Events in History Relating to Spanish
May 25, 1085
Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain back from the Moors.
September 12, 1213
Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Battle of Muret.
January 16, 1492
The first grammar of the Spanish language, is presented to Queen Isabella I.
August 3, 1492
The Jews of Spain are expelled by the Catholic Monarchs.
September 6, 1492
Christopher Columbus sails from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, his final port of call before crossing the Atlantic for the first time.
March 15, 1493
Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas.
May 4, 1493
Pope Alexander VI gives most of the New World to Spain via the papal bull Inter caetera.
May 9, 1502
Christopher Columbus leaves Spain for his fourth and final journey to the New World.
September 18, 1502
Christopher Columbus lands at Costa Rica on his fourth, and final, voyage.
December 27, 1512
The Spanish Crown issues the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of settlers with regards to native Indians in the New World.
September 25, 1513
Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa reaches what would become known as the Pacific Ocean.
October 7, 1513
Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeat the Venetians.
August 13, 1516
The Treaty of Noyon between France and Spain is signed. Francis recognises Charles's claim to Naples, and Charles recognises Francis's claim to Milan.
July 1, 1520
La Noche Triste: Joint Mexican Indian force led by Aztecs under Cuitláhuac defeat Spanish Conquistadors under Hernán Cortés.
April 23, 1521
Battle of Villalar: King Charles I of Spain defeats the Comuneros.
September 6, 1522
The Victoria, one of the surviving ships of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, returns to Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the world.
May 6, 1527
Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. 147 Swiss Guards, including their commander, die fighting the forces of Charles V in order to allow Pope Clement VII to escape into Castel Sant'Angelo.
November 6, 1528
Shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca becomes the first known European to set foot in Texas.
April 22, 1529
Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues or 17° east of the Moluccas.
November 15, 1532
Commanded by Francisco Pizarro, Spanish conquistadors under Hernando de Soto meet Inca leader Atahualpa for the first time outside Cajamarca, arranging a meeting on the city plaza the following day
July 26, 1533
Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire: Inca emperor Atahualpa is executed in Cajamarca by the garrote by Spanish invaders known as Conquistadors.
November 14, 1533
Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca empire
December 6, 1534
The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar.
January 18, 1535
Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro founded Lima, the capital of Peru.
July 25, 1538
The city of Guayaquil is founded by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana and given the name Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil.
December 25, 1553
Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeats the Spanish conquistadors and executes the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia.
September 15, 1556
Departing from Vlissingen, ex-Holy Roman Emperor Charles V returns to Spain.
August 10, 1557
Battle of St. Quentin Spanish victory over the French in the Habsburg-Valois Wars
July 13, 1558
Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul des Thermes at Gravelines.
August 22, 1559
Bartolomé Carranza, Spanish archbishop, is arrested for heresy.
April 27, 1565
Cebu is established becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
April 5, 1566
Two-hundred Dutch noblemen, led by Hendrik van Brederode, force themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma and present the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Spanish Inquisition in the Netherlands. The Inquisition is suspended and a delegation is sent to Spain to petition Philip II.
March 4, 1570
King Philip II of Spain bans foreign Dutch students.
October 8, 1573
End of the Spanish siege of Alkmaar, the first Dutch victory in Eighty Years War.
November 4, 1576
In Flanders, Spain captures Antwerp (after three days the city is nearly destroyed).
November 8, 1576
Pacification of Ghent – The States-General of the Netherlands meet and unite to oppose Spanish occupation.
June 15, 1580
Phillip II of Spain declares William the Silent to be an outlaw.
July 26, 1581
Plakkaat van Verlatinghe (Act of Abjuration). The declaration of independence of the northern Low Countries from the Spanish king, Philip II.
April 16, 1582
Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
June 16, 1586
Mary Queen of Scots recognizes Philip II of Spain as her heir.
May 28, 1588
The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port).
May 30, 1588
The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.
July 19, 1588
Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines – The Spanish Armada sighted in the English Channel.
July 29, 1588
Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines – English naval forces under command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.
July 31, 1588
The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
August 8, 1588
Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines – The naval engagement ends, ending the Spanish Armada's attempt to invade England.
June 11, 1594
Philip II recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paves way to the creation of the Principalía (i.e., elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines).
December 21, 1598
Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile; all Spanish cities south of the Biobio river are eventually taken by the Mapuches, and all conquest of Mapuche territories by Europeans practically ceases, until the 1870s "Pacification of Araucania".
April 25, 1607
The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
September 11, 1609
Expulsion order announced against the Moriscos of Valencia; beginning of the expulsion of all Spain's Moriscos.
December 1, 1640
End of the Iberian Union: Portugal acclaims as King João IV of Portugal, thus ending a 60 year period of personal union of the crowns of Portugal and Spain and the end of the rule of the House of Habsburg (also called the Philippine Dynasty). The Spanish Habsburgs do not recognize Portugal's new dynasty, the House of Braganza, until 1668.
May 19, 1643
French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
April 20, 1657
Admiral Robert Blake destroys a Spanish silver fleet under heavy fire at Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
August 21, 1680
Pueblo Indians capture Santa Fe from Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt.
September 20, 1697
The Treaty of Rijswijk is signed by France, England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic ending the Nine Years' War (1688–97).
August 4, 1704
War of the Spanish Succession: Gibraltar is captured by an English and Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir George Rooke and allied with Archduke Charles.
August 13, 1704
War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Blenheim – English and Austrians victorious over French and Bavarians.
April 25, 1707
The Habsburg army is defeated by Bourbon army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
April 11, 1713
War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne's War): Treaty of Utrecht.
September 11, 1714
Barcelona surrenders to Spanish and French Bourbon armies in the War of the Spanish Succession.
July 24, 1715
A Spanish treasure fleet of 10 ships under Admiral Ubilla leaves Havana, Cuba for Spain. Seven days later, 9 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.
September 30, 1744
France and Spain defeat the Kingdom of Sardinia at the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo.
June 16, 1746
War of Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza.
November 25, 1755
King Ferdinand IV of Spain grants the Beaterio dela Compania de Jesus or now known as the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary(RVM) a royal protection.
March 5, 1766
Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.
August 20, 1775
The Spanish establish a presidio (fort) in the town that became Tucson, Arizona.
September 4, 1781
Los Angeles, California, is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola) by 44 Spanish settlers.
April 30, 1794
The Battle of Boulou is fought, in which French forces defeated the Spanish under General Union.
October 27, 1795
The United States and Spain sign the Treaty of Madrid, which establishes the boundaries between Spanish colonies and the U.S.
February 14, 1797
Battle of Cape St. Vincent – John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent and Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.
April 17, 1797
Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in America.
September 3, 1798
Weeklong battle of St. George's Caye begun between Spanish and British off the coast of Belize.
November 30, 1803
In New Orleans, Louisiana, Spanish representatives officially transfer Louisiana Territory to a French representative. Just 20 days later, France transfers the same land to the United States as the Louisiana Purchase.
July 22, 1805
War of the Third Coalition – Battle of Cape Finisterre – an inconclusive naval action is fought between a combined French and Spanish fleets under Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve of Spain and a British fleet under Admiral Robert Calder.
October 21, 1805
Battle of Trafalgar: A British fleet led by Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain under Admiral Villeneuve. It signalled the virtual end of French maritime power and left Britain navally unchallenged until the twentieth century.
February 3, 1807
A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the city of Montevideo, then part of the Spanish Empire now the capital of Uruguay.
March 26, 1808
Charles IV of Spain abdicates in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII.
July 16, 1809
The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declared its independence from Spanish Crown and formed the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, lead by Pedro Domingo Murillo.
July 28, 1809
Battle of Talavera: Sir Arthur Wellesley's British, Portuguese and Spanish army defeats a French force under Joseph Bonaparte.
September 16, 1810
With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain
September 18, 1810
First Government Junta in Chile. Though supposed to rule only in the absence of the king, it is in fact the first step towards independence from Spain, and is commemorated as such.
October 27, 1810
United States annexes the former Spanish colony of West Florida.
July 30, 1811
Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican insurgency, is executed by the Spanish in Chihuahua, Mexico.
September 4, 1811
Chileans independentist execute a coup d'état against the Spanish controlled Junta of the country.
May 27, 1812
South American Wars of Independence: In Bolivia, the Battle of La Coronilla, in which the women from Cochabamba fight against the Spanish army.
May 4, 1814
King Ferdinand VII of Spain signs the Decrete of the 4th of May, returning Spain to absolutism.
February 6, 1817
The Argentinian San Martín crosses the Andes with an army in order to liberate Chile from Spanish rule.
February 12, 1817
An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops on the Battle of Chacabuco.
March 16, 1818
Second Battle of Cancha Rayada – Spanish forces defeat Chileans under José de San Martín.
February 22, 1819
By the Adams-Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
August 7, 1819
Simón Bolívar triumphs over Spain in the Battle of Boyacá.
September 15, 1821
Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica jointly declare independence from Spain.
November 28, 1821
Panama Independence Day: Panama separates from Spain and joins Gran Colombia.
October 28, 1848
The first railroad in Spain – between Barcelona and Mataró – is opened.
August 16, 1865
Restoration Day in the Dominican Republic: The Dominican Republic regains its independence after 4 years of fighting against the Spanish Annexation.
November 26, 1865
Battle of Papudo: The Spanish navy engages a combined Peruvian-Chilean fleet north of Valparaiso, Chile.
March 31, 1866
The Spanish Navy bombs the harbor of Valparaíso, Chile.
May 2, 1866
Peruvian defenders fight off Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao.
September 23, 1868
Grito de Lares (Lares Revolt) occurs in Puerto Rico against Spanish rule.
March 22, 1873
A law is approved by the Spanish National Assembly in Puerto Rico to abolish slavery.
May 2, 1879
The Spanish Socialist Worker's Party is founded in Casa Labra Pub (city of Madrid) by the historical Spanish workers' leader Pablo Iglesias.
July 7, 1892
Katipunan: the Revolutionary Philippine Brotherhood is established leading to the fall of the Spanish Empire in Asia.
February 24, 1895
Revolution breaks out in Baire, a town near Santiago de Cuba, beginning the second war for Cuban independence, which ended with the Spanish-American War in 1898.
August 30, 1896
Eight provinces in the Philippines are declared under martial law by the Spanish Governor General Ramon Blanco. This included the provinces of Batangas, Rizal, Cavite, Nueva Ecija as well as the nearby areas.
April 21, 1898
The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain as of this date.
April 22, 1898
The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and the USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
April 24, 1898
The Spanish-American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
May 1, 1898
The Battle of Manila Bay – the United States Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the war.
July 3, 1898
The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is destroyed by the U.S. Navy in Santiago, Cuba.
April 7, 1906
The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control over Morocco.
September 25, 1906
In the presence of the king and before a great crowd, Leonardo Torres Quevedo successfully demonstrates the invention of the Telekino in the port of Bilbao, guiding a boat from the shore, in what is considered the birth of the remote control.
January 28, 1909
United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish-American War.
January 1, 1916
German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.
March 4, 1918
The first case of Spanish flu occurs, the start of a devastating worldwide pandemic.
March 8, 1921
Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
September 13, 1923
Military coup in Spain – Miguel Primo de Rivera takes over, setting up a dictatorship.
April 14, 1931
Spanish Cortes deposes King Alfonso XIII and proclaims the 2nd Spanish Republic.
December 9, 1931
The Constituent Cortes approves the constitution which establishes the Second Spanish Republic.
July 28, 1933
Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Spain are established.
February 12, 1934
In Spain the national council of Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista is inaugurated. The council decides to merge the movement with the Falange Española.
July 17, 1936
An Armed Forces rebellion against the recently-elected leftist Popular Front government of Spain starts the civil war.
July 18, 1936
In Spanish Morocco, military rebels attempt a coup d'état against the legitimacy of the Spanish government. This will lead to the Spanish Civil War.
July 26, 1936
The Axis Powers decide to intervene in the Spanish Civil War.
February 21, 1937
The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War.
March 18, 1937
Spanish Republican forces defeat the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.
May 7, 1937
The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces.
July 26, 1937
End of the Battle of Brunete in the Spanish Civil War.
August 24, 1937
In the Spanish Civil War, the Basque Army surrenders to the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie following the Santoña Agreement.
April 1, 1939
Generalísimo Francisco Franco of the Spanish State announces the end of the Spanish Civil War, when the last of the Republican forces surrender.
June 6, 1939
German dictator Adolf Hitler gives a public address to returning German volunteers who fought as Legion Kondor during the Spanish Civil War.
April 30, 1943
Operation Mincemeat: The submarine HMS Seraph surfaces in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain to deposit a dead man planted with false invasion plans and dressed as a British military intelligence officer.
December 14, 1955
Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Portugal, Romania and Spain join the United Nations.
February 27, 1961
The first congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organisation is inaugurated.
March 17, 1966
Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
July 3, 1970
A British Dan-Air De Havilland Comet chartered jetliner crashes into mountains north of Barcelona, Spain killing 113 people.
December 20, 1973
The Spanish Prime Minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid.
November 22, 1975
Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco.
February 27, 1976
The formerly Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
January 24, 1977
Massacre of Atocha in Madrid, during the Spanish transition to democracy.
October 6, 1977
In Alicante, Spain, fascists attack a group of MCPV militants and sympathizers, and one MCPV sympathizer is killed.
July 11, 1978
Los Alfaques Disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists.
February 23, 1981
In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
May 12, 1982
During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, security guards overpower Juan Fernandez Krohn before he can attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet. Krohn, an ultraconservative Spanish priest opposed to the Vatican II reforms, believed that the Pope had to be killed for being an "agent of Moscow".
October 28, 1982
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) wins elections, leading to first Socialist government in Spain after death of Franco. Felipe Gonzalez becomes Prime Minister-elect.
February 23, 1983
The Spanish Socialist government of Felipe González and Miguel Boyer nationalizes Rumasa, a holding company founded by entrepreneur José María Ruiz Mateos.
November 27, 1984
Under the Brussels Agreement signed between the governments of the United Kingdom and Spain, the former agreed to enter into discussions with Spain over Gibraltar, including sovereignty.
January 1, 1986
The Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic are admitted into the European Community.
May 16, 1986
The Seville Statement on Violence is adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain.
January 18, 1997
In north west Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers and seriously wound one other.
October 16, 1998
Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet is arrested in London on a warrant from Spain requesting his extradition on murder charges.
December 21, 1999
The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid.
December 22, 1999
The Spanish Civil Guard finds near Calatayud (Zaragoza) another van loaded by ETA with 750 kg of explosives (see related event on December 21, 1999).
January 16, 2001
US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish-American War.
March 1, 2002
The peseta is discontinued as official currency of Spain and is replaced with the euro (€).
December 24, 2003
The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.
April 2, 2004
Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt to bomb the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid. Their attack is thwarted.
September 30, 2005
The Parliament of Catalonia passes with 120 plus votes and 15 against, the Project of New Catalan Statute of Autonomy, proclaiming in its article 1, "Catalonia is a nation".
December 8, 2005
Ante Gotovina, Croatian army general accused of war crimes, is captured in the Playa de las Américas, Tenerife by the Spanish police.
July 31, 2006
Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro. This leads to a celebration in Little Havana (La Pequeña Habana in Spanish), Miami, Florida, where many Cuban Americans participated.
December 20, 2007
The painting Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, is stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art, along with O Lavrador de Café, by the major Brazilian modernist painter Candido Portinari.
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