Brazil: Historical Dates
| AD 1500 | The Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral landed in eastern Brazil and claimed the land for Portugal. |
| 1530s | Successful settlements developed at Recife and Salvador. Portuguese colonists used Native American and African slaves to work huge sugar plantations. |
| 1763 | The capital moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro, which had become Brazil's largest city and main port. |
| 1822 | Pedro I declared Brazil's independence from Portugal. |
| 1888 | Slavery was abolished in Brazil. |
| 1889 | Pedro II was forced to abdicate, despite Brazil's many advances during his reign. Brazil became a republic. |
| 1930 | Military forces overthrew the republic and named Getúlio Vargas as president. |
| 1937 | President Vargas was granted dictatorial authority in an attempt to help Brazil out of the Great Depression. |
| 1945 | Vargas was forced from office. The next year, Brazil returned to constitutional government. |
| 1960 | The capital of Brazil moved from Rio de Janeiro to the newly built city of Brasília in the country's interior. |
| 1964 | Seeking to prevent a Communist takeover of Brazil, military forces again seized power. The military rigged elections and curbed civil rights. |
| 1985 | Brazil regained a civilian government. |
| 1988 | A new constitution providing for a directly elected president was enacted. |
| 1992 | Facing impeachment proceedings in the Senate for corruption charges, President Fernando Collor de Mello resigned. |
| 1995 | Brazil joined Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay in forming the Southern Cone Common Market, a free-trade organization also known by its Spanish acronym, MERCOSUR. |
| 1996 | President Fernando Henrique Cardoso issued a controversial presidential decree allowing non-Native American individuals, regional governments, and private companies to appeal land allocation decisions made by Brazil's Indian Affairs Bureau. |