In negotiations about the New World at Tordesillas, the king of Portugal insists on a new demarcation line which later brings him Brazil

Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral, with a fleet of thirteen ships, makes landfall in Brazil

Brazil becomes a Portuguese royal province, under the control of a governor general

The first Portuguese governor general of Brazil selects Bahia (now Salvador) as his capital

Gold is found in Brazil, launching the first great American gold rush

The Portuguese expel the Jesuits from Brazil, beginning a widespread reaction against the order in Catholic Europe

The capital of the Portuguese colony of Brazil is moved from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro

Tiradentes (the 'puller of teeth') leads the first rebellion against Portuguese rule in Brazil

The Brazilian rebel Tiradentes is beheaded in public in Rio de Janeiro as a warning to would-be revolutionaries

The Creole militia of Buenos Aires drive out an English force which has captured the city

The Portuguese royal family flees to Brazil on the approach of a French army led by Jean-Andoche Junot

The Portuguese royal family and their entourage arrive in Rio de Janeiro

Brazil is given equal standing with Portugal, forming together the Kingdom of Portugal and Brazil

The 22-year-old Portuguese prince, Dom Pedro, is made regent of Brazil

The Portuguese regent, Dom Pedro, proclaims the independence of Brazil and three months later is crowned emperor, as Pedro I

Pedro I, emperor of Brazil, inherits the throne of Portugal (as Pedro IV) but continues to rule from Brazil

Lavalleja defeats a Brazilian army at Ituzaingó, in the decisive battle for Uruguayan independence

Pedro I abdicates in Brazil and returns to Europe to recover his Portuguese throne (as Pedro IV)

The 14-year-old Dom Pedro, son of Pedro I, becomes emperor of Brazil as Pedro II

Brazil, historically the world's second largest importer of slaves from Africa, finally bans the slave trade

The emperor Pedro II frees all the remaining slaves in Brazil without compensating their owners

A coup removes emperor Pedro II from his throne in Brazil, putting in his place a military dictatorship

Brazil's first civilian president, Prudente de Morais, is peacefully elected, setting the pattern for the next four decades

Rubber brings prosperity to Manaus, thousands of miles up the Amazon

Coffee replaces sugar as Brazil's main crop, accounting for more than 50% of exports in 1908