711 A.D. -- The Muslim general Tariq inb Ziyad of Morocco enters Gibraltar, defeats King Roderick and begins the conquest of Spain

1469 -- Isabella I, who would be crowned queen of Castile and Leon, marries husband Ferdinand II, heir to the throne of Aragon. They were known as the “Catholic Kings,” and their marriage united the two most important kingdoms into one Spain

1492 -- Christopher Columbus discovers the West Indies

1588 -- Phillip II’s attempt to invade England with his Spanish Armada ends in defeat by the English

1701-1713 -- The War of the Spanish Succession -- the last, longest, and bloodiest of the wars of French King Louis XIV -- was fought over the vast Spanish Empire, which upon the death of Charles II in 1700 had been left without an uncontested heir. The conflict was resolved with the signing of the Peace of Utrecht (1713-14) that awarded Spain and its colonies to the king of Spain, Philip V.

1898 -- The Spanish-American War in which Spain loses its last remaining colonies: Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines

1936 -- General Francisco Franco leads a military uprising in Spanish Morocco against the government. Franco fights on the Nationalist side with conservatives and extreme rightists against the republicans, Socialists, Communists and the Confederation Nacional del Trabajo and the Marxist Partido Oberero de Unificacion Marxita. The war ends in 1939 with Franco emerging as caudillo, or leader, of the nation

1955 -- Spain becomes a member of the United Nations

1975 -- Francisco Franco dies; Juan Carlos I is sworn in an king and presides over the dissolution of the Franco government

1982 -- The Socialist Party captures national elections in 1982 and Spain joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

1996 -- Spain makes the shift to a conservative government with the election of Jose Maria Aznar Lopez as president

Sources: Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, The World Almanac, and Encyclopedia Americana