Honduras

Honduras

By ElenaLapp
  • Jul 30, 1502

    First Discovered

    First Discovered
    On July 30, 1502, Christopher Columbus first saw Honduras ground and claimed the territory in the name of his sovereigns, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. He named the land "Honduras" (meaning "depths") for the deep water off the coast.
  • Period: 1524 to 1539

    Spanish Conquest

    Gil González Dávila was the first Spaniard to enter Honduras as a conquistador in 1524 who was then followed by Hernán Cortés who brought forces down from Mexico. After the Spanish conquest hit, Honduras became a part of Spain's extensive empire in the New World.
  • Period: 1524 to

    Spanish Honduras

    Honduras was organized into a province of the Kingdom of Guatemala with the final capital being Tegucigalpa. Spain used Honduras mainly for Silver mining. At first, the mines were run by locals but then slaves came around and started doing the mining for them. After about 1650, there were very few slaves entering Honduras. The Spanish actually struggled to get the Atlantic side of Honduras. The Miskito Kingdom found semi-allies to place much of the area under its protection in 1740.

  • Independence from Spain

    Independence from Spain
    Honduras gained their independence from Spain in 1821 and was a part of the first Mexican empire in 1823. They became independent from Mexico in 1823 as well. It has been a republic and running elections since 1838.

  • First Honduran Head of State

    First Honduran Head of State
    Dionisio de Herrera was the first Honduran Head of State. He was a part of the Liberal party. Herrera took office on 16 September 1824 and left office on 10 May 1827.

  • First Honduran President

    First Honduran President
    Juan Francisco de Molina was the first Honduran President. Molina was part of the Liberal party. He took office on 11 January 1839 and left office on 13 April 1839 to make his time in office a total of 92 days.

  • Current Capital

    Current Capital
    Tegucigalpa became Honduras capital on October 30, 1880. The city became the capital once President Marco Aurelio Soto moved it from Comayagua.

  • Honduras as a Banana Republic

    Honduras as a Banana Republic
    O. Henry coined the term"banana republic" as a way to describe Honduras when writing a fictional book inspired by his experiences during the six months he spent in the country. Meant as a way to describe the tropics, it took on the meaning of being based off of the country's economy. It references the fruit companies from the United States that came to apply extraordinary influence over the politics of Honduras and its neighbors because of the weaker government systems.

  • The Football War

    The Football War
    Honduras and El Salvador fought what is know to be called the Football War. Tensions arose when the Honduran president began to blame immigrants on Honduras failing economy. The relationship between the 2 countries hit a low when the football teams played a three round elimination match. On July 14, 1969, the Salvadorean army marched into Honduras. The war lasted a total of 1 week.

  • Hurricane Mitch

    Hurricane Mitch
    In 1998, Hurricane Mitch hit and caused 50 years worth of the countries progress to be reversed. Mitch destroyed around 70% of the countries crops and 70-80% of transportation infrastructure to be destroyed. 33,000 home were lost with an additional 50,000 damaged. Some 5,000 people were killed and 12,000 were injured. The total loss cost around US$3 billion.