Until the arrival of the Spaniards, pre-Columbian Argentina was inhabited by sedentary indigenous groups.

1492: America was discovered by Christopher Columbus.

1580: Buenos Aires was founded.

1816: the national assembly declared its independence in Tucumán and instituted a Republic.

1853: adoption of a liberal and federal Constitution after the fall of the tyrannical ruling of Juan Manuel de Rosas.

1862: inception as unitary country.

1865-1870: Triple Alliance War against Paraguay.

1874-1879: wars against indigenous groups in the Pampas and the Patagonia.

1880: Buenos Aires was officially recognized as the country’s capital.

1880-1930: flood of European immigrants and foreign capital inflows.

1943: Juan D. Perón was appointed Minister of Labor during the military coup d' état.

1946-1955: once elected President, Perón instituted a populist government with the support of his charismatic wife, Eva.

1952: Eva Perón died.

1955: Perón’s party was squashed by a military coup. Argentina precipitated into a persisting political crisis.

1973: Perón returned to rule but died soon while in office. Power was bequeathed to his third wife, Isabel.

1976: the military government of General Videla instituted a reign of terror and deathly repression.

1982: Argentina’s defeat during the battle for the Malvinas/Falklands finally sealed the fate of military rule.

1983: Raúl Alfonsín, affiliated to the UCR (a reform-minded centrist party), gained the presidency of the Republic.

1989: the Peronist Carlos Menem was elected President, selling off nationalized industries and opening the economy to foreign investment. This tamed galloping inflation.
“Presidential pardon” was granted to the military officers involved in the 70’s military rule.

1995: re-election of Carlos Menem.

1999: Fernando de la Rúa, former mayor of the city of Buenos Aires and member of the UCR, took presidential office under a new UCR center-left Alliance. The country went into a major recession.

2000: political turmoil after corruption events.

2001: severely indebted, Argentina was brought close to financial meltdown. The Peronist party recovered control and became a solid opposition force during the parliamentary elections of October. The Argentine peso was floated falling in value by more than a half, thus aggravating the crisis.

2002: on January 2, 2002, Peronist Senator Eduardo Duhalde was appointed President of Argentina by parliamentary members. Argentina was enmeshed by economic recession for the fourth consecutive year.

2003: Néstor Kirchner was elected President.

2007: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner elected President.

2012: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner reelected President.