# Timeline of Chilean history

This is a timeline of Chilean history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Chile and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Chile. See also the list of governors and presidents of Chile.

## Pre-Columbian Chile

| Year | Date | Event |
| c. 16500 BC | | Settlement of Monte Verde, the "earliest known human settlement in the Americas". |
| c. 5050 BC | | Chinchorro culture practices funerary mummification, the first known example of this practice in the world. |
| c. 1000–1150 | | Tiwanaku Empire collapses ushering migratory and societal changes that reach as far south as Araucanía. |
| 1300–1399 | | Possible date for a Cunco-Huilliche migration to Chiloé Island. Chonos were possibly displaced further such to places like Guaitecas Archipelago. |
| 1420 | September 1 | a 9.4 M$_S$-strong earthquake shakes Chile's Atacama Region causing tsunamis in Chile as well as Hawaii and Japan. |
| 1471–1493 | Unknown | At some point in this time interval the battle of the Maule between Incas and Mapuches may have occurred. |

## 16th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1502 | | The Inca Emperor Túpac Yupanqui reached Itata River |
| 1513 | 25 September | Vasco Núñez de Balboa becomes the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean from the New World; he calls it Mar del Sur. |
| 1520 | October - November | Explorer Ferdinand Magellan's expedition finds the passage now known as the Strait of Magellan. In the process, they become the first Europeans to describe Chilean Patagonia and its inhabitants. |
| 1532 | | Francisco Pizarro arrives in Peru from Panamá. He begins the Conquest of the Inca Empire and captures Emperor Atahualpa during the Battle of Cajamarca. |
| 1532 | Unknown | A possible date for the battle of the Maule between Incas and Mapuches. |
| 1535 | July - December | Spanish Conquistador Diego de Almagro begins his expedition to the lands south of Peru through the eastern side of the Andes Mountains. |
| 1536 | March - May | Almagro's expedition crosses the Andes into the Copiapó River valley and explores the central region of Chile as far south as the Aconcagua River valley. |
| 1536 | Winter of 1536 | Almagro sends an expedition under :es:Gómez de Alvarado southwards toward the Bio-Bio region. The expedition ends at the Battle of Reynogüelén, near the Itata River, being considered the first battle between Spaniards and Mapuches. |
| 1541 | 12 February | Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago de Nueva Extremadura, now known as Santiago. |
| 1541 | 25 April | es:Lucas Martínez Vegaso founds Villa San Marcos de Arica, now known as Arica. |
| 1541 | 11 September | An uprising led by toqui Michimalonco attacks fledgling Santiago in an attempt to drive out the Spanish. Key actions undertaken by Inés de Suárez, the first Spanish woman to set foot in Chile, are attributed with avoiding the complete destruction of the outnumbered settlement. |
| 1544 | September 4 | es:Juan Bohón founds Villanueva de la Serena, now known as La Serena. |
| 1545 | | Foundation of the port of Arica. The port becomes a key staging point between the mines of Potosí in Upper Peru (now Bolivia) and Lima. |
| 1546 | | Mapuche child Lautaro is captured by the Spanish and made a yanacona. Eventually, Lautaro becomes personal page of Pedro de Valdivia. |
| 1550 | 5 October | Pedro de Valdivia founds Concepción del Nuevo Extremo, now known as Concepción. |
| 1552 | February 9 | Founding of Valdivia. |
| 1552 | Winter of 1552 | Lautaro, after six years' imprisonment by the Spanish, escapes. He then teaches his people European warfare, including riding horses. |
| 1553 | December 25 | Battle of Tucapel: Mapuches led by Lautaro defeat the Spanish at the ruins of Tucapel capturing Pedro de Valdivia who is then executed. A general Mapuche uprising develops under Lautaro. |
| 1557 | April 30 | Battle of Mataquito: A Spanish force led by Francisco de Villagra defeats the forces of Lautaro, killing him amidst the battle. Caupolicán assumes the role of Mapuche toqui (wartime chief). |
| 1558 | | Caupolicán is captured and executed by impalement. |
| 1558 | 27 March | Governor García Hurtado de Mendoza founds San Mateo de Osorno, now known as Osorno. |
| 1564 | April | Concepción is unsuccessfully besieged by native Mapuches. |
| 1565 | August 27 | The King of Spain decrees the creation of Real Audiencia in Concepción. |
| 1567 | 12 February | Chiloé Archipelago is claimed by Spain. Martín Ruiz de Gamboa founds Castro on the main island; the southernmost European settlement at that time. |
| 1567 | August 5 | Real Audiencia in Concepción starts its functions. The Audiencia is abolished in 1575. |
| 1570 | February 8 | Concepción is struck by an earthquake. |
| 1574 | November 22 | Spanish captain Juan Fernández discovers the Juan Fernández Islands. |
| 1575 | December 16 | Earthquake in Valdivia causes extensive damage in Valdivia and surrounding cities of Villarrica, Osorno, and Castro. As in the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the Riñihue Lake dams. |
| 1576 | April | The dam of San Pedro River burst flooding many settlements downstream including Valdivia. |
| 1578 | December | Francis Drake attacks the coast of Chile during his circumnavigation of the earth; La Serena and Valparaíso are plundered. |
| 1580 | June 26 | Martín Ruiz de Gamboa founds Chillán. |
| 1584 | 5 February | Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa founds the settlement Nombre de Jesús on the eastern end of the Strait of Magellan. |
| 1584 | March 25 | Gamboa founds the settlement Rey Don Felipe in the Strait of Magellan. By 1587 both settlements lay in ruins, leading English pirate Thomas Cavendish to dub Rey Don Felipe as Port Famine. |
| 1598 | December 23 | Battle of Curalaba: Governor Martín García Óñez de Loyola killed in a Mapuche ambush. |
| 1599 | | The Real Situado, an annual payment of silver from Potosí to Chile, is established. |

## 17th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1600 | February 16 | Huaynaputina begins its catastrophic eruption. |
| 1600 | April 19 | In the Battle of Castro a Spanish force defeat and expel Huilliche rebels and Dutch corsairs from Castro. |
| 1602 | | General uprising of the Mapuches under Pelantaro. All cities south of the Bío-Bío River are demolished, in what is now called Destruction of the Seven Cities. |
| 1604 | | A fort established in 1602 at the ruins of Valdivia is abandoned. |
| 1608 | | Jesuits establishes themselves in Chiloé Archipelago. |
| 1612 | | Beginning of the Defensive War phase (promoted by Luis de Valdivia) in the Arauco War. |
| 1613 | | Jesuits from Chiloé reach Guayaneco Archipelago for the first time. |
| 1639 | | The alcabala is reestablished after it had been suspended since the Disaster of Curalaba in 1598. |
| 1640 | | Llaima begins an eruption. |
| 1641 | January 6 | The first Parliament of Quillín is held. |
| 1641 | | The first large shipment of Fitzroya wood leaves Chiloé Archipelago. |
| 1643 | May 20 | A Dutch expedition led by plunders Carelmapu and Castro soon after. Governor of Chiloé Andrés Herrera dies in battle and is replaced by Fernando de Alvarado. |
| 1643 | August 28 | The Dutch, now led by Elias Herckmans, establish a base at the ruins of Valdivia. |
| 1643 | October 28 | The Dutch retreat from Valdivia to Constantino Island and then to Dutch Brazil. |
| 1644 | April 30 | Captain Juan de Acevedo departs to investigate about the Dutch presence in Valdivia, entering the site of the ruins and finding they have left. |
| 1645 | | Repopulation of Valdivia and construction of the Valdivian Fort System. Valdivia comes under direct rule of the Viceroyalty of Peru. |
| 1647 | May 13 | Santiago is struck by a devastating earthquake. |
| 1651 | January 24 | The Parliament of Boroa is held. |
| 1651 | March 21 | Spanish ship San José with provisions aimed for Valdivia wrecks of the coast south of Valdivia. Its surviving crew is killed by local Cuncos. |
| 1654 | January 11 | A Spanish army led by Juan de Salazar is defeated by local Mapuche-Huilliches as it tries to cross Bueno River in Southern Chile. |
| 1655 | February 14 | Mapuches launch a general insurrection creating turmoil as far north as Maule River, far beyond the ordinary frontier. |
| 1656 | January 20 | New governor Pedro Porter Casanate defeat a Mapuche army at the battle of Conuco. |
| 1660 | | Military leader Alejo is murdered by his two wives. |
| 1664 | | The Viceroalty of Peru estimates 30,000 to 42,000 Spaniards to have died in Chile of which half would have died by the direct consequences of the Arauco War. |
| 1667 | | Governor Francisco de Meneses is destituted after accusations of immorality against him. |
| 1670 | December 31 | The expedition of John Narborough leaves Corral Bay having surveyed the coast and lost four hostages to the Spanish. |
| 1671 | January | The Parliament of Malloco is held. |
| 1672 | | Jesuits established in Chiloé founds the Mission of Nahuel Huapi across the Andes. |
| 1674 | November 30 | Bartolomé Gallardo's expedition reaches the mouth of San Tadeo River after crossing the isthmus of Ofqui. |
| 1675 | November 28 | The Antonio de Vea expedition departs from Chiloé to explore the fjords and channels of Patagonia. |
| 1676 | January 26 | The Antonio de Vea expedition returns to the shipyard of Chiloé. |
| 1676 | February 17 | Sixteen expeditionaries are seen for the last time while attempting to reach Evangelistas Islets. |
| 1680 | December 13 | Bartholomew Sharp destroys and pillages La Serena. |
| 1681 | | By royal decree, the Atacama desert is declared to be the border between the Captain-Generalship of Chile and the Viceroyalty of Peru. |
| 1684 | | Valdivia's original site, downtown of modern Valdivia is repopulated. |
| 1687 | October 20 | Peru is struck by a major earthquake and stem rust plague. These events marks the beginning of an era of Chilean wheat exports to Peru. |

## 18th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1709 | | Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, is rescued from the Robinson Crusoe Island in the Juan Fernández Archipelago. |
| 1712 | 10 February | A Huilliche rebellion occurs in the Chiloé Archipelago. |
| 1717 | | The Jesuit mission at Nahuel Huapi Lake is destroyed. |
| 1722 | 5 April | Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is discovered by Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen. |
| 1723 | | After 30 years of peace, the War of Arauco resumes with a Mapuche uprising. |
| 1726 | | A Mapuche-Spanish peace treaty is signed at a parliament in Negrete. |
| 1737 | December 24 | A violent earthquake and subsequent tsunami strike Valdivia and Chiloé. |
| 1740 | | Valdivia is reincorporated as part of the Captaincy General of Chile. |
| 1741 | | HMS Wager is wrecked off the coast of Western Patagonia. |
| 1742 | | Martín Olleta rescue the survivors of HMS Wager and hands them over to Spanish authorities. |
| 1749 | | A fort and prison is established on Robinson Crusoe Island of Juan Fernández Archipelago. |
| 1751 | 25 May | A violent earthquake and subsequent tsunami completely destroy the city of Concepción. The earthquake causes severe destruction to cities as far away as Talca. |
| 1759 | January 27 | Cuncos and Huilliches defeat a Spanish expedition aiming to build a fort on Bueno River. |
| 1766 | December 25 | The Arauco War resumes with a large Mapuche uprising. |
| 1767 | February | An agreement between Mapuche and Spanish authorities in Chile bring an end to the Mapuche uprising of 1766–1767. |
| 1767 | August 26 | Jesuits all over Chile are arrested as the Spanish Empire suppresses the Society of Jesus. |
| 1768 | August 20 | Ancud is founded. Chiloé becomes part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. |
| 1769 | | Pehuenches attack Spanish settlements in Isla del Laja. |
| 1771 | | The Franciscan order assumes the religious functions of the Jesuits in Chiloé. |
| 1771 | October | Jesuit properties in Chile begin to be auctioned. |
| 1776 | | The territories of Cuyo, previously governed as part of Chile, become part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. (See History of Argentina.) |
| 1778 | | Direct commerce between Chile and Spain is allowed. |
| 1788 | May | Ambrosio O'Higgins, father of future Chilean independence leader Bernardo O'Higgins, is named governor of Chile. |
| 1788 | | Caicumeo, a road across forests and swamps that connects Castro with Ancud is opened. |
| 1784 | | La Moneda Palace begins construction in Santiago. |
| 1789 | | Start of the French Revolution, which affected Europe and the Americas with its ideas. |
| 1792 | | A Huilliche rebellion occurs in the surroundings of Río Bueno. |
| 1793 | | The parliaments of Negrete and Las Canoas between Spanish and native Mapuche and Huilliche are celebrated. The native chiefs accept the Spanish king as their de jure sovereign, but their own independence is also confirmed. |
| 1796 | 13 January | Governor Ambrosio O'Higgins officially begins the repopulation of Osorno atop the city ruins discovered in 1792. The city had previously been destroyed by the indigenous mapuche in 1602. |

## 19th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1805 | | Rafael de Sobremonte, the Viceroy of the Río de la Plata, sends the first smallpox vaccines to Santiago and Lima. Friar es:Pedro Manuel Chaparro administers the vaccine throughout Santiago. |
| 1807 | December | The South American branch, under Manuel Julián Grajales, of the Real expedición filantrópica de la Vacuna (Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition) reaches Santiago. Grajales proceeds to organize the Junta Central de Vacuna (Central Vaccine Board) to reinforce the smallpox immunization efforts of 1805. |
| 1808 | | Francisco Antonio García Carrasco is the unpopular Governor of Chile. The Spanish king Ferdinand VII is imprisoned by Napoleon during his invasion of Spain. |
| 1810 | | Imitating the juntista movement of the rest of Latin America, the criollos (people of Spanish ancestry, but not born in Spain) of Santiago de Chile proclaim a governing Junta. |
| 1811 | April 1 | Tomás de Figueroa leads a failed a mutiny to restore colonial order in Santiago. |
| 1811 | September 4 | José Miguel Carrera leads a successful coup d'état in Chile. |
| 1811 | October 7 | Near Vallenar the silver deposit of Agua Amarga is discovered. |
| 1811 | December 2 | The congress of Chile is dissolved and José Miguel Carrera initiates a dictatorship. |
| 1812 | | Hostilities begin between the moderados, led by Bernardo O'Higgins, and the exaltados, led by Carrera. Carrera institutes the first Chilean national symbols (flag, coat of arms, and national anthem), and Fray Camilo Henríquez begins to publish the Aurora de Chile, the first Chilean newspaper. The Chilean Constitution of 1812 comes into effect. Founding of the Logia Lautaro. |
| 1813 | | The Spanish send military expeditions (under Antonio Pareja and Gabino Gaínza) from the Viceroyalty of Peru. In the ensuing battles O'Higgins rises to be seen as a figure of great stature, overshadowing the continually less popular Carrera, who ultimately resigns. Francisco de la Lastra becomes Supreme Director. |
| 1814 | | The "Disaster of Rancagua". Mariano Osorio, in command of a third Spanish expedition, defeats O'Higgins (October 1 – 2). Osorio reconquers Santiago for Spain. Exodus of Chilean patriots to Mendoza, Argentina, where they receive the support of José de San Martín. Those patriots who remain in Chile are captured by the Spaniards are deported to the Juan Fernández Islands. Osorio is confirmed Governor of Chile by the Viceroy Fernando de Abascal of Peru. The talaveras, under the command of San Bruno, install a regime of terror extending to those merely suspected of sympathy for the Chilean cause. |
| 1815 | | Guerrilla resistance against the Spanish begins, led by Manuel Rodríguez Erdoiza, and other spies such as Justo Estay. Increasing enmity between Osorio and Abascal leads Abascal to replace Osorio with Casimiro Marcó del Pont. |
| 1817 | | Battle of Chacabuco. José de San Martín and O'Higgins defeat Rafael Maroto, reconquering Santiago. Captain San Bruno, hated chief of the talaveras, is captured and — less than 24 hours later — executed by firing squad. O'Higgins becomes dictator. |
| 1818 | | O'Higgins signs the Chilean Declaration of Independence (February 12). Shortly afterwards, in the Battle of Maipú, O'Higgins defeats a new military expedition led by Mariano Osorio, and Chile definitively obtains independence from Spain (April 5). The rivalry between O'Higgins and Manuel Rodríguez ends with the ambush and assassination of the latter in Tiltil. The brothers Juan José and Luis Carrera are shot in Argentina. |
| 1820 | | Valdivia is captured by Lord Cochrane who commands the Chilean navy. The Freedom Expedition of Perú is organised by the government of Chile, and manages to free some parts of Peru from Spanish rule. |
| 1821 | | José Miguel Carrera arrested as a montonero (mounted rebel/bandit) in Argentina, and executed in Mendoza. |
| 1822 | | The Chilean Constitution of 1822 comes into effect. |
| 1823 | | Ramón Freire leads a military expedition from Concepción to Santiago and forces O'Higgins to resign. He goes into exile in Peru, where he dies in 1842. Freire assumes power. |
| 1825 | | Taking advantage of the un-surveyed border, and ignoring the royal decree of 1681 and the principal uti possidetis, Simón Bolívar grants the port of Cobija to Bolivia. This gives Bolivia an outlet to the sea between Chile and Peru, which it will retain until the War of the Pacific. |
| 1826 | | Freire incorporates Chiloé, the last area under Spanish control, into Chile. He later resigns, initiating an interregnum known as The Anarchy. First attempt in Chile of federal (as against centralized) government, led by the first president of Chile Manuel Blanco Encalada, and the federalist José Miguel Infante. |
| 1828 | | Francisco Antonio Pinto assumes power after the resignation of Encalada and his predecessors. Chilean Constitution of 1828. |
| 1829 | | Chilean Civil War of 1829. After several battles, Joaquín Prieto defeats Ramón Freire in the Battle of Lircay. |
| 1830 | | Diego Portales begins to remodel Chilean institutions, converting the country into an authoritarian republic. |
| 1831 | | José Joaquín Prieto becomes president of Chile. He will serve two consecutive five-year terms. With him, the so-called decenios (decade-long reigns) begin, which continue until 1871. This 30-year Conservative Party hegemony is sometimes referred to as the Authoritarian Republic. |
| 1832 | | Discovery of mineral deposits in Chañarcillo, and the beginning of the rise of silver in what was then el Norte Chico and now constitutes the Atacama and Coquimbo regions of Chile. The mining fortunes constitute an important source of power in the following decades. |
| 1833 | | Chilean Constitution of 1833. "Portalian" — that is, inspired by Diego Portales — definitively fixed Chilean institutions. |
| 1834 | | Charles Darwin lands at Valparaíso, during the second voyage of HMS Beagle. He also visits Santiago. |
| 1835 | | Southern Chile is affected by the worst earthquake for several decades on 20 February, an event witnessed by Charles Darwin. Darwin visits Valdivia, Concepción and Mendoza. |
| 1836 | | Diego Portales declares the war on the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation. |
| 1837 | | Diego Portales is assassinated by mutinous soldiers in Quillota. A Chilean military expedition debarks in Perú, beginning the War of the Confederation. |
| 1837 | November 17 | An earthquake strikes Valdivia and Chiloé. The earthquake caused a tsunami that struck Hawaii, what is now French Polynesia and Japan. |
| 1839 | | Battle of Yungay and defeat of the Confederation. |
| 1840 | | The Vatican acknowledges the Independence of Chile |
| 1841 | | Manuel Bulnes, victorious marshal of the Battle of Yungay, elected president of Chile. |
| 1843 | September 17 | The University of Chile is founded. |
| 1843 | September 21 | The crew of Ancud takes formal possession of the Strait of Magellan on behalf of Chile. |
| 1844 | | Spain recognizes the Independence of Chile |
| 1848 | | Founding of Punta Arenas in the Strait of Magellan |
| 1851 | | José María de la Cruz revolts in the southern provinces of Chile. Bulnes crushes the revolutionary attempt and signs the treaty of Purapel with the revolutionaries. Manuel Montt becomes the third of the decenal presidents. |
| 1851 | November 17 | Mutiny of Cambiazo: Mutineers led by José Miguel Cambiazo ravages the nascent settlement of Punta Arenas. |
| 1853 | 12 February | The city of Puerto Montt is founded. |
| 1856 | | The Dispute of Sacristán ("Cuestión del Sacristán"). An apparently trivial question of ecclesiastical discipline divides the Conservative Party into secular and ultra-Catholic factions, which lays the ground for their political defeat in the elections of 1861. |
| 1857 | | The Civil Code of Chile comes into effect; it will become a model for Latin American legal codes down to the present day. |
| 1859 | | Chilean Revolution of 1859. Pedro León Gallo, radical revolutionary of Copiapó, and others are defeated by the government forces. However, as a consequence, Antonio Varas renounces to his candidature. |
| 1861 | | José Joaquín Pérez of the Liberal Party elected president. His party will retain power until the Chilean Revolution of 1891. |
| 1863 | | A French adventurer proclaims himself Orélie Antoine I, King of Araucanía. After a short time he is arrested by the Chileans and deported in the pacification of Araucanía. |
| 1866 | | Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia at war with Spain. The port of Valparaíso is bombed by the Spanish. A treaty of limits (borders) of 1866 is signed with Bolivia. |
| 1871 | | A constitutional reform prohibits re-election, resulting in the end of the decenios. Governments of five years duration persist until 1925, except for the premature death of Pedro Montt in 1910. |
| 1874 | | Another treaty of limits is signed with Bolivia due to political tensions. |
| 1879 | | The War of the Pacific begins with Chilean troops occupying the then-Bolivian port city of Antofagasta. Bolivia's ally Peru attempts to mediate, but Chile refuses to negotiate and Peru enters the war on the side of Bolivia. Chile captures the provinces of Antofagasta from Bolivia and Tarapacá from Peru. |
| 1880 | | The United States attempts to mediate in the Lackawanna Conference, but both sides refuse to negotiate. |
| 1881 | | Chilean troops occupy Lima, the capital of Perú. Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina. |
| 1883 | | The Treaty of Ancón is signed with Perú to end the war, but hostilities with Bolivia continue. Law of Civil Matrimony adopted. This secularization was fiercely resisted by the Roman Catholic Church. The "Pacification of Araucanía" ends, and according to some historians this concludes the long-running War of Arauco. |
| 1884 | | The War of the Pacific ends with the signing of a truce with Bolivia. Chile's territorial gains allow the mining of saltpeter in the conquered regions, leading to great national prosperity for Chile. Treaty called "Pacto de Tregua". |
| 1888 | June 21 | The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile is established. |
| 1888 | September 9 | Policarpo Toro ahead of a naval expedition takes possession of Easter Island. |
| 1888 | November | The pirate Pedro Ñancúpel is executed in Castro. |
| 1890 | | The Malleco Viaduct is opened and railway traffic expands further south during the following decades. |
| 1891 | | 1891 Chilean Civil War. The constitutional president José Manuel Balmaceda is overthrown by troops favorable to the National Congress. The beginning of "Parliamentarism". |
| 1895 | | Easter Island is rented to Compañía Explotadora de Isla de Pascua. |

## 20th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1903 | March 20 | The first auction of sheep farming lands in the Magallanes Territory takes place. |
| 1905 | October 22 | The Meat riot in Santiago begins. The workers revolt against the central government due to an increase in the cost of living, including the price of meat. The government responds sending in the army. Two days of riots follow, during which hundreds of civilians are killed in street fighting. |
| 1907 | | Massacre of the Escuela Santa María de Iquique; soldiers fire on saltpeter workers and their unarmed associates. It will be years before the workers, terrorized by the brutal repression, resume the struggle for their rights. |
| 1910 | | Centenary of Chilean independence. Celebrations are darkened by the death of President Pedro Montt, the only president between 1831 and 1925 did not serve for a full five-year term. |
| 1912 | October 21 | 15 Mapuche-Huilliche are killed by Chilean police in the Forrahue massacre near Osorno. |
| 1914 | 15 August | The Panama Canal opens; with Atlantic–Pacific shipping redirected to the new canal, the formerly crucial port of Valparaíso enters an economic decline. |
| 1914 | 1 November | First World War: A German naval squadron decisively defeats a British squadron at the Battle of Coronel, off the coast of Chile. |
| 1920 | | Arturo Alessandri Palma is elected president, indicating a rise to power by the Chilean middle classes. |
| 1924 | | Chile's first income tax is levied. |
| 1925 | | After intense political agitation the Chilean Constitution of 1925 is adopted, only slightly less authoritarian than that of 1833. The Impuesto Global Complementario, a graduated income tax, is introduced. |
| 1927 | | In a bloodless coup, Carlos Ibáñez del Campo takes the presidency by force during great political instability. He subsequently governs as a dictator until 1931. The corps of Carabineros — paramilitary police — is founded. |
| 1928 | 1 December | A magnitude 7.7 M$_w$ earthquake strikes Talca. |
| 1929 | | The crash of 1929 begins to affect the Chilean economy. The World Economic Survey of the League of Nations estimated that Chile was the worst affected nation by the Great Depression. |
| 1930 | 21 March | Fuerza Aérea de Chile (Chilean Air Force) founded. |
| 1931 | | The deep economic crisis obliges Ibáñez del Campo to step down. A series of civilian governments and military juntas follows, some of which last no more than a few days. |
| 1932 | | The period of political anarchy ends with the return to power of Arturo Alessandri Palma. |
| 1934 | | Women obtain the legal right to vote in municipal elections. |
| 1938 | | Massacre of Seguro Obrero: the Carabineros execute members of the fascist National Socialist Movement of Chile (Nacistas), after the fascists attempted to oust the government in a coup d'état. |
| 1939 | | The Radical Party gains power, which they will retain until 1952. |
| 1940 | | President Pedro Aguirre Cerda registers the first Chilean claims in Antarctica. |
| 1945 | | Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral receives the Nobel Prize for Literature. |
| 1946 | | Gabriel González Videla becomes president, backed by a broad alliance of parties, including the Radicals and Communists. Once in power, he accedes to pressure from the United States and promulgates the Law of Permanent Defense of the Democracy, also known as the Ley Maldita ("accursed law"). The law outlawed his former allies the Communists, some of whom were placed in concentration camps in Pisagua. Poet Pablo Neruda is hounded into exile. |
| 1949 | | Women obtain the legal right to vote in both presidential and parliamentary elections. |
| 1949 | 6 August | First publication of Condorito comic in :es:Okey magazine. |
| 1952 | | Carlos Ibáñez del Campo returns to the presidency, this time via the ballot box, ending the era of the Radical Party. |
| 1958 | | Argentine forces destroy a Chilean lighthouse during the Snipe incident. |
| 1960 | February | First instance of the yearly Viña del Mar International Song Festival is organized. |
| 1960 | 22 May | The magnitude 9.5 M$_w$ Great Chilean earthquake, the most intense earthquake ever recorded, hits offshore near Valdivia. The earthquake generated a tsunami which spread across the Pacific Ocean, affecting Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, and New Zealand, among many. |
| 1962 | 30 May - 17 June | Chile hosts the FIFA World Cup football competition. The Chile national football team comes in 3rd; its highest ever placement in the competition. |
| 1964 | | Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Montalva becomes president, proclaiming the so-called "Revolution in Liberty". His election campaign was largely (and secretly) funded by the CIA, an intelligence agency of the United States. |
| 1970 | 4 September | Salvador Allende is elected president; the first democratic election of a Marxist politician. The election campaign was highly polarised and subject to covert interference by foreign intelligence agencies (the CIA and KGB). Allende's socialist and Marxist orientation greatly displeased the government of the United States which directed resources to "prevent Allende from coming to power or to unseat him". |
| 1970 | 25 October | Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army René Schneider is assassinated in Santiago in an alleged kidnapping attempt. The group responsible received material support prior to and after the crime from the CIA. |
| 1971 | | Poet Pablo Neruda receives Nobel Prize for Literature. |
| 1973 | | The armed forces, carabineros, and others stage a violent coup by overthrowing Allende, who dies in the course of the coup. Some historians believe that the coup was supported or encouraged by the CIA. In the aftermath, Augusto Pinochet establishes himself as the head of a military junta. The subsequent repression of leftists and other opponents of the military regime results in approximately 130,000 arrests and at least 2,000 dead or "disappeared" over the next 17 years. |
| 1977 | | Beagle conflict: The binding Beagle Channel Arbitration awards the Picton, Nueva and Lennox islands to Chile. |
| 1978 | | Beagle conflict: Argentina refuses to abide by the judgement and invades Chile in Operation Soberania. Argentine forces withdraw before any combat occurs. |
| 1980 | | The military government promulgates the Chilean Constitution of 1980, which is adopted by plebiscite. Economic policy begins to be significantly influenced by the ideas of the Chicago School and of Neoliberalism. The United States oblige President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos to cancel a scheduled visit by President Pinochet to the Philippines. |
| 1982 | | Chile provides non-combat support for British armed forces during the Falkland War. |
| 1984 | | Beagle conflict: Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina is signed. |
| 1988 | | Pinochet loses a plebiscite mandated by the constitution, which triggers elections the following year. |
| 1990 | | Patricio Aylwin takes office as president after democratic elections. The Chilean transition to democracy begins. |
| 1991 | June 18 | More than 90 people die in Antofagasta and Taltal as result of mudflows generated by unusual rainfall in the Atacama Desert. |
| 1991 | June 21 | The volcano Mount Hudson erupts, in one of the world's largest volcanic eruptions of the twentieth century. |
| 1994 | | Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle is elected president. |
| 1998 | | During a visit to London for medical reasons, Augusto Pinochet is arrested in accord with the orders of Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, beginning an international struggle between his supporters and detractors. He returns to Chile the following year, and the charges against him are later thrown out on the basis of his mental state. Chile suffers greatly from a world economic crisis, resulting in years of inflation and unemployment. |
| 2000 | | In the second round of voting, in a tight contest with right wing candidate Joaquín Lavín, Ricardo Lagos Escobar is elected president. |

## 21st century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 2001 | | Chile Promotes the death penalty for ordinary crimes. |
| 2001 | 30 November | Eduardo Miño commits suicide by self-immolation in protest to government neglect of Pizarreño's asbestos victims. |
| 2002 | | Christianity was introduced to thousands of locals. |
| 2004 | | The Supreme Court of Chile declares that Augusto Pinochet is mentally competent to stand trial. |
| 2005 | | The Pinochet trial continues. The presidential election of December 11 puts Michelle Bachelet and Sebastián Piñera into a second round. |
| | March 17 | Death of Gavin King (Famous Explorer) |
| 2006 | December 10 | Augusto Pinochet dies. |
| 2007 | April 5 | Chile Helps Fund a Christian school in Austin, TX |
| 2010 | 27 February | 2010 Chile earthquake. |
| 2010 | 11 March | Sebastián Piñera assumed office as President of Chile. |
| 2010 | 5 August – 13 October | Copiapó mining accident. |
| 2011 | | 2011 student protests, and later massive protest claiming for better education and economic equality. |
| 2014 | | Michelle Bachelet assumed office as President of Chile as the first woman to be reelected. |
| 2017 | July 16 | Snowfall in the capital Santiago. |