1498 Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit what is now Venezuela.
1558 Mérida is founded in Venezuela.
1567 Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela.
1810 Venezuela achieves home rule: Vicente Emparan, Governor of the Captaincy General is removed by the people of Caracas and a Junta is installed.
1811 Venezuela declares independence from Spain.
1812 An earthquake destroys Caracas, Venezuela.
1813 South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed ''El Libertador'' ("The Liberator").
1819 Simón Bolívar declares the independence of the Republic of Gran Colombia in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar in Venezuela).
1821 The Battle of Carabobo takes place. It is the decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain.
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
1831 Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Greater Colombia.
1945 A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, staged a coup d'état against then president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.
1945 Venezuela joins the United Nations.
1956 A Venezuelan Super-Constellation crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park, New Jersey, killing 74 people.
1958 Overthrow in Venezuela of Marcos Pérez Jiménez
1958 During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
1967 During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela is shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.
1988 A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
1989 Venezuela is rocked by the Caracazo riots.
1992 A Coup d'état is led by Hugo Chávez Frías, against Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
1992 For the second time in a year, military forces try to overthrow president Carlos Andres Perez in Venezuela.
1998 Hugo Chávez Frías, Venezuelan military officer and politician, is elected President of Venezuela.
1998 Hugo Chávez Frías, Venezuelan military officer and politician, is elected President of Venezuela.
2001 A 50-year-old Douglas DC-3 crashes near Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela killing 24.
2002 An attempted coup d'état in Venezuela against President Hugo Chávez takes place.
2002 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returns to office two days after being ousted and arrested by the country's military.
2004 Cuba and Venezuela found the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.
2005 West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes near Machiques, Venezuela, killing the 160 aboard.
2007 Airport police officer María del Luján Telpuk discovers a suitcase containing the undeclared sum of US$800,000 as it goes through an x-ray machine in Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires, sparking an international scandal involving Venezuela and Argentina known as "Maletinazo".
2007 ''¿Por qué no te callas?'' incident between King Juan Carlos of Spain and Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez.