Jared Farney's Panama Timeline

By jaredfarney
  • Mar 28, 1502

    1502

    1502
    Spanish explorer Rodrigo de Bastidas explores Panama for the first time.

  • 1821

    1821
    Panama gains independence from Spain.

  • 1846

    1846
    Panama signs treaty with US allowing it to build a railway across the isthmus. (Panama City Railroad)

  • 1903

    1903
    Panama splits from Colombia and becomes fully independent. US buys rights to build Panama Canal.

  • 1914

    1914
    Panama Canal Completed.

  • 1968

    1968
    General Omar Torrijos Herrera, the National Guard chief, overthrows the elected president and imposes a dictatorship.

  • 1983

    1983
    Former intelligence chief and one-time US Central Intelligence Agency informant Manuel Noriega becomes head of the National Guard, builds up the size of the force, which he renames the Panama Defence Forces, and greatly increases its power over Panama's political and economic life.

  • 1999

    1999
    Mireya Moscoso becomes Panama's first woman president.

  • 1981

    1981
    Torrijos dies in plane crash.

  • 1992

    1992
    Manuel Noriega was convicted to 40 years in prison.