16th Century
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1510 | Vasco Ñúñez de Balboa founds Santa María la Antigua del Darién in Panamá, the first Spanish settlement in South America. | |
| 1513 | Ñuñez de Balboa discovers the Southern Sea (Pacific Ocean). | |
| 1520 | Ferdinand Magellan is passing through the Straits of Magellan, and becomes the first European to describe Patagonia. | |
| 1532 | Francisco Pizarro arrives to Peru from Panamá. He begins the Conquest of the Inca Empire and captures and kills Emperor Atahualpa during the Battle of Cajamarca. | |
| 1536 | Diego de Almagro arrives to Chile from Peru, passing over the Andes to the valley of Copiapó, and explores the central region of Chile as far as what will later become Santiago de Chile. An expedition sent southwards ends in the Battle of Reynogüelén with native Mapuches, which is considered to be the first battle of the Arauco War. | |
| 1541 | Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago de Chile. In the following years, he (and others sent by him) founded La Serena and Concepción. | |
| 1546 | Uprising of Michimalonco, Mapuche chief: Santiago destroyed. Mapuche military leader Lautaro is captured by the Spanish. | |
| 1552 | Founding of Valdivia. Lautaro, after six years of imprisonment by the Spanish, escapes and teaches his people military strategy, including riding horses. | |
| 1553 | Mapuche uprising under Lautaro. Pedro de Valdivia is killed in the Disaster of Tucapel. | |
| 1557 | Death of Lautaro, Caupolicán assumes as toqui (wartime chief). | |
| 1558 | Caupolicán is captured and executed by impalement. | |
| 1564 | Concepción is unsuccessfully sieged by native Mapuches. | |
| 1565 | A Real Audiencia is established in Concepción. The Audiencia is abolished in 1575. | |
| 1567 | Chiloé Archipelago is claimed by Spain. Castro is founded on the main island and becomes the southernmost European settlement by the time of founding. | |
| 1574 | Spanish captain Juan Fernández discovers the Juan Fernández Islands. | |
| 1575 | The 1575 Valdivia earthquake occurs. As in the 1960 Valdivia earthquake the Riñihue Lake dams. | |
| 1578 | Francis Drake attacks the coasts of Chile, La Serena and other cities are plundered. | |
| 1583 | Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa founds the settlement Rey Don Felipe in the Strait of Magellan. In 1587 the settlement is in ruins. | |
| 1598 | "Disaster of Curalaba". Governor Martín García Óñez de Loyola killed in a Mapuche ambush. | |
| 1599 | The Real Situado, an annual payment from Potosí to Chile, is established. |
Read more about this topic: Timeline Of Chilean History
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