The town of Punakha is founded in modern-day Bhutan
Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu.
Modernity (1500 - 1945 C.E.)
Paulo Dias de Novais founds Luanda in modern-day Angola
Luanda is now the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola’s primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban center.
The Union of Lublin formally establishes the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dual state, a bi-confederation of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th- to 17th-century Europe.
Diego de Losada founds Caracas
On 25 July 1567, Captain Diego de Losada laid the foundations of the city of Santiago de León de Caracas. Caracas is now the capital and largest city of Venezuela.
The Spanish Golden Age begins
The Spanish Golden Age is a period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain, coinciding with the rise of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty and the Spanish Empire.
Indigenous peoples of modern-day Brazil form the Tamoyo Confederation
The main reason for this rather unusual alliance between separate tribes was to react against slavery and wholesale murder and destruction wrought by the early Portuguese discoverers and colonisers of Brazil onto the Tupinambá people.
King Gustav I of Sweden founds Helsinki
Helsinki was established as a trading town by King Gustav I of Sweden in 1550 as the town of Helsingfors, which he intended to be a rival to the Hanseatic city of Reval (today known as Tallinn). It is now the capital and most populous city of Finland.
Four kingdoms emerge throughout modern-day Zambia
The period between the 16th and the 19th centuries saw the emergence of organized Iron Age kingdoms in Zambia. Four kingdoms were established in this period – the Kazembe-Lunda, the Bemba, the Chewa, and the Lozi.
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca becomes first European to travel to Iguazú Falls
The first European to discover the Falls was the Spanish Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541, after whom one of the falls on the Argentine side is named.
Universidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino, the first university in the New World, is founded
Founded during the reign of Charles I of Spain, it was originally a seminary operated by Catholic monks of the Dominican Order. Later, the institution received a university charter by Pope Paul III’s papal bull.