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He discovered the Congo Rier when his crew was in desperate need of drinking water. Cão noticed muddy brown water rushing into the bay.
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Diogo Cão mysteriously disappeared when a giant waterfall impeded his ship's course along the river
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Léopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor was born on April 9th in Brussels, Belgium. He's the eldest son of Leopold I, first of the Belgians
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Leopold marries the daughter of Archduke Joseph of Austria, Marie Henrietta.
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Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski was born to Apollo and Ewa Korzeniowski in Berdyczow, located in an Ukranian province of Polan
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Conrad's parents are exiled by Russian authorities to Vologda, Siberia due to Conrad's father's political activities
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Nine year old Conrad said he was going to visit the "dark continent" of the Congo. That dream eventually became reality
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Conra'ds mother and father dies of tuberculosis and Conrad goes to live with his maternal uncle
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Conrad left Poland for Marseilles to become a seaman with the French Merchant Marine
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Conrad made his first contact with the British Merchant Service, having lost his French mariner's ticket. On July 11th, he joined his first British ship, the Skimmer of the Sea
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Leopold commissioned Henry Stanley's next expedition, ordering Stanley to set up 22 small towns along the Congo River
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14 European nations (Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey) meet at the Conference of Berlin, called to carve up central Africa among them
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The Conference of Berlin concludes February. France is given the north bank of Congo
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From 1886-1914, European participated in what was called "the Scramble of Africa," which these countries colonized all of Africa, with the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia
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Conrad was presented with the opportunity to go to the Congo
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Conrad began his famous "diary" in Matadi. He kept this diary until his arrival in Kinchassa on August 1st. His diary provided descriptions of landscape, people, and places.
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1898-1899 Heart of Darkness was written. This novel was based on his experiences in the Congo
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Leopold remarries, this time with a lady named Blanche Delacroix. He dies on December 17th, five days after getting married. He signs a law before his death instituting compulsory military service
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Conrad declined an offer of knighthood after being presented with honorary degrees from five universities
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Conrad dies of a heart attack. He was buried in Canterbury, Englad.
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The enslaved Congo nation declared independence from Belgium
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General Joseph Mobutu established himself as president of the Congo and became a dictator a year later, renaming the nation as "the Democratic Republic of the Congo."
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The Congo was renamed as the Republic of Zaire under the dictatorship of General Joseph Mobutu
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A rebel, General Laurent Kabila overthew Mobutu and re-established the country as the Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Laurent Kabila was assassinated. His son, Joseph Kabila, succeeds his father at 29 years old.
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Kabila ended the war that had started when his father fought with their neighbors Rwanda and Uganda
