th to join European Economic Community
1986-02-16 Mário Soares from the Socialist Party is elected the 1st civilian President of Portugal
1987-04-13 Portugal signs agreement to return Macau to China (in 1999)
1991-01-13 President Mário Soares of Portugal re-elected
1992-12-21 Dutch DC-10 in fire at landing on Faro Portugal, 56 die
1998-03-29 Vasco da Gama Road bridge opens in Lisbon, Portugal as the longest bridge in Europe

Nobel Prize in Literature

1998-10-08 José Saramago is the first person from Portugal to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature

1999-12-20 Portugal returns Macau to China
2001-03-04 Hintze Ribeiro disaster, a bridge collapses in northern Portugal, killing up to 70 people
2002-05-20 The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself was the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976)
2007-02-11 A national referendum in Portugal legalises non-therapeutic abortion when requested by the woman during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
2007-05-03 British girl Madeleine McCann disappears from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal
2009-08-15 Portugal leaves recession after three consecutive quarters of negative growth having its GDP recover by 0.3% in the second quarter of 2009
2010-02-20 On the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, leaving at least 32 deaths in the worst disaster on the history of the archipelago.
2011-05-13 Portugal slips into double-dip recession after the economy contracts by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2011, with a 0.6% contraction in the last quarter of 2010, it is reported today
2012-11-14 A series of protests against austerity measures occur across Europe including Spain, Portugal, and Greece
2013-01-27 A bus crash into a ravine in Serta, Portugal, kills 11 people and injures an additional 32
2015-11-10 Portugal's minority government is toppled by left-wing opposition 2 weeks after coming to power

Guterres Secretary General

2017-01-01 Portuguese politician and diplomat António Guterres becomes United Nations Secretary General, replacing South Korean Ban Ki-Moon

UN Secretary-General and Prime Minister of Portugal António Guterres

8th Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon

2017-06-17 Forest fires in Pedrógão Grande, Portugal begin, kill 62 people, more than 1,600 firefighters fight 156 fires
2017-08-15 Falling tree kills 13, injures 49 at a religious festival in Funchal, on Portuguese island of Madeira
2017-10-15 500 wildfires occur in Portugal and Northern Spain fanned by winds from Hurricane Ophelia, killing at least 35
2017-11-08 Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa breaks the world record for surfing the biggest-ever wave at 24.4m at Nazaré, Portugal
2018-09-04 400-year old sunken Portuguese spice trade ship discovered near port of Cascais, Portugal

Portuguese History Timeline