1550 Foundation of Concepción, city in Chile.
1553 Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeats the Spanish conquistadors and executes the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia.
1574 Discovery of the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile.
1810 First Government Junta in Chile. Though supposed to rule only in the absence of the king, it is in fact the first step towards independence from Spain, and is commemorated as such.
1811 José Miguel Carrera, Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the executive Junta of the government of Chile.
1813 Instituto Nacional, is founded by the Chilean patriot José Miguel Carrera. It is Chile's oldest and most prestigious school. Its motto is ''Labor Omnia Vincit'', which means "Work conquers all things".
1814 Battle of Rancagua: Spanish Royalists troops under Mariano Osorio defeated rebel Chilean forces of Bernardo O'Higgins and Jose Miguel Carrera.
1817 An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General José de San Martín, crosses the Andes from Argentina to liberate Chile and then Peru.
1817 The Argentinian San Martín crosses the Andes with an army in order to liberate Chile from Spanish rule.
1817 Las Heras crosses the Andes with an army to join San Martín and liberate Chile from Spain.
1817 An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops on the Battle of Chacabuco.
1818 In the Battle of Maipú, Chile's independence movement – led by Bernardo O'Higgins and osé de San Martín
1823 Slavery is abolished in Chile.
1839 In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats an alliance between Peru and Bolivia.
1865 Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.
1879 The War of the Pacific breaks out when Chilean armed forces occupy the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.
1879 War of the Pacific is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru. Chile takes over Arica and Tarapacá, leaving Bolivia as a landlocked country.
1879 Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific.
1879 War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships blocking the harbor of Iquique (then belonging to Peru) battle two Peruvian vessels in the Battle of Iquique.
1883 Peru and Chile signed the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.
1914 World War I: the first British Royal Navy defeat of the war with Germany, the Battle of Coronel, is fought off of the western coast of Chile, in the Pacific, with the loss of HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth.
1915 World War I: Cornered off the coast of Chile by the Royal Navy after fleeing the Battle of the Falkland Islands, the German light cruiser SMS ''Dresden'' is abandoned and scuttled by her crew.
1927 Carabineros de Chile (Chilean national police force and gendarmery) are created.
1938 Chile: A group of youths affiliated with the fascist National Socialist Movement of Chile are assassinated in the Seguro Obrero massacre.
1955 Chile becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1960 An earthquake measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, now known as the Great Chilean Earthquake, hits southern Chile. It is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
1971 Copper mines in Chile are nationalized.
1972 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes mountains, near the border between Argentina and Chile. By December 23, 1972, only 16 out of 45 people lived long enough to be rescued.
1973 A coup in Chile headed by General Augusto Pinochet topples the democratically elected president Salvador Allende. Pinochet remains in power for almost 17 years.
1973 The ITT Building in New York City is bombed in protest at ITT's alleged involvement in the September 11 1973 coup d'état in Chile.
1986 Gen. Augusto Pinochet, president of Chile, escapes attempted assassination.
1988 The Chilean opposition coalition ''Concertación'' (center-left) defeats Augusto Pinochet in his re-election attempt and a general election is called the following year.
1990 Patricio Aylwin is sworn-in as the first democratically elected Chilean president since 1970.
1998 Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet is arrested in London on a warrant from Spain requesting his extradition on murder charges.
2004 Former Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet is put under house arrest, after being sued under accusations over 9 kidnapping actions and manslaughter. The house arrest is lifted the same day on appeal.
2008 Chaiten Volcano erupts in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people.
2010 The first miners from the 2010 Copiapó mining accident in Chile arrive at the surface after surviving a record 69 days underground awaiting rescue.The following day all 33 miners and rescuers where out of the mine.