Timeline Portugal
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In Roman times this area
was a Roman province
named Lusitania.
(WUD, 1994, p.854)
c22,500BC Portuguese archeologists
led by Dr. Joao Zilhao found the skeleton of a young boy (the Lagar
Velho child) in the Lapedo Valley on Nov 28, 1998, who reportedly
exhibited both Neanderthal and Homo sapiens features, the first
possible hybrid to be found.
(SFEC, 4/25/99, p.A4)(AM, 7/00, p.25)
800BC-500BC Texts called Southwest
Script dating to this period were later discovered in Portugal. Most
experts have concluded they were authored by a people called
Tartessians, a tribe of Mediterranean traders who mined for metal but
disappeared after a few centuries. Some scientists have proposed that
the composers were other pre-Roman tribes, such as the Conii or
Cynetes, or maybe even Celts who roamed this far south.
(AP, 2/28/09)
218BCE Hannibal crossed Portugal on his way to storm
Rome.
(SSFC, 9/29/02, p.C11)
63BCE Caesar’s troops plundered
Terena in Portugal’s Alentejo province.
(SSFC, 9/29/02, p.C11)
711 Jul 9, Berbers under Tarik-ibn
Ziyad occupied Northern Spain. The Umayyads with the help of the
Berbers in North Africa moved across the Strait of Gibraltar and began
the conquest of Spain and Portugal. The Berber leader Tarik crossed the
Strait of Gibraltar and began the Muslim conquest of Spain. The word
Gibraltar comes from the term Jabal-al-Tarik, which means the hill of
Tarik. Gebel-al-Tarik means "Rock of Tarik."
(ATC, p.79)(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.170)(SFEC,
9/29/96, Z1 p.2)(MC, 7/9/02)
900-1000 Viking longships entered the Douro River
mouth in Portugal. Their ships are believed to be the design form from
which the wine carrying boats "barcos rabelos" were designed.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, p.T7)
1064 Jun 9, Coimbra, Portugal,
fell to Ferdinand, the King of Castile.
(HN, 6/9/98)
1128 Jun 24, Afonso I of Portugal
defeated the army of his mother Theresa.
(MC, 6/24/02)
1207 Sep 8, Sancho II, king of
Portugal, was born.
(MC, 9/8/01)
1261 Oct 9, Dionysius, the
Justified, king of Portugal (1279-1325), was born.
(MC, 10/9/01)
1291 Feb 8, Afonso IV, King of
Portugal (1325-57), was born.
(MC, 2/8/02)
1300-1400 A spiritual retreat for monks was built in
Redondo. It later became the Hotel Convento de Sao Paolo.
(SFEC, 4/26/98, p.T6)
1345 Oct 31, Ferdinand I, the wise
one, king of Portugal (built navy), was born.
(MC, 10/31/01)
1357 Apr 22, Johan I, King of
Portugal (1383-1433), was born.
(MC, 4/22/02)
1357 May 28, Afonso IV (66), King
of Portugal (1325-57), died.
(MC, 5/28/02)
1385 Aug 14, Portuguese forces
defeated Castilians at Aljubarrota and gained independence. Nuno
Alvares Pereira helped secure Portugal's independence from the Spanish
kingdom of Castile. After leaving the military, Pereira entered
religious life as a Carmelite and changed his name to Nuno de Santa
Maria. He dedicated himself to the poor, never taking the privileges
that would have been afforded to him as a former commander. In 2009 the
Vatican declared him a saint.
(PCh, 1992, p.136)(HN, 8/15/98)(AP, 4/26/09)
1391 Oct 30, Eduard, [Dom Duarte],
King of Portugal (1433-38) and author, was born.
(MC, 10/30/01)
1394 Mar 4, Prince Henry the
Navigator, sponsor of Portuguese voyages of discovery, was born.
(HN, 3/4/98)
1415 Jun 13, Henry the Navigator,
the prince of Portugal, embarked on an expedition to Africa. This
marked the beginning of Portuguese dominance of West Africa.
(HN, 6/13/98)
1419 Prince Henry (d.1460),
as governor of Portugal's southernmost province, attracted
shipbuilders, cartographers and other nautical experts. His patronage
was instrumental in stimulating European exploration in the first half
of the 15th century.
(HN, 6/21/01)
1420 Prince Henry the Navigator
(b.1394) gathered cartographers, navigators and shipbuilders in a
fortress in Sagres, Portugal, to invent navigation technology to reach
India, China and the Americas. He later sailed south of the
Canary Islands to the great eastward curve of West Africa at Sierra
Leone. The search for Prester John as an ally against the Muslims
helped inspire his explorations. Henry began dispatching expeditions
from the nearby port of Lagos. Although dubbed "Henry the Navigator" by
English writers, he never embarked on the voyages of exploration he
himself sponsored. Nevertheless, the prince helped advance European
cartography and the accuracy of navigation tools as well as spurring
maritime commerce.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)(HN, 3/4/98)(WSJ, 1/28/00,
p.A18)(HNQ, 6/21/01)
1420 Portuguese sailors and
soldiers begin fighting the natives of the Canary Islands, 800 miles
southwest of the southern tip of Portugal.
(V.D.-H.K.p.173)
1420-1480 The Portuguese explored the west coast of
Africa along the Gold Coast, so named because here could be found
plenty of gold to buy pepper.
(V.D.-H.K.p.173)
1424 A Portuguese navigation chart
showed a land called Antilia in the vicinity of the West Indies.
(SFEC, 5/28/00, Z1 p.2)
1432 Jan 15, Afonso V "the
African", king of Portugal (1438-1481), was born.
(MC, 1/15/02)
1434 Gil Eannes, Portuguese
explorer, made the first successful rounding of Cape Bojador, off
Western Sahara, in a lug-rigged boat.
(www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/e/eannes.shtml)
1441 Portuguese kidnapped several
noble-born Africans, who in turn offered African slaves to the captors
as ransom. In 1998 John Reader published "Africa: A Biography of a
Continent."
(SFEC, 6/28/98, BR p.12)
1443 Jun 5, Ferdinand, Portuguese
saint, slave to Fez, died.
(MC, 6/5/02)
1444 Slaves from Africa were first
carried to Portugal.
(WSJ, 12/1/97, p.A20)
1448 The Portuguese established
the first European trading post in Africa.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
c1450 The Portuguese brought
slaves to the uninhabited Cape Verde Island.
(SFC, 8/5/98, p.A8)
1460 Nov 13, Prince Henry the
Navigator (b.1394), Portuguese prince and patron of explorers, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_the_Navigator)
1460?-1526? Pedro Alvarez Cabral, Portuguese
navigator, discovered and claimed Brazil for Portugal on April 22, 1500.
(AHD, p.185)(HFA, '96, p.28)
1462-1524 Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer.
(V.D.-H.K.p.174)
1469 May 31, Manuel I, king of
Portugal (1495-1521), was born.
(HN, 5/31/98)
1469-1472 The islands of Sao Tome and Principe were
discovered by Portuguese navigators and settled by 1500.
(AP, 7/18/03)
1470 Princess Juana popularized
the farthingale, a wide-hipped skit stiffened by whale bone.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R40)
1471 The Portuguese arrived in
Ghana as intermediaries, bringing slaves and other goods from Senegal
and Benin in order to sell them to the Asante and other local people.
(Econ, 2/24/07, p.73)
1477 Joao II (John II) served as
king of Portugal for a short time when his father retired to a
monastery. He succeeded his father as king in 1481.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_II_of_Portugal)
1479 Sep 4, After four years of
war, Spain agreed to allow a Portuguese monopoly of trade along
Africa's west coast and Portugal acknowledged Spain's rights in the
Canary Islands.
(HN, 9/4/98)
1480-1521 Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese navigator.
He was assigned the task of finding a route to the Spice Islands.
(V.D.-H.K.p.177)
1481 Aug 29, Joao II (John II)
became king of Portugal.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_II_of_Portugal)
1482 Captain Diogo Cao sailed
south along the African coast and became the first Portuguese sailor to
reach the equator. He4 landed at the mouth of the Zaire (Congo) River.
He left four servants and took four Africans hostage back to his king,
John, in Portugal. This was the first European encounter with the vast
kingdom of the Kongo.
(ATC, p.149)(ON, 11/07, p.1)
1485 Diogo Cao, Portuguese
explorer, sailed south beyond Cape Palmas, beyond Cape St. Catherine,
until he reached Cape Cross (Namibia) at 22’ south latitude. His
expedition returned to Portugal in 1486.
(V.D.-H.K.p.124)(ATC, p.149)(ON, 11/07, p.1)
1486 King Joao II of Portugal
chose Bartolomeu Dias (~1450-1500 to attempt to find a route to India
around Africa. Diaz departed with 3 ships in the fall of 1487.
(ON, 11/07,
p.2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeu_Dias)
1488 Feb 3, Bartolomeu Dias,
Portuguese explorer, sighted the coast of Africa sailing north and made
landing at Mossel Bay (South Africa) and realized that they had rounded
the continent. He saw the southern tip on his return journey in May and
named it Cabo Tormentoso (Cape of Storms). He continued north to the
Great Fish River near present day Port Elizabeth, and then returned
home in December. King Jaoa changed the cape’s name to Cape of Good
Hope to encourage future explorers.
(V.D.-H.K.p.173)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeu_Dias)(ON,
11/07, p.2)
c1492 About this time King Manuel
I, bedazzled by the Moorish tiles at the Alhambra in Spain, brought
home enough to decorate his palace in Sintra.
(SFEC, 4/26/98, p.T6)
1493 Feb 18, Columbus landed on
the island of Santa Maria, the southernmost island of the
Portuguese-controlled Azores.
(ON, 8/09, p.3)
1493 May 4, Pope Alexander VI
divided the non-Christian world between Spain and Portugal.
(V.D.-H.K.p.109)(HN, 5/3/98)(HN, 5/4/98)
1494 Jun 7, Spain and Portugal
divided the new lands they had discovered between themselves. King Joao
II signed the Treaty of Tordesillas in which he conceded to Spain a
monopoly on Columbus’ western route in exchange for a Portuguese
monopoly on the eastern route.
(HN, 6/7/98)(ON, 11/07,
p.2)(www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1028.html)
1495 Mar 8, Juan de Dios,
Portuguese-Spanish saint, founder (Brothers of Mercy), was born.
(MC, 3/8/02)
1495 Oct 25, Portugal’s King Joao
II died without leaving male issue. He was succeeded by his
brother-in-law Manuel I.
(www.nndb.com/people/561/000095276/)
1496 Dec 5, Jews were expelled
from Portugal by order of King Manuel I.
(MC, 12/5/01)
1497 Jul 8, Vasco da Gama,
Portuguese explorer, departed on a trip to India. He sailed from Lisbon
enroute to Calicut, India. His journey took him around South Africa and
opened the Far East to European trade and colonial expansion.
(V.D.-H.K.p.143)(WUD, 1994,
p.1672)(www.indhistory.com/vasco-da-gama.html)
1497 Nov 18, Vasco da Gama reached
the Cape of Good Hope.
(MC, 11/18/01)
1497 Nov 22, Portuguese navigator
Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
(MC, 11/22/01)
1497 Portuguese Jews were forced
to convert to Christianity and were known as "New Christians," though
many continued to practice their original faith in secret.
(WSJ, 6/8/98, p.A21)
1498 Apr 7, Vasco da Gama,
Portuguese explorer, arrived at Mombasa, Kenya, where the Arabs
repelled him. He sailed on to Malindi and came to terms with the local
sultan, who supplied a pilot that knew the route to Calicut
(Kozhikode), the most important commercial port in Southwest India at
the time.
(Econ, 9/30/06,
p.58)(www.kenyalogy.com/eng/info/histo4.html)
1498 May 20, Portuguese explorer
Vasco da Gama arrived at Calicut (Kozhikkode) in Kerala, India.
(www.indhistory.com/vasco-da-gama.html)
1500 Mar 9, Pedro Cabral
(~1460-1520), Portuguese navigator, departed to India. He left Lisbon
with 13 ships headed for India and was blown off course.
(WUD, 1994 p.206)(SFC, 4/20/00,
p.A14)(www.newadvent.org/cathen/03128a.htm)
1500 Apr 22, Pedro Alvares Cabral
(c1460-c1526), Portuguese explorer, discovered Brazil and claimed it
for Portugal. He anchored for 10 days in a bay he called "Porto Seguro"
and continued on to India. [see Jan 1, Apr 23]
(HFA, '96, p.28)(WUD,1994, p.206)(AHD, p.185)(TL-MB,
1988, p.8) (HN, 4/22/98)(SFC, 4/20/00, p.A14)
1500 Apr 23, Pedro Cabal landed at
Terra da Vera Cruz and claimed Brazil for Portugal. The native
population was later estimated to have been from 1 to 11 million
people. [see Apr 22]
(AP, 4/23/98)(SFC, 7/6/98,
p.A10)(www.newadvent.org/cathen/03128a.htm)
1500 May 29, Bartholomeu Diaz de
Narvaez (Novaez), Portuguese sea explorer, drowned.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1500 Aug 10, Diego Diaz discovered
Madagascar.
(MC, 8/10/02)
1500 The Portuguese arrived in
East Africa with little resistance.
(NH, 6/97, p.43,46)
1501 The Mosteiro dos Jeronimos
was funded by King Manuel I. The architectural style known as
"Manueline" was invented in his honor.
(SSFC, 1/28/01, p.T10)
1502 Jan 1, Portuguese navigator
Pedro Cabral and Amerigo Vespucci sailed the into the harbor of Rio de
Janeiro. Portuguese explorers sailed into Guanabra Bay and mistook it
for the mouth of a river which they named Rio de Janeiro.
(Hem., Dec. '95, p.129)(MC, 1/1/02)
1502 Feb 12, Vasco da Gama,
Portuguese explorer, departed on a second trip to India with 20
well-armed ships.
(www.indhistory.com/vasco-da-gama.html)
1502 Jun 6, Jofo III, King of
Portugal (1521-57), was born.
(MC, 6/6/02)
1502 Portuguese traders took
peanuts from Brazil and Peru to Africa.
(SFEC, 1/10/99, Z1 p.8)
1505 Jul 24, On their way to
India, a group of Portuguese explorers sacked the city-state of Kilwa,
East Africa, and killed the king for failing to pay tribute.
(HN, 7/24/98)
1505 Magellan began to serve
Portugal when he enlisted in the fleet of Francisco de Almeida. He
continued in Portuguese service on many expeditions, being wounded in a
campaign against the Moroccan stronghold of Azamor in 1513. The
wound caused him to limp for the rest of his life. Magellan petitioned
King Manuel of Portugal for an increase in his pension as a titular
rise in rank, but the king refused and sent him back to Morocco. Upon
his second petition in 1516, Magellan was told he might offer his
services elsewhere.
(HNQ, 10/9/00)
1506 Riots in Lisbon, Portugal,
led to the slaughter of 2,000-4,000 converted Jews. This became the
setting for a 1998 novel by Richard Zimler, "The Last Kabbalist of
Lisbon."
(TL-MB, 1988, p.9) (WSJ, 6/8/98, p.A21)
1509 The tile-bedecked church,
Igreja de Madre de Deus, was built.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T7)
1511 Malacca, the center of East
Indian spice trade, was captured by the Portuguese.
(TL-MB, p.10)
1511 Portuguese traders reached
the Banda Islands, including Run, and broke the Venetian monopoly over
nutmeg. Over the next century the Dutch muscled in an almost cornered
the nutmeg market. The history of the nutmeg trade was documented in
1999 by Giles Milton in his: "Nathaniel's Nutmeg."
(WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W7)
1512 Portuguese explorers
discovered the Celebes and found nutmeg trees in the Moluccas. This
began an 84-year monopoly of the nutmeg and mace trades.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.10)
1512 The Portuguese took over
control of East Timor.
(SFC, 3/3/98, p.A6)
1513 Portugal captured Goa, India.
(SSFC, 3/19/06, p.F7)
1515 Afonso d’Albuquerque, Viceroy
of the Portuguese Indies, captured Hormuz (Ormuz) and forced all other
traders to round the Cape of Good Hope. This established Portugal’s
supremacy in trade with the Far East. Hormuz is the strait between Iran
and Trucial Oman.
(TL-MB, p.11)(WUD, 1994, p.684)
1515-1520 The Belem Tower was built in Lisbon and
served as a beacon to sailors. It originally stood well in the water
but now the Tagus laps only its base.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T7)
1518 Gil Vicente, founder of
Portuguese drama, wrote "The Ship of Purgatory."
(TL-MB, p.11)
1518 Portugal and the Kingdom of
Kotte, Ceylon, signed a peace treaty.
(TL-MB, p.11)
1519 Sep 20, Portuguese navigator
Ferdinand Magellan set out from Spain with 270 men and 5 ships on a
voyage to find a western passage to the Spice Islands in Indonesia.
(Magellan was killed en route, but one of his ships eventually
circumnavigated the world.)
(V.D.-H.K.p.182)(DD-EVTT, p.41)(AP, 9/20/97)(HN,
9/20/98)
1520 Nov 28, Portuguese navigator
Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the
South American strait, the straits of Magellan, and entered the “Sea of
the South.”
(V.D.-H.K.p.177)(AP, 11/28/97)
1521 Apr 26, Magellan was killed
in a fight with natives on Mactan Island. Magellan named the Mariana
Islands Islas de los Ladrones (Islands of Thieves), and was killed by
natives on Cebu. Juan Sebastian Elcano, Magellan’s second in command,
returned to Spain with 18 men and one ship, the Vittorio, laden with
spices. His coat of arms was augmented in reward with the inscription
Primus circumdisti me: "You were the first to encircle me." Some 50,000
Chamorro people populated the islands. [see Apr 27]
(V.D.-H.K.p.177-178)(SFEC,11/10/96,Z1p.2)(TL-MB,
p.12)(SFEC, 3/7/99,Z1 p.4)
1521 April 27, Portuguese explorer
Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines. [see Apr
26]
(AP, 4/27/99)
1522 The Portuguese crown began
administering Sao Tome.
(AP, 7/18/03)
1522 In 2007 The book "Beyond
Capricorn" said a 16th century maritime map in a Los Angeles library
vault, which accurately marks geographical sites along Australia's east
coast in Portuguese, proves that Portuguese seafarer Christopher de
Mendonca lead a fleet of four ships into Botany Bay in this year.
(Reuters, 3/21/07)
1523 Portuguese settlers were
expelled from China.
(TL-MB, p.12)
1524 Dec 24, Portuguese navigator
Vasco da Gama (~55), who had discovered a sea route around Africa to
India, died in Cochin, India. He had served as Viceroy in India. Gama
served under the patronage of Dom Manoel and at one time burned alive
380 men, women and children.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.12)(AP, 12/24/97)(MC,
12/24/01)(SSFC, 3/10/02, p.M3)
1524 Aden became a tributary of
Portugal.
(TL-MB, p.12)
1524-1580 Luis Camoes, Portuguese poet. He fought in
colonial battles in Morocco and India and lost one eye. He was arrested
in a street brawl in Lisbon and left for India. He traveled to Macao
and Mozambique after which he published "Os Lusiadas" (The Lusiads,
1572), a poem that glorified Vasco da Gama and the history of Portugal.
www.lusaweb.com
(SFC, 6/4/99, p.D6)(SSFC, 3/10/02, p.M3)
1525 Aug 21, Estavao Gomes
returned to Portugal after failing to find a clear waterway to Asia.
(HN, 8/21/98)
1526 Jul 6, King Afonso of Kongo
(1509-1542) sent a letter of complaint to Portugal regarding the impact
of slave trade in his country.
(www.millersville.edu/~winthrop/Thornton.html)
1527 May 21, Philip II (d.1598),
king of Spain and Portugal (1556-98), was born. He invaded England and
roasted heretics. He collected a fifth of all the wealth generated from
the mines and trade in the Americas. He invested heavily into his
military and lost it all with the defeat of the Armada in 1588. His
debt at his death amounted to 85 million ducats, or 300 tons of gold.
(HN, 5/21/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R8)(MC, 5/21/02)
1529 Apr 22, Spain and Portugal
divided the eastern hemisphere in Treaty of Saragosa.
(HN, 4/22/98)
1536 May 23, Pope Paul III
installed the Portuguese Inquisition.
(MC, 5/23/02)
1536 Jul 14, France and Portugal
signed the naval treaty of Lyons aligning themselves against Spain.
(HN, 7/14/98)
1538 Portugal captured Diu, India,
and established it as part of a fortified trade network.
(SSFC, 3/19/06, p.F7)
1540 Coimbra Univ. was founded in
a royal palace.
(SFEC, 4/26/98, p.T7)
c1541 Portugal colonized East
Timor.
(SFC, 10/12/96, p.A13)
1543 Feb 21, In the Battle at
Wayna Daga Ethiopian and Portuguese troops beat Moslem army. Ahmed
Gran, sultan of Adal, died in the battle.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelawdewos_of_Ethiopia)
1556 Apr 13, Portuguese Marranos
who reverted back to Judaism were burned alive by order of Pope.
(MC, 4/13/02)
1557 The Portuguese settled in
Macao, on the coast of southern China, and established trading
factories.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.19)(SFEC, 5/16/99, p.A24)
1573 The Portuguese crown
began administering Principe.
(AP, 7/18/03)
1574 The Portuguese began to
settle in Angola.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)
1578 Apr 14, Philip III, king of
Spain and Portugal (1598-1621), was born.
(HN, 4/14/97)
1578 Aug 4, A crusade against the
Moors of Morocco was routed at the Battle of Alcazar-el-Kebir. King
Sebastian of Portugal and 8,000 of his soldiers were killed. Sebastian
was killed along with the King of Fez and the Moorish Pretender in the
Battle of Alcazar. He was succeeded by Cardinal Henry.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)(HN, 8/4/98)
1579 Portuguese explorer Juan
Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered San Diego Bay. His mate, Bartolome
Ferrelo, continued exploring north. [see 1542]
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W34)
1579 Portuguese merchants set up
trading stations in Bengal.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)
1580 Jun 27, Duke of Alba's army
occupied Portugal.
(MC, 6/27/02)
1580 Aug 25, Spain defeated
Portugal in the Battle of Alcantara.
(chblue.com, 8/25/01)
1580 The Duke of Alba invaded
Portugal and put it under Spain’s rule. Spain’s Philip II was
proclaimed King Philip I of Portugal and united the colonial empires of
Spain and Portugal.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.23)(PCh, 1992, p.200)
1581 The Portuguese Cortes
(national assembly) submitted to Philip II of Spain.
(TL-MB, p.23)
1582 Oct 15, The Gregorian (or New
World) calendar was adopted in Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal; and
the preceding ten days were lost to history. This day followed Oct 4 to
bring the calendar into sync. by order of the Council of Trent. Oct
5-14 were dropped.
(K.I.-365D, p.97)(NG, March 1990, J. Boslough)(HN,
10/15/98)
1584 Portugal dominated the
world’s sugar trade and sold Brazilian sugar to Europe.
(TL-MB, p.23)
1590 Jul 6, English admiral
Francis Drake took the Portuguese Forts at Taag, Angola.
(MC, 7/6/02)
1605 Apr 8, Philip IV king of
Spain and Portugal (1621-65) ), was born.
(HN, 4/8/98)
1637 The Dutch attacked and
captured Elmina (Ghana), which up to that point was the centre of
Portuguese activity in West Africa.
(www.moxon.net/ghana/cape_coast.html)
1640 Dec 1, Spain lost Portugal as
the Duke of Braganza was proclaimed João IV (John IV), king of
Portugal.
(HoS, p.267)
1650 Portuguese rule ended in Oman.
(SSFC, 3/30/08, p.E4)
1660s The British began to
dominate the trade in port wine from Portugal after a political spat
with the French denied them the French Bordeaux wines. Brandy was added
to the Portuguese wines to fortify them for the Atlantic voyage.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, p.T7)(SFEC, 7/12/98, p.T8)
1661 May 25, King Charles II
married Portuguese princess Catherina the Bragança.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1661 Aug 6, Holland sold Brazil to
Portugal for 8 million guilders.
(MC, 8/6/02)
1671 The St. James Anglican Church
was founded in Porto to serve the spiritual needs of the British
working in the port wine industry.
(SFEC, 6/4/00, p.T5)
1678 The 1st recorded shipment of
Vinho do Porto was made from Portugal to England.
(SFC, 11/13/03, p.D1)
1680 Portuguese founded Colonia
del Sacramento (Uruguay) for smuggling contraband across the Rio de la
Plata to Spanish-controlled Argentina.
(SSFC, 10/30/05, p.F7)
1692 Taylor’s restaurant and lodge
was founded in Porto.
(SFEC, 7/12/98, p.T10)
1695 Portugal established colonial
rule in the eastern half of Timor Island. The western side was
incorporated into the Dutch East Indies.
(SFC, 5/18/02, p.A15)
1696 In the late 1600s the Xukuru
Indians fought the Portuguese to a stand off in what was later referred
to as the "War of the Barbarians."
(WSJ, 8/20/99, p.A1)(http://tinyurl.com/bhqlp)
1698-1701 The Portuguese built the Old Fort in Stone
Town on Zanzibar to defend against the sultan of Oman.
(SFEC, 4/23/00, p.T6)
1707 Apr 25, At the Battle of
Almansa, Franco-Spanish forces defeated Anglo-Portuguese.
(HN, 4/25/98)
1739 Sep 1, 35 Jews were sentenced
to life in prison in Lisbon, Portugal.
(MC, 9/1/02)
1741 Apr 8, Jose B. da Gama,
Portuguese poet (O Uraguai), was born.
(MC, 4/8/02)
1775 Mar 19, Portuguese fleet was
repulsed in attack on Montevideo, Uruguay.
(AP, 3/19/03)
1755 Nov 1, An 8.7 earthquake hit
Lisbon, Portugal, and killed some 70,000 people. Heavy damage resulted
from ensuing fires and tsunami flooding in Morocco and nearly a quarter
of a million people were killed. In 2008 Nicholas Shrady authored “The
Last Day: Wrath, Ruin and Reason in the Great Lisbon Earthquake.”
(HN,
11/1/98)(http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqsmosde.html)(Econ, 4/5/08,
p.86)
1761 Sep 21, Gabriel Malagrida
(b.1689), Portuguese Jesuit missionary, was garroted and burned in
Lisbon. In his “Opinion of the True Cause of the Earthquake,” referring
to Lisbons 1755 quake, Malagrida argued that rebuilding was an offense
against God.
(www.newadvent.org/cathen/09565c.htm)(Econ, 4/5/08,
p.86)
1790 The House of Sandeman winery
was found by the Scot, George Sandeman.
(SFEC, 7/12/98, p.T8)
1808 Feb 16, The Peninsular War
began when Napoleon ordered a large French force into Spain under the
pretext of sending reinforcements to the French army occupying Portugal.
(MC, 6/21/02)
1808 Aug 21, Napoleon Bonaparte's
General Junot was defeated by Wellington at the first Battle of the
Peninsular War at Vimiero, Portugal.
(HN, 8/21/02)
1808 Napoleon chased Portugal’s
royal family to Brazil.
(Econ, 4/14/07, SR p.5)
1813 Jun 21, The Peninsular War
ended. It began on February 16, 1808, when Napoleon ordered a large
French force into Spain under the pretext of sending reinforcements to
the French army occupying Portugal.
(MC, 6/21/02)
1822 Sep 7, Brazil declared its
independence from Portugal.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Brazil)(AP,
9/7/97)
c1822-1889 King John VI of Portugal fled Napoleon and
went to Brazil.
(Hem, 8/96, p.68)
1826 Dom Pedro IV, emperor of
Brazil, attained the Portuguese throne.
(SSFC, 1/28/01, p.T1)
1840 The Teatro Nacional Dona
Maria II was built in Lisbon. It was named after the daughter of Dom
Pedro IV.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T7)(SSFC, 1/28/01, p.T1)
1847-1911 Queen Maria Pia lived.
(WSJ, 2/10/98, p.A16)
1849 Aug 22, The Portuguese
governor of Macao, China, was assassinated because of his anti-Chinese
policies.
(HN, 8/22/98)
1862 Aug 24, The C.S.S. Alabama
was commissioned at sea off Portugal's Azore Islands, beginning a
career that would see over 60 Union merchant vessels sunk or destroyed
by the Confederate raider. The ship was built in secret in the in
Liverpool shipyards, and a diplomatic crisis between the US government
and Britain ensued when the Union uncovered the ship’s birth place.
(MC, 8/24/02)
1862 Baron James Forester, a
wealthy Scottish port wine shipper, capsized on the Douro River in
Portugal and was dragged to the river bottom by his money belt full of
gold coins.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, p.T7)
1871 Portuguese immigrants in the
SF Bay area began holding their annual Pentecost Festival named
Chamarita, after a traditional folk dance.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.E4)
1874 Nov 29, Antonio Egas Moniz,
lobotomist (Nobel 1949), was born in Portugal.
(MC, 11/29/01)
1884 Feb 26, Leopold II of Belgium
signed in Congo a British and Portuguese treaty.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1886 The Dom Luis I metal bridge
in Porto was constructed.
(SFEC, 7/12/98, p.T8)
1887-1918 Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, Portuguese
futurist artist. He moved to Paris in 1906 befriended Modigliani,
Brancusi, Gris and others. 8 of his works were exhibited at the 1913
Armory Show in New York.
(WSJ, 2/1/00, p.A24)
1889 Apr 28, Antonio de Oliveira
Salazar, premier, dictator of Portugal (1932-68), was born.
(MC, 4/28/02)
1891 Jun 11, Portugal assigned
Barotseland, now in Zambia, to Britain and Nyasaland becomes a British
protectorate.
(AP, 6/11/03)
1900 Jose Eca de Queiroz,
Portuguese novelist, died. His novels included an 1875 satire about a
priest struggling with his vows of celibacy. It was made into a Mexican
film "El Crimen del Padre Amaro" (The Crime of Father Amaro) in
2002.
(AP, 8/9/02)
1901 The Santa Justa Elevador, one
of the world’s great cast-iron structures, was built in Lisbon.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T6)
1904 Alexandrina Maria da Costa of
Portugal (d.1955) was born. She became a lay Salesian cooperator and
according to the Vatican lived the last 13 years of her life eating
only the bread and wine of Communion. She was beatified in 2004.
(AP, 4/25/04)
1906 Apr 13, There was a mutiny on
the Portuguese battleships Dom Carlos and Vasco da Gama.
(MC, 4/13/02)
1908 Feb 1, Carlos I (44), King of
Portugal (1889-1908), assassinated by mob.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1910 Nov 9, France, Spain, Norway,
Belgium, Germany, Russia, and Great Britain established diplomatic
relations with the new republic of Portugal.
(HN, 11/9/98)
1910 Manuel II, Portugal’s last
king, was overthrown and went into exile in England.
(SSFC, 9/29/02, p.C12)
1911 Jan 5, Portugal expelled the
Jesuits.
(MC, 1/5/02)
1911 Apr 30, Portugal approved
woman suffrage.
(MC, 4/30/02)
1916 Mar 9, Germany declared war
on Portugal.
(HN, 3/9/98)
1917 May 13, Three peasant
children near Fatima, Portugal, reported seeing a vision of the Virgin
Mary. Francisco and Jacinta Marto and Lucia de Santos (d.2005) later
reported appearances on 5 more occasions. Dos Santos was said by
believers to be the main recipient of prophecies from the Virgin about
key 20th century events. The Vatican said the 1st secret foretold the
end of World War I and that the 2nd predicted the spread and collapse
of Communism and the conversion of Russia. In 2000 the Vatican
disclosed that the so-called 3rd Secret of Fatima was a vision of an
attempt to kill a pope. It was reportedly associated to the May 13,
1981, assassination attempt. In 2000 the Vatican unveiled the 62-line
handwritten account of Lucia de Jesus dos Santos.
(AP, 5/13/97)(SFEC, 5/14/00, p.A2)(SFC, 6/27/00,
p.A12)
1918 Dec 14, Sidonio Pais, prince
of Portugal, was murdered.
(MC, 12/14/01)
1919 May 29, A solar eclipse
occurred that was photographed by two British expeditions, one in
Africa and the other in Sobral, Brazil. Arthur Eddington, British
astronomer, confirmed Einstein’s prediction of the deflection of light
from Principe, a Portuguese island off the Atlantic coast of Africa. In
1980 Harry Colling and Trevor Pinch published "The Golem," an account
of the expedition. The play “Rose Tattoo” by Tennessee (Thomas Lanier)
Williams was originally titled “The Eclipse of May 29, 1919.”
(SFC, 10/12/96,
p.E3)(www.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~suchii/Edd.on1919.html)
1926 May 31, Portuguese president
Bernardino Machedo resigned after coup.
(MC, 5/31/02)
1932 Jul 5, Antonio de Oliveira
Salazar became premier and dictator of Portugal.
(MC, 7/5/02)
1933 Aug 30, Portuguese dictator
Salazar formed secret police (PIDE).
(MC, 8/30/01)
1933 Antonio Salazar began his
41-year conservative dictatorship.
(SFC, 10/9/98, p.A2)
1935 Nov 30, Fernando Pessoa
(b.1888), Portuguese poet, died.
(Econ, 10/04/08,
p.92)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Pessoa)
1936 Maria Severa, the 1st great
fadista, died. Fado music is about heartsickness and yearning and has
been called the "Portuguese blues."
(SSFC, 1/28/01, p.T10)
1939 Jun 28, Pan American Airways
began regular trans-Atlantic passenger air service as the "Dixie
Clipper" left Port Washington, N.Y., for Portugal.
(AP, 6/28/99)(NPub, 2002, p.13)
1936 Portuguese neurologist
Antonio Egas Moniz (1874-1955) performed the first prefrontal brain
lobotomy. It was later rejected as a valid medical technique. Moniz won
the Nobel Prize in 1949 for his development of prefrontal leucotomy
(lobotomy).
(www.britannica.com/nobel/micro/186_81.html)
1940 In France Aristides de Sousa
Mendes (1885-1954), a Portuguese diplomat posted in Bordeaux, issued
30,000 visas to Jews and 20,000 to other refugees against the
instructions of his government. Dictator Antonio Salazar responded by
removing him from the diplomatic corps, denying him a pension and
blacking out his actions from official state records.
(SFC, 9/7/96, p.A13)(SFC, 9/9/96, p.A16)(SFC,
2/19/09, p.B5)
1941 Japan invaded Indonesia and
ended the Dutch era of colonial power. East Timor, under Portuguese for
some 400 years, was also invaded.
(SFC, 10/12/96, p.A13)
1946 Feb 8, Premier Salazar of
Portugal forbade opposition parties.
(MC, 2/8/02)
1947 Jose Saramago, a metalworker
of Portugal, authored his first novel "Terra do Pecado" (Country of
Sin). He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998.
(USAT, 10/9/98, p.16A)(SFC, 10/9/98, p.A2)
1949 Portuguese neurologist
Antonio Egas Moniz (1874-1955) won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his
pioneering work in prefrontal brain lobotomy. It was later rejected as
a valid medical technique.
(SFEC,11/2/97, Z1 p.6)(WUD, 1994, p.925)(SFC,
10/8/01, p.A17)
1951 Jun 11, Mozambique became an
oversea province of Portugal.
(SC, 6/11/02)
1953 Nov 8, Salazar's party won
all parliament seats in Portugal.
(MC, 11/8/01)
1954 Apr 3, Aristides de Sousa
Mendes (b.1885), former Portuguese consul general in Bordeaux, France,
died in poverty. He is credited with defying his government’s ordes and
saving 10,000 European Jews and some 20,000 other nationals by issuing
transit visas to “undesirables” fleeing the Nazis during WW II.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristides_de_Sousa_Mendes)(SFC, 2/19/09,
p.B5)
1958 Dictator Antonio Salazar
appointed Gen Costa Gomes as undersecretary of state for the armed
forces.
(SFC, 8/4/01, p.E2)
1959 Nov 20, Seven European
nations (Austria, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden,
Switzerland) signed the Stockholm Convention to form the European Free
Trade Association (EFTA). The organization becoming operative on May 3
1960.
(www.iceland.org/efta/the-mission/int-organizations/efta/)
1961 Jan 22, A Portuguese ocean
liner, the "Santa Maria," was hijacked in the Caribbean with some 600
passengers aboard; the drama ended eleven days later when the ship
docked in Brazil.
(AP, 1/22/01)
1961 In the Portuguese colony of
Angola fighting erupted as 3 anti-colonial guerrilla movements battled
for independence. Rebels butchered Portuguese settlers, including women
and children, on remote Angolan plantations. In revenge, Portuguese
militias and troops carried out a vicious campaign of repression,
despite pressure from the US and UN to pull out of Africa.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A11)(AP, 12/9/07)
1961 Portugal engaged in wars
against independence movements in 5 African colonies.
(SFC, 8/4/01, p.E2)
1961 India wrested Goa and Diu
from Portugal.
(SSFC, 3/19/06, p.F6)
1967 Nov 26, Cloudburst over
Lisbon, Portugal, killed 250-450.
(MC, 11/26/01)(AP, 11/26/02)
1968 Mar 3, The embassies of
Greece, Portugal and Spain were bombed in the Hague.
(http://1968ineurope.sneakpeek.de/index.php/chronologies/index/42)
1968 Sep 27, Portugal’s President
Americo Thomaz replaced PM Antonio de Oliveira Salazar with Marcelo
Caetano after Salazar suffered a major stroke, caused by his falling
from a chair in his summer house.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_de_Oliveira_Salazar)
1970 Jul 27, Antonio de Oliveira
Salazar (b.1889), former dictator of Portugal (1932-68), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_de_Oliveira_Salazar)
1972-1974 Gen. Costa Gomes served as commander in
chief of the armed forces.
(SFC, 8/4/01, p.E2)
1974 Feb, In Portugal Marshal
Antonio de Spinola (1910-1996) published a critique of the
dictatorship's African policy.
(SFC, 8/15/96,
p.C4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_de_Sp%C3%ADnola)
1974 Apr 25, Marshal Antonio de
Spinola (1910-1996) was called to the barricades in Portugal to receive
the surrender of the 41-year old regime of Antonio Salazar. Spinola was
then named head of state by the 7-member military junta, which included
Gen. Costa Gomes. The Carnation Revolution changed the Portuguese
regime from an authoritarian dictatorship to a democracy after two
years of a transitional period known as PREC (Processo
Revolucionário Em Curso), characterized by social turmoil and
power dispute between left and right wing political forces.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnation_Revolution)(SFC, 8/12/99,
p.D6)(SFC, 8/4/01, p.E2)
1974 Sep 30, In Portugal Marshal
de Spinola (1910-1996) resigned as head of state in protest against
rushed attempts to dismantle the colonial empire.
(SFC, 8/15/96,
p.C4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_de_Sp%C3%ADnola)
1974 The process of decolonization
in Portuguese Timor began, following the change of government in
Portugal in the wake of the Carnation Revolution.
(SFC, 3/3/98,
p.A6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Timor)
1974 Guinea-Bissau, a former
Portuguese colony, became independent after a decade-long war.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A14)(AP, 10/6/03)
1974-1975 Mario Soares served as foreign minister.
(SFC, 4/19/00, p.A10)
1975 Jul 12, The islands of Sao
Tome and Principe achieved independence from Portugal.
(AP, 7/18/03)
1975 Nov 25, The Portuguese
Communist Party under Alvaro Cunhal attempted a coup in Lisbon with
leftist army paratroops.
(WSJ, 10/14/98, p.A22)
1975 Nov 28, After colonial rule
collapsed East Timor proclaimed independence, but 10 days later it was
invaded by Indonesia.
(SFC, 7/21/96, zone 1, p.8)(SFC, 10/16/96,
p.A18)
1976 Jul 23, Mario Soares (b.1924)
became Prime Minister of Portugal.
(SFC, 4/19/00,
p.A10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1rio_Soares)
1979 Jose Samarago won the
Portuguese Critics Award and was sent by his editors on a cross-country
road trip during which he authored "Journey to Portugal: In Pursuit of
Portugal’s History and Culture."
(SSFC, 3/4/01, BR p.3)
1979 Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo
(d.2004) served as Portugal's prime minister.
(AP, 7/10/04)
1981 Gen. Francisco da Costa Gomes
was promoted to marshal, Portugal’s highest military rank.
(SFC, 8/4/01, p.E2)
1982 May 12, In Fatima, Portugal,
security guards overpowered a Spanish ex-priest armed with a bayonet
who was trying to reach Pope John Paul II. John Paul was visiting to
give thanks for surviving an assassination attempt on May 13, 1981.
Ultra-conservative Spanish priest, Juan Fernandez Krohn, lunged at the
pope with a dagger and was knocked to the ground by police and
arrested. The pope was wounded, but this was not disclosed until 2008.
(AP,
10/12/97)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II)(Reuters,
10/15/08)
1982 Portugal’s economics began a
current account reversal.
(Econ, 8/19/06, p.64)
1985 Mar 29-1985 Mar 30, A
European Council is held in Brussels, Belgium. It accepts the adhesion
of Spain and Portugal in the European Communities and agrees on the
Integrated Mediterranean Programmes (IMP) as proposed by the Commission.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1985/index_en.htm)
1985 Jun 12, Spain and Portugal
signed Accession Treaties to the European Community.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1985/index_en.htm)
1986 Feb 16, Mario Soares
(b.1924), Socialist, was elected Portugal's 1st civilian president in
the 2nd round of elections.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_presidential_election%2C_1986)
1986 Portugal and Spain entered
the European Union expanding the membership to 12.
(WSJ, 5/23/96, p.A-1)(SFC, 7/18/03, p.D5)(Econ,
6/13/09, SR p.3)
1986-1996 Mario Soares served as president of
Portugal.
(SFC, 4/19/00, p.A10)
1987 Apr 13, Portugal signed an
agreement to return Macau to China in 1999.
(http://tinyurl.com/kq3l5)
1987 Nov 10, The Bank of Portugal
signed an agreement to join the European Monetary System (EMS).
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1987/index_en.htm)
1988 Aug 25, A major fire
destroyed the historic center of Lisbon, Portugal.
(www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/ACOS-64CRPV?OpenDocument)
1989 Jun 19, The Spanish peseta
entered the European Monetary System (EMS) exchange-rate mechanism; the
composition of the ECU is adjusted following the inclusion of the
Spanish peseta and the Portuguese escudo.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1989/index_en.htm)
1989 Jose Saramago authored "The
History of the Siege of Lisbon."
(SFC, 10/9/98, p.A2)
1990 Jul 1, The first phase of the
Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) comes into force. Four Member States
(Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland) are granted an exceptional regime
given their insufficient progress towards financial integration.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1990/index_en.htm)
1991 Jose Saramago (75) authored
"The Gospel According to Jesus Christ."
(SFC, 10/9/98, p.A2)
1992 Dec 11, Portugal ratifies the
Treaty on the European Union.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Dec 21, A Dutch DC-10 burst
into fire at landing on Faro, Portugal, and 56 died.
(http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19921221-0)
1996 Jan, Socialist Jorge
Sampaio was elected president. He was the former major of Lisbon. The
Socialists also recently won control of the parliament.
(WSJ, 1/15/96, p. A-1)
1996 Jun 9, The latest
unemployment rate was 8%.
(SFC, 6/9/96, Par, p.9)
1996 The Rasin Embankment
Building, home to a Dutch insurance company, was completed. It was
co-designed by Frank Gehry and dubbed "the Dancing Building" because of
its undulating lines.
(SSFC, 1/28/01, p.T6)
1997 Apr 16, Gunmen burst into the
Mea Culpa topless bar in Amarante and set it on fire killing 12 people.
(SFC, 4/16/97, p.A12)
1997 Nov 6, Flooding of the
Guadiana River killed 18 people in Badajoz, Spain. A total of 31 died
along the Spanish-Portuguese border from the storm induced flood.
(SFC,11/7/97, p.D3)
1998 Mar 29, The $1 billion,
10-mile Vasco da Gama bridge over the River Tagus opened in time to
bring traffic from Spain for the Lisbon Expo.
(SFC, 3/30/98, p.A10)
1998 May 21, In Portugal the
4-month Expo ‘98 was inaugurated in Lisbon. The theme of the fair
expanded on the UN theme Int’l. Year of the Oceans. 15 million people
were expected to visit with exhibits from almost 150 countries.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T6)(SFC, 5/22/98, p.D3)
1998 May 22, Just 12,000 people
visited the Expo by midday on its first day. Organizers had predicted
an average daily attendance of 140,000.
(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A14)
1998 Sep 30, The end of Expo ‘98.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T6)
1998 Oct 8, The Nobel Prize for
Literature was awarded to Jose Saramago (75) of Portugal. His work
included "The History of the Siege of Lisbon" (1989), "Blindness,"
"Memorial do Convento" (Baltasar and Blimunda, 1982), "The Year of the
Death of Ricardo Reis" (1984), "The Stone Raft" and "Journey to
Portugal."
(USAT, 10/9/98, p.16A)(SFC, 10/9/98, p.A2)
1998 Oct 18, In Oporto, Portugal,
21 member nations met for the Ibero-American summit. 19 Latin American
countries were represented along with Spain and Portugal. A document
was prepared urging the industrialized nations to help stave off
economic recession.
(SFEC, 10/18/98, p.A23)
1998 Oct 26, Jose Cardoso Pires,
author, died at age 73. His work included "O Delfim," an account of
life under the dictatorship of Antonio Salazar.
(SFC, 10/27/98, p.B6)
1998 Nov 28, In Portugal the
skeleton of a 4-year-old Paleolithic child was found in the Lapedo
Valley. The Lagar Velho child was dated to about 23,000 BC and possibly
represented a mixed Neanderthal and early human ancestry.
(AM, 7/00, p.25)
1998 The book "Lisbon" by Julia
Wilkinson was published by Lonely Planet.
(SFEC, 7/12/98, p.T7)
1999 Jan 1, Portugal along with 10
other European Union nations made the transition to the new Euro
monetary system.
(SFC, 1/1/99, p.A8)
1999 Apr 23, The foreign ministers
of Indonesia and Portugal completed an agreement for the people of East
Timor to vote on their future.
(SFC, 4/24/99, p.A14)
1999 May 5, Indonesia and Portugal
signed accords to enable the people of East Timor to vote on
independence Aug 8.
(SFC, 5/6/99, p.A15)
1999 Oct 6, Amalia Rodrigues
(b.1920), Portuguese actress and fado singer, died at age 79.
(SFC, 10/11/99,
p.A24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am%C3%A1lia_Rodrigues)
1999 Oct 11, In Portugal the
Socialist Party returned to power with a 44% vote in the elections
giving them 111 seats in the 230 seat Assembly. The Social Democrats
won 32% and got 79 seats.
(SFC, 10/11/99, p.A16)
1999 Dec 20, Macao, a enclave of
430,000 under Portugal, reverted to Chinese control. Edmond Ho, local
banker, took over to head the new government. Local autonomy was to be
had for at least 50 years.
(WSJ, 10/26/95, p.A-18)(SFEC, 12/19/99, p.A28)(SFC,
12/20/99, p.A10)
2000 Apr 16, In Portugal 7 people
were killed in a stampede at the Luanda nightclub in Lisbon after
canisters thought to contain pepper gas were released.
(SFC, 4/17/00, p.A12)
2000 May 30, Pres. Clinton
traveled to Portugal for talks with the EU and met with Pres. Jorge
Sampaio at the Belem Palace outside of Lisbon.
(SFC, 5/31/00, p.A10)
2000 Nov 24, Germany and the
Portuguese Azores Islands recorded new cases of mad cow disease. Main
land Portugal has reported 467 cases since 1990.
(SFC, 11/25/00, p.A16)
2001 Jan 14, Pres. Sampaio won
re-election with 55.8% of the vote. The turnout was a record low.
(WSJ, 1/15/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb, Workers began felling
trees for a new reservoir to be created by a 315-foot-high dam across
the Guadiana River.
(SFC, 2/13/01, p.D3)
2001 Mar 4, In Portugal a bridge
over the Douro River near Penafiel collapsed and at least 70 people in
a bus and 2 cars plunged into the river and were killed.
(SFC, 3/5/01, p.A12)(WSJ, 3/5/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/6/01,
p.A1)
2001 Jul 1, In Portugal a
nationwide law took effect to decriminalize the personal use and
possession of all drugs.
(Econ, 8/29/09,
p.43)(www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10080)
2001 Jul 31, Gen. Francisco da
Costa Gomes died at age 87. He had helped transition Portugal to a
democracy.
(SFC, 8/4/01, p.E2)
2001 Dec 16, The Social Democratic
Party lost heavily to the Socialists in local elections. PM Antonio
Guterres resigned following the results.
(SFC, 12/18/01, p.A7)
2002 Mar 17, In Portugal the
Social Democrats won elections with 40% of the vote to 37.85% for the
Socialists. The SD gained 102 seats and the Popular Party won 14 giving
them a majority in the 230-seat parliament. Jose Manuel Durao Barroso
became prime minister.
(SFC, 3/18/02, p.A5)(Econ, 3/27/04, p.51)
2002 Sep 7, In Portugal the town
of Reguengos de Monsaraz openly flouted a new bullfighting law, killing
a bull in the ring without government permission, and selling the beef
for human consumption afterward. The matador and the festival
organizers will be arraigned in the first legal test of the new
anti-bullfighting law. Killing in the bullring had been banned since
1928. However, Parliament voted in July to allow bulls to be put to
death, but only in cities and towns that have carried on the
bullfighting tradition for 50 years or more.
(AP, 9/8/02)
2002 Sep 18, Abu Salem, alleged
terrorist mastermind, Mafia boss and one of India's most wanted men,
was arrested in Portugal. Salem is accused by Indian police of being
involved in the country's worst bombing attack, which killed 257 people
in Bombay in 1993, as well as a string of murder and extortion cases.
(AP, 9/20/02)
2002 Dec 10, In Portugal a
national strike forced schools to cancel classes, reduced hospital care
to emergency treatment, left garbage uncollected and clogged roads with
traffic as most public transport stopped running.
(AP, 12/10/02)
2002 Antonio Lobos Antunes
authored his novel "The Return of the Caravels." It reflected the use
of modernist narrative collage technique.
(SSFC, 3/10/02, p.M3)
2003 Aug 3, The worst wildfires in
20 years raged across central Portugal, killing at least nine people.
The fires this year killed 18 people and destroyed 1.05 million acres
of forest.
(AP, 8/4/03)(Econ, 8/27/05, p.42)
2003 Sep 12, In Portugal's Madeira
Islands a small airplane crashed into the sea, apparently killing all
nine people on board. The Beechcraft 200 was carrying eight Spaniards
and a British pilot from the islands off northwest Africa to the
southern Spanish city of Malaga.
(AP, 9/12/03)
2003 Dec 29, In Portugal 9 men and
one woman were charged with sexually abusing minors and adolescents,
rape and organizing a pedophile ring at the state-run Casa Pia home.
Among those indicted were 2 popular television personalities, a
lawmaker and a retired ambassador.
(AP, 12/30/03)
2004 Jul 10, Maria de Lourdes
Pintasilgo (74), the only woman to serve as Portugal's prime minister
(1979), died of heart failure.
(AP, 7/10/04)
2004 Jul 18, Pedro Santana Lopes
was sworn in as PM of Portugal's 16th constitutional government at a
ceremony with President Jorge Sampaio.
(AP, 7/18/04)
2004 Nov, Manuel Durao Barroso,
former PM of Portugal, took over as head of the European Commission.
(Econ, 2/19/05, p.52)
2005 Jan 1, Portugal was forecast
for 2.3% annual GDP growth with a population at 10.4 million and GDP
per head at $17,680.
(Econ, 1/8/05, p.89)
2005 Jan 4, Portugal’s national
meteorology office said many regions, including the southernmost
province of Algarve, the country's main tourism center, are facing
their worst drought in over a decade.
(AP, 1/5/05)
2005 Feb 20, Portugal voted in an
early general election. Socialists led by Jose Socrates swept PM Pedro
Santana Lopes' centre-right Social Democrats from office on the back of
rising unemployment.
(AFP, 2/20/05)(Econ, 2/26/05, p.49)
2005 Mar 12, In Portugal Jose
Socrates was sworn in as PM vowing to keep friendly ties with the US
despite naming a foreign minister who has compared Pres. Bush to Adolf
Hitler.
(AP, 3/12/05)
2005 May, In Portugal an audit
estimated that the nation’s deficit could reach 7% of GDP this year,
well over the 1999 EU limit of 3%.
(Econ, 5/28/05, p.53)
2005 Jun 11, Vasco Goncalves (83),
former Portugal prime minister (1974-1975), died. He played a key part
in the 1974 April revolution that toppled 48 years of right-wing
dictatorship.
(AP, 6/11/05)
2005 Jun 13, Alvaro Cunhal (91),
Portuguese Communist leader, died. He led Portugal's CP for half a
century and became a national hero after the overthrow of the country's
dictatorship.
(AP, 6/13/05)
2005 Jun 22, The European Union's
head office told Portugal to cut its burgeoning budget deficit and
public debt, saying the country's economic slowdown was no excuse for
violating euro-zone rules on sound finances.
(AP, 6/22/05)
2005 Aug 13, Fires at a rate of
400 per day began breaking out in Portugal.
(Econ, 8/27/05, p.42)
2005 Aug 22, In Portugal wildfires
fanned by high winds burned out of control, destroying more than 10
houses on the outskirts of Coimbra, Portugal's third-largest city,
forcing 50 people to leave their homes amid the country's worst drought
in years.
(AP, 8/22/05)
2005 Oct 2, Portuguese Prime
Minister Jose Socrates met Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi in Tripoli, as
Libya continues its bid to warm relations with the West.
(AP, 10/2/05)
2005 Oct 3, In northern and
central Portugal 11 wildfires burned out of control amid the country's
worst drought on record.
(AP, 10/4/05)
2005 Nov 18, In Afghanistan a
Portuguese soldier was killed and three others were wounded when an
explosion struck their vehicles outside Kabul.
(AP, 11/18/05)
2005 Dec 10, China and Portugal
vowed to boost their economic cooperation in resource-rich former
Portuguese colonies in Africa as the premiers of the two nations
attended a business conference in Lisbon.
(AFP, 12/10/05)
2006 Jan 22, Portugal voted in a
presidential election. Anibal Cavaco Silva (66), a former centre-right
prime minister (1985-1995), won over his five left-wing rivals. He has
pledged to help lead Portugal out of an economic slump and supports
deeper European Union integration.
(AP, 1/23/06)
2006 Feb 21, Portugal's President
Jorge Sampaio was granted honorary citizenship of East Timor as he
began a three-day official trip to the former Portuguese colony.
(AFP, 2/21/06)
2006 Feb 25, Portugal and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) signed an accord that could
lead to technology partnerships in the Iberian nation.
(AP, 2/25/06)
2006 Mar 31, A Portuguese court
convicted 96 people, including 81 police officers, in a corruption case
involving bribes for dismissed traffic fines.
(AP, 3/31/06)
2006 May 25, PM John Howard
increased Australia’s contingent to Timor-Leste to some 1,300 troops.
500 Malaysians and troops from New Zealand and Portugal were also
deployed.
(Econ, 6/3/06, p.15)
2006 Jun, Off the northern coast
of Portugal Ocean Power Delivery began hooking up 3 Pelamis Wave Energy
Converters to the national power grid. This was the first stage of a
planned 24-megawatt wave-power farm.
(Econ, 6/10/06, Survey p.11)
2006 Jul 5, France beat Portugal
1-0 and will play Italy for Soccer’s World Cup on July 9.
(WSJ, 7/6/06, p.A1)
2006 Oct 23, Portuguese bank BPI
said it will open 30 new branches in fast-growing Angola next year,
bringing its total number of outlets in the oil-rich southwestern
African nation to 100 by the end of 2007.
(AP, 10/23/06)
2006 Nov 4, Swathes of Austria,
Belgium, Croatia, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands
and went dark for up to an hour in the late evening as cold Germans
rushing to switch on heaters sucked up electricity from Europe's
interconnected networks.
(AP, 11/5/06)
2007 Feb 11, Portugal held a
national referendum on whether to discard its strict abortion law, a
battle that pits the Socialist government against conservative parties
and the Catholic Church. Almost 60 percent of voters approved the
referendum allowing women to opt for abortions up to the 10th week of
pregnancy.
(AP, 2/11/07)(AP, 2/12/07)
2007 Feb 12, Portugal's prime
minister said he will enact more liberal abortion laws in the
conservative Roman Catholic country even though his proposal to relax
restrictions failed to win complete endorsement in a referendum.
(AP, 2/12/07)
2007 Mar 8, Portugal's parliament
voted overwhelmingly to legalize abortion up until the 10th week of
pregnancy, a major step in bringing this small Roman Catholic nation in
line with most of its European neighbors.
(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 16, Portugal said it is
closing its embassy in Baghdad because of security concerns.
(AP, 3/16/07)
2007 May 3, Madeleine McCann (3),
a British girl, was kidnapped from her bed in a Portuguese beach resort
while her parents dined nearby.
(Reuters, 5/5/07)
2007 Jun 21, Portugal introduced a
new law that allows abortion up to the 10th week of pregnancy, but
imposes a three-day reflection period for women seeking the procedure
and grants doctors the right to opt out on moral grounds.
(AP, 6/21/07)
2007 Jul 1, Portugal took over the
rotating EU presidency.
(Econ, 7/7/07, p.14)
2007 Jul 4, On the historic
occasion of their first summit, the EU and Brazil decided to establish
a comprehensive strategic partnership, based on their close historical,
cultural and economic ties. Brazil and EU leaders met in Lisbon,
Portugal.
(www.eu2007.pt/UE/vEN/Noticias_Documentos/20070704BRSUM.htm)(Econ,
7/7/07, p.40)
2007 Sep 7, Portuguese police
suggested that Kate McCann (39), the mother of a toddler whose
disappearance sparked international headlines, accidentally killed her
daughter Madeleine, who disappeared on May 3.
(AFP, 9/7/07)
2007 Sep 9, The British couple
named as suspects in the disappearance of their 4-year-old daughter
returned to England, days after being grilled by Portuguese police
about new forensic evidence authorities believe ties them to the case.
(AP, 9/9/07)
2007 Oct 19,
European Union leaders in Portugal endorsed a reform treaty to
replace their failed European constitution and give the 27-nation union
a more influential say in world affairs. The new Treaty of Lisbon
created 2 new posts, a European foreign minister in all but name and a
new standing president of the European Council.
(AP, 10/19/07)(Econ, 10/27/07, p.64)
2007 Oct 29, In Portugal senior
officials from the EU, three US states (California, New York, New
Jersey), Canada, Norway and New Zealand launched the International
Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP), an international effort to fight
climate change by building a global carbon trading market.
(AP, 10/30/07)
2007 Oct, The first commercial
wave farm was set up off the coast of Portugal. The system was created
at Pelamis Wave Power, a firm based in Scotland.
(Econ, 6/7/08, TQ p.22)
2007 Nov 5, A bus collided with a
car on a highway in central Portugal and rolled down a slope, killing
at least 12 people.
(AP, 11/5/07)
2007 Nov 27, Mozambique formally
took over from Portugal the control of Cahora Bassa hydroelectric dam,
Africa's second most important after that of Aswan in Egypt.
(AFP, 11/27/07)
2008 Jan 4, The annual 5,760 Dakar
Rally was canceled on the eve of the race across the Sahara Desert
because of terror threats and the recent Christmas Eve killings of a
French family in Mauritania blamed on al-Qaida-linked militants. The
race, organized by the France-based Amaury Sport Organization (ASO),
had been due to start in Lisbon, Portugal, and finish in Dakar,
Senegal, on Jan. 20.
(AP, 1/4/08)(WSJ, 1/5/08, p.A1)
2008 Mar 24, Portugal's President
Anibal Cavaco Silva began a 3-day official visit to Mozambique, where
members of his government have signed four bilateral accords.
(AFP, 3/25/08)
2008 Sep 23, Portugal's Socialist
government began the roll-out of 500,000 ultra-cheap laptops for school
children in a program that the government said could be extended to
Venezuela. While the Magellan computer will be assembled in Portugal by
a company called JP Sa Couto, it is based on Intel's Classmate PC, a
cheap computer that has been adopted in various formats in countries
such as Brazil and Indonesia.
(Reuters, 9/23/08)
2008 Oct 10, Portugal's Parliament
voted by a large majority against proposals to allow same-sex marriages
in the mostly Roman Catholic country.
(AP, 10/10/08)
2009 Jan 21, Portugal became the
3rd euro zone country this month, after Spain and Greece, to have its
credit rating cut by Standard & Poor’s.
(WSJ, 1/22/09, p.A9)
2009 Feb 17, In Portugal Conchita
Cintron (b.1922), Peruvian-born matador, died. She faced her first bull
at age 13 and made her premier at the main arena in Lima in 1937. She
reportedly killed over 750 bulls during her career in Europe.
(SFC, 2/20/09, p.B8)(Econ, 3/7/09, p.93)
2009 Mar 17, Portuguese police
said they have captured more than 7.7 tons (7 metric tons) of hashish
from Morocco with an estimated street value of more than euro70 million
(US$91 million). Police said they netted the drug in a series of
coordinated operations over three days beginning last weekend.
(AP, 3/17/09)
2009 Apr 26, Pope Benedict XVI
named five new saints, including Portugal's 14th century independence
leader and an Italian priest who ministered to factory workers at the
dawn of the industrial era.
(AP, 4/26/09)
2009 May 1, Special forces on a
Portuguese warship seized explosives from suspected Somali pirates
after thwarting an attack on an oil tanker, but later freed the 19 men.
Hours later and hundreds of miles away, another band of pirates
hijacked a cargo ship. The captain and 23 crew were all Ukrainians and
the Greek-owned, Maltese-flagged Ariana was carrying a cargo of soya
from Brazil to Iran when pirates attacked it southwest of the
Seychelles islands. The Ariana was freed on Dec 10 following a ransom
payment of $2.8 million by Athens-based Alloceans Shipping.
(AP, 5/2/09)(AP, 12/10/09)
2009 Jun 21, The Portuguese
foreign minister said his country will take in 2-3 Guantanamo Bay
detainees once they are released by the US detention camp.
(AP, 6/21/09)
2009 Jun 22, Pirates off Somalia
were chased down and captured by NATO’s Portuguese warship, the
Corte-real, after an attempted hijacking of a Singaporean freighter.
(SFC, 6/23/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 7, Portugal said it has
agreed to take two Syrian detainees from Guantanamo prison.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 21, A landslide at
Portugal’s Maria Luisa beach in Albufeira on the Algarve coast killed
five people and injured at least four.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 29, Portugal’s government
said 2 Syrians previously held at Guantanamo Bay have arrived in
Portugal as free men.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Sep 16, The European
Parliament gave Jose Manuel Barroso another five-year term as European
Commission president, but its vote reflected lingering misgivings about
the conservative ex-Portuguese premier.
(AP, 9/16/09)
2009 Sep 27, Portugal voted in
parliamentary elections that are predicted to keep the Socialist Party
in power despite the highest jobless rate in over 20 years. The
center-left Socialist Party of PM Jose Socrates retained power winning
36.5% of the vote compared with 29% for the center-right Social
Democratic Party. Turnout was about 60%.
(AP, 9/27/09)(SFC, 9/28/09, p.A2)(Econ, 10/3/09,
p.65)
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Subject = Portugal
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