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Timeline of Amazon history

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View of Manú National Park in the Amazon Rainforest

This is a timeline of Amazon history, which dates back at least 11,000 years ago, when humans left indications of their presence in Caverna da Pedra Pintada.[1][2]

Here is a brief timeline of historical events in the Amazon River valley.

Pre-Columbian Era

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  • Circa 6th to 15th century — The Casarabe culture flourishes in what is now Bolivia.[3]

11th century to 19th century

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20th century

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  • 1907: Madeira-Mamoré Railroad is built by Americans under Percival Farquar. Colonel Church's attempts in 1870–1881 are best called disasters made heroic by tragedy.
  • 1908–1911: Henry Ford, then the richest person in the world, invests in Amazon rubber plantations on the Tapajós River.
  • 1908–1911: Arana's rubber company on the Putamayo River is denounced for atrocities against Indians. English parliamentary inquiry in 1910. (Arana dies in 1952 in Lima after serving as Peruvian senator.)
  • 1912: After other countries steal seedlings from Brazil, rubber from Malaysia exceeds that coming out of the Amazon.
  • 1913: Former US president Theodore Roosevelt and Brazilian Field Marshal Cândido Rondon on Amazon expedition down the River of Doubt (now the Roosevelt River) (Roosevelt, 1919).
  • 1914: Rubber boom bursts with the emergence of cheaper sources of rubber.
  • 1922: Salomón-Lozano Treaty awards Leticia to Colombia, as an outlet to the Amazon River. In 1933, Peru seizes Leticia but backs down under international pressure, and in 1935 Leticia is reoccupied by Colombia.
  • 1925: Colonel Percy Fawcett vanishes near the headwaters of the Xingu River. His eyeglasses are later found among the Kayapó Indians of the Xingu River valley.
  • 1942: Brazil enters World War II. Demand is high for Amazon rubber. Brazil launches the ill-fated "Rubber Soldiers" program.[1]
  • 1947: Cerro Bolívar, iron ore deposit south of Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela, is found and estimated at half a billion tons of high-grade ore. Puerto Ordaz is selected in 1953 as site for steel mill and huge hydroelectric plant.
  • 1960: Brasilia, as new capital of Brazil, is founded.
  • 1962: Belém-Brasília Highway opens as first major all-year Amazon highway, linking Amazon River port city of Belém with the rest of Brazil.
  • 1967: Iron ore deposit at Serra dos Carajás is discovered in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. High quality ore (66% iron) is estimated at 18 billion tons.
  • 1967–1983: American businessman Daniel K. Ludwig invests heavily in Jari wood pulp and lumber plantation. His losses would amount to over 500 million dollars.
  • 1974: Manaus-Porto Velho highway opens.
  • 1980: Gold deposit at Serra Pelada is discovered. By 1986, an estimated 42 tons of gold are extracted from giant pit mine. Amazon gold rush is in full swing. In 1987 striking gold miners would be machine-gunned when they seize the railroad bridge at Marabá.
  • 1982: First person to navigate the origin on the Amazon Kayaker Caril Ridley, sponsored by the Cousteau Foundation, Cousteau Amazon Expedition, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevado_Mismi.
  • 1984: Tucuruí hydroelectric dam is inaugurated, guaranteeing energy to the country.
  • 1996: Renewed military presence seen in the Amazon region of Brazil, as a result of radar project and militarization of the borders against drug traffic. Secret project SIVAM is revealed.

21st century

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  • 2005: Worst drought in 50 years hits the western Amazon Basin.
  • 2010: Drought hits Amazon Rainforest.
  • 2013: Using data accumulated over 10 years, researchers estimate there are 390 billion trees in the Amazon rainforest, divided into 16,000 different species.[5]

Notes

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  1. ^ Wilford, John Noble. Scientist at Work: Anna C. Roosevelt; Sharp and To the Point In Amazonia. New York Times. April 23, 1996
  2. ^ Roosevelt et al., 1996
  3. ^ Prümers, Heiko; Betancourt, Carla Jaimes; Iriarte, José; Robinson, Mark; Schaich, Martin (2022). "Lidar reveals pre-Hispanic low-density urbanism in the Bolivian Amazon". Nature. 606 (7913): 325–328. Bibcode:2022Natur.606..325P. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04780-4. PMC 9177426. PMID 35614221. S2CID 249065661.
  4. ^ Oyuela-Bonzani, Isabel. "Exploitive By Design: Warning Signs From the Northwest Amazon". Harvard.Edu. Harvard Graduate School of Design. p. 32. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  5. ^ "Field Museum scientists estimate 16,000 tree species in the Amazon". Field Museum. October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
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