Colombia Timeline of Events

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Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...

Timeline of Events

1538

8.6.1538

Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.

1539

4.27.1539

Re-founding of the city of Bogotá, New Granada (now Colombia), by Nikolaus Federmann and Sebastián de Belalcázar.

1773

6.17.1773

Cúcuta (Colombia) is founded by Juana Rangel de Cuéllar.

1821

9.7.1821

The Republic of Gran Colombia (a federation covering much of present day Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador) is established, with Simón Bolívar as the founding President and Francisco de Paula Santander as vice president. thumb declares independence.]]

1831

11.17.1831

Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Greater Colombia.

1851

5.21.1851

Slavery is abolished in Colombia, South America.

1903

3.14.1903

The Hay-Herran Treaty, granting the United States the right to build the Panama Canal, is ratified by the United States Senate. The Colombian Senate would later reject the treaty.

11.3.1903

With the encouragement of the United States, Panama separates from Colombia.

1909

1.5.1909

Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.

1935

6.25.1935

Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Colombia are established.

1936

12.23.1936

Colombia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

1945

11.5.1945

Colombia joins the United Nations.

1948

4.9.1948

Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the ''Bogotazo''), and a further ten years of violence in Colombia known as ''La violencia''.

4.30.1948

In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.

1968

8.22.1968

Pope Paul VI arrives in Bogotá, Colombia. It is the first visit of a pope to Latin America.

1979

12.12.1979

A major earthquake and tsunami kill 259 people in Colombia.

1985

11.6.1985

In Colombia, leftist guerrillas of the April 19 Movement seize control of the Palace of Justice in Bogotá, eventually killing 115 people, 11 of them Supreme Court justices.

1988

3.17.1988

A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.

1989

8.18.1989

Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.

8.24.1989

Colombian drug barons declare "total war" on the Colombian government.

11.27.1989

Avianca Flight 203, a Boeing 727, explodes in mid-air over Colombia, killing all 107 people on board and three people on the ground. The Medellín Cartel claimed responsibility for the attack.

1992

7.22.1992

Near Medellín, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escapes from his luxury prison fearing extradition to the United States.

1993

12.2.1993

Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed in Medellín.

1995

12.20.1995

American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 160.

1996

9.4.1996

War on Drugs: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare, starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare in which at least 130 Colombians are killed.

1999

1.25.1999

A 6.0 Richter scale earthquake hits western Colombia killing at least 1,000.

2002

1.28.2002

TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia killing 92.

2008

7.2.2008

Ingrid Betancourt, and 14 other hostages held by FARC guerrillas, are rescued by the Colombian armed forces.