Timeline of Amazon history
Encyclopedia
Amazon History dates back to some 8000 years ago, when humans first reached the region.
Here is a brief timeline of historical events in the Amazon River
valley.
Here is a brief timeline of historical events in the Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
valley.
Before current era
- 9250–8550 BCE: Monte Alegre culture rock paintings created at Caverna da Pedra Pintada become the oldest known paintings in South America.
- 5630 BCE: Ceramics left at Caverna da Pedra Pintada, BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
are the earliest known ceramics in the Americas
Current era
- 1000: Island of MarajóMarajóMarajó is an island located at the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil. It is part of the state of Pará.- Geography :With a land area of 40,100 km² , which compares to the size of Switzerland, it is the largest island to be completely surrounded by freshwater in the world...
flourishes as an Amazonian ceramic center - 1498: Christopher ColumbusChristopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
enters the Orinoco River estuary in present day VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south... - 1494: Europeans create the Treaty of TordesillasTreaty of TordesillasThe Treaty of Tordesillas , signed at Tordesillas , , divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal along a meridian 370 leagueswest of the Cape Verde islands...
divides SpanishSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and PortuguesePortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
claims to new territories. South America falls almost entirely to Spain. The line runs N-S some 100 km E of BelémBelémBelém is a Brazilian city, the capital and largest city of state of Pará, in the country's north region. It is the entrance gate to the Amazon with a busy port, airport and bus/coach station...
, BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. - 1500: Vicente Yáñez PinzónVicente Yáñez PinzónVicente Yáñez Pinzón was a Spanish navigator, explorer, and conquistador, the youngest of the Pinzón brothers...
sails into the Amazon estuary. - 1500: Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares CabralPedro Álvares CabralPedro Álvares Cabral was a Portuguese noble, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the discoverer of Brazil. Cabral conducted the first substantial exploration of the northeast coast of South America and claimed it for Portugal. While details of Cabral's early life are sketchy, it...
, en route to the Orient, discovers Brazil, landing in BahiaBahiaBahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
.
- 1539-1542 – First descent of the Amazon by Francisco de OrellanaFrancisco de OrellanaFrancisco de Orellana was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He completed the first known navigation of the length of the Amazon River, which was originally named for him...
(1501–1550) from QuitoQuitoSan Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
, EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, via the Rio NapoNapo RiverThe Napo is a tributary to the Amazon River that rises in Ecuador on the flanks of the volcanoes of Antisana, Sincholagua and Cotopaxi.The total length of 1075 km. Catchment area of 100,518 square kilometers...
to the Atlantic OceanAtlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. He fights Indian women he calls "Amazons." The name sticks to the river. Expedition chronicled by friar Gaspar de CarvajalGaspar de CarvajalGaspar de Carvajal was a Spanish Dominican missionary to the New World, known for chronicling some of the explorations of the Amazon.-Arrival in the New World and the Amazonian Expedition:...
.
- 1560-1561 – Second descent of the Amazon, this time by the conquistador Lope de AguirreLope de AguirreLope de Aguirre was a Basque Spanish conquistador in South America. Nicknamed El Loco, 'the Madman', Aguirre is best known for his final expedition, down the Amazon river, in search of the mythical El Dorado...
.
- 1570-1600 – Jesuit missions are widely established in the Amazon. Indians relocated and "protected."
- 1595 – Sir Walter RaleighWalter RaleighSir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
leads expedition to colonize the Orinoco River for the English. In 1616, he settles for TrinidadTrinidadTrinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
.
- 1616 – Founding of Santa Maria do Grão Pará de BelémBelémBelém is a Brazilian city, the capital and largest city of state of Pará, in the country's north region. It is the entrance gate to the Amazon with a busy port, airport and bus/coach station...
, Brazil, to mark Portuguese presence. The French, English, and even Irish try to colonize the region.
- 1637-1639 – Pedro TeixeiraPedro TeixeiraPedro Teixeira was a Portuguese explorer who became, in 1637, the first European to travel up the entire length of the Amazon River....
leads the first European expedition up the Amazon from BelémBelémBelém is a Brazilian city, the capital and largest city of state of Pará, in the country's north region. It is the entrance gate to the Amazon with a busy port, airport and bus/coach station...
to QuitoQuitoSan Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
, arriving unexpected.
- 1726 – Francisco Xavier de Moraes, ascending the Rio Negro, discovers the Casiquiare canalCasiquiare canalThe Casiquiare river is a distributary of the upper Orinoco flowing southward into the Rio Negro, in Venezuela, South America. As such, it forms a unique natural canal between the Orinoco and Amazon river systems. It is the largest river on the planet that links two major river systems, a...
to the Orinoco.
- 1736 – Charles Marie de La CondamineCharles Marie de La CondamineCharles Marie de La Condamine was a French explorer, geographer, and mathematician. He spent ten years in present-day Ecuador measuring the length of a degree latitude at the equator and preparing the first map of the Amazon region based on astronomical observations.-Biography:Charles Marie de La...
sends first rubberRubberNatural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
sample to Europe from his Amazon expedition.
- 1750 – Treaty of MadridTreaty of Madrid (1750)The Spanish–Portuguese treaty of 1750 or Treaty of Madrid was a document signed by Ferdinand VI of Spain and John V of Portugal on January 13, 1750, concerning their empires and status of their territories in what is now Brazil....
fixes boundaries between the Spanish and Portuguese empires in South America. Portuguese possession of areas west of the Tordesillas line is recognized, based on occupation.
- 1759 – Jesuits are expelled from Brazil by the Marquis of Pombal. Indians left without protection.
- 1799 – Alexander von HumboldtAlexander von HumboldtFriedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
explores the Orinoco and proves the link via the Casiquiare canalCasiquiare canalThe Casiquiare river is a distributary of the upper Orinoco flowing southward into the Rio Negro, in Venezuela, South America. As such, it forms a unique natural canal between the Orinoco and Amazon river systems. It is the largest river on the planet that links two major river systems, a...
to the Rio Negro. Humboldt refused permission to enter Brazil.
- 1808-1825 – Spanish rule in South America ends with revolutions led by Simón BolívarSimón BolívarSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
of Venezuela, San MartínJosé de San MartínJosé Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
of Argentina, and O'HigginsBernardo O'HigginsBernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile , he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder...
of Chile. In 1808 the Portuguese royal family arrives in Brazil escaping the Napoleon's invasion of Portugal.
- 1818-1820 – SpixJohann Baptist von SpixDr. Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix was a German naturalist.Spix was born in Höchstadt, Middle Franconia, as the seventh of eleven children. His boyhood home is the site of the Spix Museum , opened to the public in 2004...
and MartiusCarl Friedrich Philipp von MartiusCarl Friedrich Philipp von Martius was a German botanist and explorer.Martius was born at Erlangen, where he graduated M.D. in 1814, publishing as his thesis a critical catalogue of plants in the botanic garden of the university...
on expedition in the Amazon.
- 1822 – Brazil proclaims its independence under Dom Pedro I of Brazil.
- 1823 – Charles Macintosh invents waterproof rubber cape. (Amazon Indians, users of rubber waterproof bags for centuries, get no credit.)
- 1826-1828 – Baron von Langsdorff on expedition from CuiabáCuiabáUnder the Koppen climate classification, Cuiaba features a tropical wet and dry climate. Cuiabá is famous for its searing heat, although temperatures in winter can arrive sporadically at 10 degrees, indeed atypical, caused by cold fronts coming from the south, and that may only last one or two...
to Belém, arriving with sanity impaired.
- 1826-1828 – CabanagemCabanagemThe Cabanagem was a social revolt that occurred in the then-province of Grão-Pará, Brazil.Among the causes for this revolt were the extreme poverty of the Paraense people and the political irrelevance to which the province was relegated after the independence of Brazil.The name "Cabanagem" refers...
revolt in Belém and ManausManausManaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....
, with 40,000 fatalities.
- 1839 – Charles GoodyearCharles GoodyearCharles Goodyear was an American inventor who developed a process to vulcanize rubber in 1839 -- a method that he perfected while living and working in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1844, and for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844Although...
invents vulcanization of rubber which becomes an important component of the Industrial RevolutionIndustrial RevolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
.
- 1839-1842 – Brothers RobertRobert Hermann SchomburgkSir Robert Hermann Schomburgk , was a German-born explorer for Great Britain who carried out geographical, ethnological and botanical studies in South America and the West Indies, and also fulfilled diplomatic missions for Great Britain in the Dominican Republic and Thailand.-Biography:Schomburgk...
and Richard SchomburgkMoritz Richard SchomburgkMoritz Richard Schomburgk was a German botanist.In 1844 he went on the Prussian-British expedition to Guyana and Brazil, led by his brother Robert. He collected for the Museum of the University of Berlin. After the political turmoil in Europe in 1848, he emigrated to Gawler, South Australia...
on expedition in northern Brazil.
- 1842 – Prince Adelbert of Prussia and Count von BismarckOtto von BismarckOtto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
on the Xingu RiverXingu RiverThe Xingu River , also called Rio Xingu, is a 1,230-mile long, river in north Brazil; it is a southeast tributary of the Amazon River.-Description and history:...
.
- 1846 – François Louis de la Porte, comte de CastelnauFrançois Louis de la Porte, comte de CastelnauFrançois Louis Nompar de Caumont LaPorte, comte de Castelnau was a French naturalist, known also as François Laporte or Francis de Castelnau.-Life:Born in London, he studied natural history in Paris...
on the Araguaia and Tocantins RiverTocantins RiverThe Tocantins is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" . It runs from south to north for about 2,640 km. It is not really a branch of the Amazon River, although usually so considered, since its waters flow into the...
s.
- 1848-1859 – Henry Walter BatesHenry Walter BatesHenry Walter Bates FRS FLS FGS was an English naturalist and explorer who gave the first scientific account of mimicry in animals. He was most famous for his expedition to the Amazon with Alfred Russel Wallace in 1848. Wallace returned in 1852, but lost his collection in a shipwreck...
and Alfred Russel WallaceAlfred Russel WallaceAlfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
in the Amazon. (Wallace leaves in 1852.)
- 1849–1864 – SpruceSpruceA spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
, of cinchona fame, in the Amazon. He gets the quinineQuinineQuinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial, analgesic , anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste. It is a stereoisomer of quinidine which, unlike quinine, is an anti-arrhythmic...
tree seeds in 1860.
- 1850 – ManausManausManaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....
is new capital of Amazonas province.
- 1850–1915 – Rubber boomRubber boomThe rubber boom was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related with the extraction and commercialization of rubber...
sucks tens of thousands of immigrants into the Amazon, mostly from the drought-stricken northeast of Brazil. Read the book White Gold to get the story from the rubber-tapper's point of view. Another good volume is Jungle by Ferreira de Castro.
- 1851-1852 – Lieutenant William Lewis HerndonWilliam Lewis HerndonCommander William Lewis Herndon was one of the United States Navy's outstanding explorers and seamen. He chose to go down with his ship while other lives were still aboard and while in command of the steamer Central Americas 44th trip, which sank in a three day and night hurricane off Cape...
(U.S. Navy) on the Amazon to Belém.
- 1851-1852 – Lieutenant Lardner Gibbon (U.S. Navy) also on the Amazon.
- 1858 – PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
gains rights to navigation on the Amazon River.
- 1865–1866 – Biologist Alexander Agassiz and geologist Charles Hartt on expedition in the Amazon.
- 1866 – Founding of the Goeldi MuseumMuseu Paraense Emílio GoeldiThe Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi is a Brazilian research institution and museum located in the city of Belém, state of Pará. It was founded in 1866 by Domingos Soares Ferreira Penna as the Pará Museum of Natural History and Ethnography, and was later named in honor of Swiss naturalist Émil August...
of Natural History in Belém by Domingos Soares Ferreira PennaDomingos Soares Ferreira PennaDomingos Soares Ferreira Penna was a Brazilian naturalist from the state of Minas Gerais, who founded the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, in Belém, and undertook important research in the archeology and natural resources of the lower Amazon River valley.In 1870, he discovered one of the most...
and others. Agassiz had given stimulus to this when he was in the Amazon.
- 1867 – Amazon River opened to international shipping.
- 1867 – Confederate expatriates settle in Santarém, after U.S. Civil War.
- 1876 – Henry WickhamHenry WickhamSir Henry Alexander Wickham was a British bio-pirate and explorer. He later claimed in self-aggrandising publicity that he was responsible for "stealing" about 70,000 seeds from the rubber-bearing tree, Hevea brasiliensis, in the Santarém area of Brazil in 1876...
takes some 70,000 rubber tree seeds to Kew Gardens in England.
- 1888 – DunlopJohn Boyd DunlopJohn Boyd Dunlop was a Scottish inventor. He was one of the founders of the rubber company that bore his name, Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company....
invents the rubber tube tire.
- 1895 – International arbitration forces VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
to cede large area still disputed with GuyanaGuyanaGuyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
.
- 1895–1899 – Henri Coudreau explores Amazon waterways of ParáParáPará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
.
- 1897 – Manaus' Teatro Amazonas (opera house) opens. Rubber booming.
- 1899–1903 – Acre proclaims itself independent of BoliviaBoliviaBolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
. In 1901, Bolivia cedes rights to Acre to New York rubber syndicate. In 1903, Acre becomes Brazilian by the Treaty of PetrópolisTreaty of PetrópolisThe Treaty of Petrópolis, signed on November 11, 1903, ended tensions between Bolivia and Brazil over the then-Bolivian territory of Acre , a desirable territory during the contemporary rubber boom....
, in which Bolivia is promised a railroad link to the Madeira River at Porto Velho.
20th century
- 1907: Madeira-Mamoré railroadMadeira-Mamoré RailroadThe Madira-Mamoré Railroad is a railroad built in the Brazilian state of Rondonia between 1907 and 1912. The railroad links the Brazilian cities of Porto Velho and Guajará-Mirim. It became known as the "Devil's Rail-road" because thousands of construction workers died from tropical diseases and...
is built by Americans under Percival Farquar. Colonel Church's attempts in 1870–1881 are best called disasters made heroic by tragedy. - 1908-1911: Henry FordHenry FordHenry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
, then the richest person in the world, invests in Amazon rubber plantations on the Tapajós River. - 1908-1911: Arana's rubber company on the Putamayo River is denounced for atrocities against Indians. English parliamentary inquiry in 1910. (Arana dies in 1952 in Lima after serving as Peruvian senator.) (Read the book The River that God Forgot.)
- 1912: Rubber from Malaysia exceeds that coming out of the Amazon.
- 1913: Former US president Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
and Brazilian Field Marshal Cândido RondonCândido RondonCândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, or Marechal Rondon was a Brazilian military officer who is most famous for his exploration of Mato Grosso and the Western Amazon Basin, and his lifelong support of Brazilian indigenous populations...
on Amazon expedition down the River of Doubt (now the Roosevelt RiverRoosevelt RiverThe Roosevelt River is a Brazilian river. It begins in the state of Rondônia and winds for about 400 miles until it joins the Aripuanã River, which then flows into the Madeira River, thence into the Amazon.-History and exploration:Formerly called Rio da Dúvida , the river is named after Theodore...
) (Roosevelt, 1919). - 1914: Rubber boomRubber boomThe rubber boom was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related with the extraction and commercialization of rubber...
bursts with beginning of World War I. - 1922: Salomón-Lozano Treaty awards Leticia to ColombiaColombiaColombia, 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...
, as an outlet to the Amazon River. In 1933, Peru seizes Leticia but backs down under international pressure, and in 1935 Leticia is reoccupied by Colombia. - 1925: Colonel Percy FawcettPercy FawcettLt. Colonel Percival Harrison Fawcett was a British artillery officer, archaeologist and South American explorer....
vanishes near the headwaters of the Xingu River. His eyeglasses are later found among the Kayapó Indians of the Xingu River valley. - 1942: Brazil enters World War II. Demand is high for Amazon rubber. Brazil launches the ill-fated "Rubber Soldier" program.http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/13/world/americas/13iht-brazil.3512939.html?_r=1
- 1947: Cerro Bolívar, iron ore deposit south of Puerto OrdazPuerto OrdazPuerto Ordaz is a planned city which, together with the older settlement of San Felix, forms Ciudad Guayana in Bolívar State, eastern Venezuela. Puerto Ordaz is located at the confluence of the Caroní and Orinoco Rivers and is the site of the Llovizna Falls. There are bridges across the Caroni and...
, VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, is found and estimated at half a billion tons of high-grade ore. Puerto Ordaz is selected in 1953 as site for steel mill and huge hydroelectric plant. - 1960: BrasiliaBrasíliaBrasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
, as new capital of Brazil, is founded. - 1962: Belém-Brasília Highway opens as first major all-year Amazon highway, linking Amazon River port city of Belém with the rest of Brazil.
- 1964: Military coup in Brazil puts democracy on hold for a generation. Economic miracle declared.
- 1967: Iron ore deposit at Serra dos Carajás is discovered in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. High quality ore (66% iron) is estimated at 18 billion tons.
- 1967–1983: American businessman Daniel K. LudwigDaniel K. LudwigDaniel Keith Ludwig was a US shipping magnate and billionaire. Even though he was one of the wealthiest men of his day, his name was little known...
invests heavily in Jari wood pulp and lumber plantation. His losses would amount to over 500 million dollars. - 1970: Trans-Amazonian HighwayTrans-Amazonian highwayThe Trans-Amazonian Highway , was inaugurated on August 30, 1972. It is 5,300 km long, making it the third longest highway in Brazil...
project begins. Total costs would top one billion dollars. To this day (2008), the highway is impassable between Itaituba and Humaitá, and it ends short of the Peruvian border. - 1972: Trans-Amazon highway opens from ImperatrizImperatrizImperatriz is the second most populated city in the Brazilian state of Maranhão. The city extends along the right bank of the Tocantins River and is crossed by the Belém-Brasília Highway, standing on the border with the state of Tocantins....
, MaranhãoMaranhãoMaranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
to the Tapajós River. - 1974: Manaus-Porto Velho highway opens.
- 1980: Gold deposit at Serra PeladaSerra PeladaSerra Pelada was a large gold mine in Brazil south of the mouth of the Amazon River. The mine was made famous by the images taken by Sebastião Salgado showing an anthill of workers moving vast amounts of ore by hand...
is discovered. By 1986, an estimated 42 tons of gold are extracted from giant pit mine. Amazon gold rush is in full swing. In 1987 striking gold miners would be machine-gunned when they seize the railroad bridge at MarabáMarabáMaraba is a city in the state of Pará, Brazil. The reference location is the meeting point between two great rivers, forming a sort of "y" in the city as seen from above...
. - 1984: Tucuruí hydroelectric dam floods the lower Tocantins River valley.
- 1988: New Brazilian federal constitution goes into effect, with many social and environmental guarantees.
- 1988: First Amazon Indian congress is held at Altamira, Brazil, to protest the proposed construction of hydroelectric dams on the Xingu River.
- 1988: Rubber-tapper Chico MendesChico MendesFrancisco Alves Mendes Filho, better known as Chico Mendes , was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous peoples...
is murdered on December 22, in XapuriXapuriXapuri is a municipality located in the southeast of the Brazilian state of Acre. Its population is 14 314 and its area is 5,251 km² and it is also known under the nickname "City of Chico Mendes"...
, AcreAcreThe acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
. Two years later (December 1990), his accused killers, Darly Alves da Silva and his son Darci, are brought to trial and sentenced. (They escaped in 1993 and were later recaptured.) - 1992: Brazil hosts UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The US, under President Bush, is made to appear the enemy because of refusal to sign the Biodiversity TreatyConvention on Biological DiversityThe Convention on Biological Diversity , known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is an international legally binding treaty...
. (The US would belatedly sign the same, weak treaty under President Clinton.) - 1996: Renewed military presence seen in the Amazon region of Brazil, as a result of radar project and militarization of the borders against drug traffic (at US behest?). Secret project SIVAM is revealed.
- 1996: On April 17, 1996, 19 landless farmers of the MST movement ("Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra") are shot by police at the "S" curve of highway PA-150 at Eldorado de Carajás, in ParáParáPará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
state. These people were part of a demonstration calling for the federal disappropriation of an unproductive ranch where the MST had mounted a camp called "Macaxeira" with almost 3000 families.
21st century
- 2005: On February 12, 2005, American missionary Dorothy StangDorothy StangSister Dorothy Mae Stang, S.N.D., was an American-born, Brazilian member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She was murdered in Anapu, a city in the state of Pará, in the Amazon Basin of Brazil...
(73 years of age) is gunned down in Anapu, Pará. - 2005: Worst drought in 50 years hits the western Amazon Basin. Lakes and streams dry and massive fish mortality takes place. Turtle beaches are sacked by hungry residents.
- 2007: The Brazilian government announces the Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento to construct dams on the MadeiraMadeira RiverThe Madeira River is a major waterway in South America, approximately 3,250 km miles long The Madeira is the biggest tributary of the Amazon...
, XingúXingu RiverThe Xingu River , also called Rio Xingu, is a 1,230-mile long, river in north Brazil; it is a southeast tributary of the Amazon River.-Description and history:...
, and TapajósTapajósThe Tapajós, a Brazilian river running through a humid and hot valley, pours into the Amazon River 500 miles above Pará and is about 1200 miles long.It rises on the lofty Brazilian plateau near Diamantino in 14 degrees 25' south latitude...
rivers, to go ahead with the polemical highway BR-319, and to expand petroleum and natural gas extraction in the SolimõesSolimõesSolimões is the name often given to early stretches of the Amazon River from the border of Brazil and Peru to its confluence with the Rio Negro.Further upstream from the border, the name of the river seems to depend on the speaker...
basin. - 2008: Second Amazon Indian congress is held at Altamira, Brazil, to again protest the newly proposed Belo Monte dams on the Xingú River.
- 2008: Former Minister of the Environment Marina SilvaMarina SilvaMaria Osmarina Marina Silva Vaz de Lima is a Brazilian environmentalist and politician. Ms. Silva was a colleague of Chico Mendes, who was assassinated for defending the Amazon environment. She was a member of the Partido dos Trabalhadores until August 19, 2009 and served as a senator before...
leaves her ministerial post and returns to the Senate, citing struggles with vested interests as an obstacle to conservation policy in Amazônia. - 2009: The World Social ForumWorld Social ForumThe World Social Forum is an annual meeting of civil society organizations, first held in Brazil, which offers a self-conscious effort to develop an alternative future through the championing of counter-hegemonic globalization...
takes place in Belém do ParáBelémBelém is a Brazilian city, the capital and largest city of state of Pará, in the country's north region. It is the entrance gate to the Amazon with a busy port, airport and bus/coach station...
, Brazil, drawing attention to the ecological crises facing the Amazon. - 2010: DroughtDroughtA drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
hits Amazon RainforestAmazon RainforestThe Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
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External links
- Scientists find Evidence Discrediting Theory Amazon was Virtually Unlivable by The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...