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. 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 Mw 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. 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. 22 May The magnitude 9.5 Mw 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". 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 wins the election and takes office as president . Transition to democracy begins. 1991  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.
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. 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 Mw 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. 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. 22 May The magnitude 9.5 Mw 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". 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. 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.
D
wins the election and
R
. Transition
after democratic elections. The Chilean transition
A
June 18 More than 90 people die in Antofagasta and Taltal as result of mudflows generated by unusual rainfall in the Atacama Desert. June 21