Venezuela Key Dates

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1 August 1498    Christopher Columbus was the first European to set foot on the South American mainland.
1567    Santiago de León de Caracas was established.
5 July 1811    A congress convoked by the junta declared Venezuelan independence from Spain.
21 December 1811    A constitution marked the official beginning of Venezuela’s First Republic
25 July 1812    Miranda surrendered with his troops to the Spanish commander, General Domingo Monteverde.
1819    The Congress at Angostura established the Third Republic and named Simón Bolívar as its first president
August 1821    Delegates from Venezuela and Colombia met at the border town of Cúcuta to formally sign the Constitution of the Republic of Gran Colombia, with its capital in Bogotá and Bolívar was named president.
1829    Gerneral Páez led Venezuela in its separation from Gran Colombia.
1858 – 1863    Local caudillos engaged in a power struggle known as the Federal War.
1918    The foreign exploitation of Venezuela’s petroleum reserves began.
1940s    Many political partys were formed.
18 October 1945    The AD in conjunction with junior military officers suddenly overthrew Medina.
15 February 1948    Rómulo Gallegos became president.
1 January 1958    Air force planes dropped bombs on the capital to signal the start of a military insurrection. The anticipated coup d’état failed to materialize
22 January 1958    When the navy revolted a group of army officers forced Pérez to resign.
13 February 1959    Betancourt became president.
1960    Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation (Corporación Venezolana de Petróleos–CVP) was formed.
11 March 1964    Raúl Leoni became president.
1974    Pérez beame president.
January 1975    The government cancelled the iron ore concessions of subsidiaries of two United States-owned firms (United States Steel Corporation and Bethlehem Steel).
August 1975    Congressional approved a bill, nationalizing the petroleum industry.
1979    Luis Herrera Campins became president.
1992    Military officers staged two unsuccessful coup attempts.
December 1993    Rafael Caldera Rodríguez was elected president.
1999    Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías took office as president.
December 2001    Business and labor organizations held a work stoppage to protest Chavez’s increasingly authoritarian government.
December 2006    Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías was reelected.

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