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Period: 1485 to 1509
HENRY VII
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Jan 1, 1501
Rodrigo de Bastides is first European to visit Panama
Bastides sails along Darien coast -
Oct 16, 1502
Christopher Columbus arrives Panama
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Jan 10, 1503
Columbus establishes Garrison Rio Belen
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Apr 16, 1503
Columbus leaves Panama after Indian attack
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Jan 1, 1509
Spanish begin conquest of Tierra Firma
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Jan 1, 1509
Vasco Nuñez de Balboa founded Santa Maria lla Antigua del Darien
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Period: 1509 to 1547
HENRY VIII
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Jan 1, 1510
Founding of Nombre de Dios
King Ferdinand appoints Diego de Nicuesa to settle the newly claimed land and with a small fleet declares
‘¡Paremos aquí, en nombre de Dios!’ (‘Let us stop here, in the name of God!’). naming the town of Nombre de Dios, -
Period: Sep 28, 1513 to
Panama part of Spanish Empire
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Sep 29, 1513
Balboa discovers Pacific Ocean
Balboa walks into the Pacific naming it Mar del Sur and claiming it for Spain -
Jan 1, 1514
Pedro Arias de Avila arrives in Panama
Pedrarias arrives with largest expedition to date; 1500 men and 17 ships -
Jan 15, 1519
Pedrarias has Balboa executed
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Aug 15, 1519
Founding of Panama City
Pedrarias,abandons Santa María la Antigua del Darién, moves the capital of Castilla del Oro with all its organizational institutions to the Pacific Ocean's coast and founded Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Panamá (present day Panama City), the first European settlement on the shores of the Pacific. -
Jan 1, 1520
Ferdinand Magellan renames the sea the Pacific Ocean because of its calm waters.
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Oct 8, 1534
King Charles V of Spain orders survey for possible canal
In 1534, after no such passage across the isthmus had been found, Charles V, the Holy Roman emperor, ordered a survey to determine if one could be built -
Jan 1, 1539
Royal Audiencia of Panama established.
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Nov 20, 1542
Viceroyalty of Peru is established
Panama becomes important trading point for gold and silver from Peru to Spain -
Jan 1, 1544
First of the annual Fairs - Nombre de Dios
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Period: Jan 1, 1544 to
annual trade fairs in Nombre de Dios
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Period: 1547 to 1553
EDWARD VI
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Jan 1, 1572
Sir Francis Drake raids Nombre de Dios
successful raid on Nombre de Dios with 73 men and 2 ships -
Drake dies of Dysentery and is buried at sea off the coast of PORTOBELO
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Founding of Portobelo
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Period: to
Annual trade fairs in Portobelo
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William Parker attacks Portobelo
The privateer William Parker attacked and captured the city -
Henry Morgan lays siege to Portobelo
Captain Henry Morgan leads a fleet of privateers and 450 men against Portobelo, which, in spite of its good fortifications, he captures. His forces plunder it for 14 days, stripping nearly all its wealth while raping, torturing and killing the inhabitants -
Panamá City sacked by privateer Henry Morgan
Morgan crosses isthmus with 2000 men and attacks Panama City, which is destroyed and burnt in attack -
Panama City rebuilt after Morgan's attack
The city was formally reestablished on a peninsula located 8 km (5 miles) from the original settlement -
John Coxon attacks Portobelo
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Scottish colonization attempt in the Darien
The first expedition of five ships (Saint Andrew, Caledonia, Unicorn, Dolphin, and Endeavour) set sail from the east coast port of Leith to the Bay of Darien. After calling at Madeira and the West Indies, the fleet made landfall off the coast of Darien, the settlers christening their new home "Caledonia" -
The Scots abandon the colony after only 8 months
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Edward Vernon attacks and captures Portobelo
As part of the campaigns of the War of Jenkins' Ear, the port was attacked, and captured by a British fleet of six ships, commanded by Admiral Edward Vernon -
First call for Independence
Residents of La villa de Los Santos petition Simon Bolivar for independence -
Panama independence from Spain
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Period: to
Panama is part of Gran Colombia
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Period: to
California Gold Rush
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Start building Panama Railroad
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Panama Railroad completed
The first locomotive with freight and passenger cars passed from sea to sea. The route stretches 47.6 miles (76.6 km) across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón to Balboa -
French begin construction of the Canal
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Work on Canal is suspended
The French effort goes bankrupt after reportedly spending US$287,000,000 and losing an estimated 22,000 lives to disease and accidents, wiping out the savings of 800,000 investors -
A second French company resumes work on Canal
A second French company, the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama, was created to take over the project. A minimal workforce of a few thousand people was employed primarily to comply with the terms of the Colombian Panama Canal concession -
Independence from Colombia
The Panama–Colombia separation was formalized, with the establishment of the Republic of Panama from the Republic of Colombia's Department of Panama. -
The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty signed
treaty between United States and Panama, which establishes the Panama Canal Zone and the subsequent construction of the Panama Canal -
Period: to
Panama is US protectorate
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US take formal control of the Canal
the United States purchase the French equipment and excavations, including the Panama Railroad, for US$40 million, of which $30 million related to excavations completed, primarily in the Gaillard Cut (then called the Culebra Cut), valued at about $1.00 per cubic yard.[31] The United States also pays the new country of Panama $10 million and a $250,000 payment each following year. -
First Panama Canal Transit
The SS Cristobal was the first ship to transit the canal from ocean to ocean -
The canal was formally opened
The canal was formally opened with the passage of the cargo ship SS Ancon. -
Panama ceases to be a US protectorate.
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Martyr's day riots
The Martyrs' Day riots escalated tensions between the country and the US government over its long-term occupation of the Canal Zone. Twenty rioters were killed, and 500 other Panamanians were wounded. -
Period: to
Panama under military dictatorship
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Military Coup and beginning of Dictatorship
General Omar Torrijos Herrera, the National Guard chief, overthrows the elected president and imposes a dictatorship. -
Torrijos-Carter treaty signed
US agrees to transfer the canal to Panama as from 31 December 1999. -
General Torrijos dies in Plane Crash at Cerro Marta,
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Noriega takes power
Former intelligence chief and one-time US Central Intelligence Agency informant Manuel Noriega becomes head of the National Guard, builds up the size of the force, which he renames the Panama Defence Forces, and greatly increases its power over Panama's political and economic life. -
Failed coup against Noriega
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US Invasion of Panama
Operation Just cause inwhich de facto Panamanian leader, general, and dictator Manuel Noriega is deposed, president-elect Guillermo Endara sworn into office, and the Panamanian Defense Force dissolved. -
Endara instated as President
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Ernesto Pérez Balladares was sworn in as President
Ernesto Pérez Balladares (PRD) was sworn in as President after an internationally monitored election campaign. -
Mireya Moscoso (Arnulfista) becomes first woman President
Mireya Moscoso, the widow of former President Arnulfo Arias Madrid, takes office after defeating PRD candidate Martin Torrijos, son of Omar Torrijos, in a free and fair election -
Panama takes control of Canal
Panamanian control effective at noon on December 31, 1999, and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) assumes command of the Canal -
Martin Torrijos (PRD) becomes President
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Work begins on Panama Canal Expansion
Thousands of Panamanians stood across from Paraíso Hill in Panama to witness a huge initial explosion and launch of the Expansion Program. -
Ricardo Martinelli becomes 49th president of Panama
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Juan Carlos Varela becomes President
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Panama Canal Expansion inaugurated
The new locks opened for commercial traffic on, and the first ship to cross the canal using the third set of locks was a modern New Panamax vessel, the Chinese-owned container ship Cosco Shipping Panama