16th Century
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1502 | 2 May | Alonso de Ojeda arrives to Bahía Honda and founded the village of Santa Cruz, first city in Colombia. |
| 1508 | Diego de Enciso and Vasco Núñez de Balboa founded the village of Santa María la Antigua del Darién, initially called The Antigua. | |
| 1509 | Ojeda founded the village of San Sebastián de Urabá. | |
| Indigenous princess India Catalina is abducted by Spanish conqueror Diego de Nicuesa from a Calamari indigenous settlement | ||
| 1510 | Spanish conquerors discover San Andres y Providencia islands | |
| 1513 | 25 September | Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean. |
| 1514 | 12 April | The Pedrarias Dávila Expedition began. |
| Tisquesusa is Zipa of Bacatá (to 1537) | ||
| 1518 | 2 December | Vasco Núñez de Balboa is executed by orders of Pedrarias Dávila. |
| 1525 | 29 July | Rodrigo de Bastidas founded the village of Santa Marta. |
| 1530 | 3 May | Foundation of Santa Cruz de Mompox by Alonso de Heredia |
| 1533 | 20 January | Pedro de Heredia founded the village of Cartagena de Indias. |
| 1536 | 25 July | Sebastián de Belalcázar founded the village of Santiago de Cali. |
| 1537 | Foundation of St. Juan de Pasto by Lorenzo de Aldana | |
| 25 July | Francisco César discovers the territory of Antioquia. | |
| Aquiminzaque is Zaque of Hunza | ||
| 1538 | 6 August | Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada founded the village of Santa fe de Bogotá. *some historians argue that the date of foundation was on 27 April 1539. |
| 1539 | Cacica Gaitana indigenous leader starts the Paezan revolt against the Spanish conquest | |
| Foundation of Neiva by Juan de Cabrera | ||
| Foundation of Honda, Tolima by Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada | ||
| 6 August | Gonzalo Suárez Rendón founded the village of Hunza. | |
| 1540 | 27 July | King Carlos V appointed Santa Fe de Bogotá the title of city. |
| 1541 | 24 August | Jerónimo Luis Tejelo discovers the Aburrá Valley. |
| 1542 | Francisco de Orellana sails the length of the Amazon River. | |
| 1545 | Foundation of Riohacha by Nikolaus Federmann | |
| 1549 | 17 July | Emperor Carlos V, created the Royal Audiencia of Santa Fe, subdivided into districts including the "New Kingdom Provinces": Santa Marta, Río de San Juan, Popayán, bordering with Quito, Guayana o Dorado and Cartagena de Indias. Pamplona was founded. |
| 1550 | 6 January | Hernando de Santana founded the village of Valle de Upar. |
| Foundation of Ibagué by Andres Lopez de Galarza | ||
| 1556 | 7 April | The Real Audiencia de Santafé is officially installed. |
| 1572 | Foundation of Villa de Leyva by Hernan Suarez de Villalobos | |
| 1580 | 7 December | First historical recorded eruption of Galeras volcano |
| 1588 | 4 November | Cartagena de Indias is affected by a hurricane. (to 6 November) |
| 1596 | English corsair Francis Drake attacks Riohacha | |
| 1600 | 19 February | Huaynaputina volcano in Perú exploded catastrophically, in the largest volcanic explosion in South America in historic times causing a Volcanic winter, with deadly effects reaching as far as Russia |
Read more about this topic: Timeline Of Colombian History