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Historical Calendar
1501.-The Isthmus of Panama was discovered by Rodrigo
de Bastidas.
1502-03.-Christopher Columbus made a voyage of
exploration along the Atlantic coast of the Isthmus. He
discovered and named the harbor of Porto Bello and visited
the harbor of Nombre de Dios.
1510.-The first European settlement was made at
Santa Maria de la Antigua. The first cathedral ever built
on the mainland of the Americas was located there.
1513.-In September Vasco Nunez de Balboa. made a
tortuous journey across the present province of Darien and
discovered the Pacific Ocean. He claimed it and all the
lands touched by its waters in the name of the King and
Queen of Spain.
1519.-Balboa was beheaded in January at Acla, a town
which he had founded.
The town of Nombre de Dios was founded.
A detachment of Spanish soldiers was sent by Pedro
Arias de Avila from the Island of Taboga. They met an
expeditionary force being conducted overland by Dr.
Gaspar de Espinosa at a small Indian fishing village. and
there on August IS, 1519 the city of Panama was first
settled by Europeans.
1520.-Gil Gonzales Davila built a 40-foot road across
the Isthmus on t'he route taken by Balboa across Darien.
At the head of San Miguel Bay he built and launched two
ships which he used in his conquest of Central America.
1521.-The settlement at Panama was made a city by
royal decree of King Charles V of Spain on September 15.
1530.-Las Cruces trail was constructed across the Isthmus
from Fort San Lorenzo at the mouth of the Chagres
River to the old city of Panama.
Francisco pizarro sailed from Panama on December 28
on his third and successful expedition to Peru. The flotilla,
composed of three vessels, was outfitted in Panama
1534.-Charles V issued a decree in February directing
that a survey be made for a ship canal between the Chagres
River and the Pacific Ocean.
1540.-The Camino Real (Royal Road) was built from
Old Panama to Porto Bello and Nombre de Dios. It was
used for nearly 100 years as a military and treasure road.
1572.-Sir Francis Drake, England's great naval hero,
captured Nombre de Dios.
1596.-Sir Francis Drake returned to attack the rich
Spanish settlements of Porto Bello and Nombre de Dios
but died before a successful attack was made. His followers
buried him in a lead coffin a few miles off the coast of Porto
Bello.
1668.-Porto Bello was captured and sacked by Henry
Morgan and his pirates. He sent word to the Governor
of Panama that he would return and take Panama City,
the famous "Cup of Gold."
1671.-Sir Henry Morgan gathered a large force of the
most·ferocious buccaneers of the Spanish Main and landed
at Fort San Lorenzo. After a part of his force captured
that well-fortified post, the remainder landed and crossed
the Isthmus. After a brief but furious battle the famous
old city of Panama was captured on January 28, 1671. rt
was destroyed and never rebuilt.
1672.-0n October 21 the King of Spain issued a decree
establishing the present city of Panama.
1673.-0n January 21 the present city of Panama was
formally dedicated.
1698.-William Patterson, founder of the Bank of England,
made his ill-fated Scotch settlement at Acla in Darien.
Most of the colony died of tropical diseases and the remaining
force was defeated by the Spanish and the town
destroyed in 1700.
1742.-Admiral Edward Vernon, for whom George
Washington named Mount Vernon, attacked and destroyed
Fort San Lorenzo. He was accompanied on the expedition
by Lawrence Washington, brother of the first president.
1783.-Simon Bolivar, great South American liberator,
was born on July 24 at Caracas, Venezuela.
1850.-Construction of the Panama Railroad was
begun in May.
1852.-0n February 27 the city' of Colon was officially
founded.
'
1855.-0n January 28 the first transcontinental train
in the New World ran from Aspinwall (now Colon) to
Panama. The 50-mile journey required about five hours
time..
1876.-0n May 28 a concession to construct a Panama
Canal was granted by Colombia to Anthony de Gogorza,
an American citizen, and General Etienne TUrr. of France.
Actual work on the construction of a canal was later begun
as a result of this concession as later revised.
1878.-Colombia granted a revised concession to Lt.
Lucien N. B. Wyse for the construction of the Panama
Canal. Lieutenant Wyse, a nephew of General TUrr, was
acting as representative of the provisional company organized
in France to build a canal under the Gogorza
concession.
1879.-May 15: The International Scientific Congress
met in Paris at the instigation of Count Ferdinand
De Lesseps to decide, on a route for an interoceanic waterway.
After two weeks of discussion it was voted to build a
sea-level canal through the Isthmus of Panama.
December 30: De Lesseps arrived in Colon to inaugurate
Canal construction work.
1880.-January 10: Construction of the Panama Canal
was formally inaugurated in the neighborhood of Culebra
(now Gaillard) Cut by Count De Lesseps.
1881.-March 3: The Compagnie Universelle du Canal
Interoceanique (French Canal Company) was formally
constituted with a capital of 300,000,000 francs ($60,000,­
000).
January 29: The first detachment of French workers
under the direction of Armand Reclus arrived in Colon.
September 17: Ancon Hospital (now Gorgas Hospital)
comprising 12 buildings was formally dedicated.
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