| YEAR | EVENT |
|---|
| 1474 | An Indian named Quauhtlatoatzin was born in Cuautitlan. |
| 1476 | Juan de Zumarraga was born in Spain. |
| 1492 | Christopher Columbus landed on an island in the Americas and named it San Salvador. |
| 1514 | The first Marian Shrine in the New World was established in the city of Higuey, first to be built on American soil. |
| 1519 | Hernan Cortez landed in Mexico. |
| 1521 | The capital city of the Aztecs falls under Cortez. |
| 1524 | The first 12 Franciscans arrive in Mexico City. |
| 1525 | The Indian Quauhtlatoatzin is baptized by a Franciscan priest. He received the Christian name of Juan Diego. |
| 1528 | Friar Juan de Zumarraga arrives in the New World. |
| 1529 | Juan Diego’s wife, Maria, became sick and died. |
| 1531 | Year of the apparitions to Juan Diego |
| 1533 | The first sanctuary was erected. |
| 1541 | Franciscan priest and early historian of New Spain “Motolinia” writes that some nine million Aztecs had become Christians. |
| 1548 | Death of Juan Diego. |
| 1555 | In the Provincial Counsel, the second archbishop of Mexico, Alonso de Montúfar, formulated canons that indirectly approved the apparitions. |
| 1556 | Archbishop Montúfar began the erection of the second church. |
| 1560 | A document known as the Valeriano Relation is written by an Indian named Antonio Valeriano. Also known as the Nican Mopohua. (Between 1540 and 1580). |
| 1564 | An image was carried on the first formal expedition to the Philippine Islands. |
| 1567 | The new church ordered by Archbishop Montufar is completed. |
| 1570 | Archbishop Montufar sent to King Philip II of Spain an oil painted copy of the image of Guadalupe. |
| 1571 | Admiral Doria carried a copy of the image aboard ship during the battle of Lepanto and imputed to the Virgin of Guadalupe the victory over the Ottoman Empire forces. |
| 1573 | The “Primitive Relation” was written by the historian Juan de Tovar, who transcribed the story from a still earlier source, probably Juan Gonzalez, Bishop’s Zumarraga’s translator. (Discovered in the Mexican national Library Archives) |
| 1647 | The image is covered with glass for the first time. |
| 1648 | The priest Miguel Sanchez published in Mexico City, in Spanish, a work entitled “Image of the Virgin Mary, Guadalupan Mother of God”. |
| 1649 | Luis Lasso de la Vega published the “Huey Tlanahuicoltica”, telling the story in Nahuatl. It refers to earlier Nahuatl sources. |
| 1666 | A formal inquiry and investigation was conducted by the Church from February 18 to march 22 in order to give authority to the tradition. |
| 1695 | The first stone of the new sanctuary was laid. The sanctuary was solemnly dedicated in 1709. |
| 1723 | Another formal investigation ordered by Archbishop Lanziego y Eguilaz. |
| 1737 | The Most Holy Mary of Guadalupe was chosen as the patroness of the city of Mexico. |
| 1746 | The patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe was accepted for all of New Spain, which then embraced the regions from northern California to El Salvador. |
| 1746 | The knight Boturini Benaducci promoted the solemn and official coronation of the image. |
| 1754 | Benedict XIV approved the patronage of New Spain and granted a Mass and Office proper to the celebration of the feast on December 12. |
| 1756 | Famous painter Miguel Cabrera publishes his extensive study of the Image in the book “American Marvel”. |
| 1757 | The Virgin of Guadalupe was declared patroness of the citizens of Ciudad Ponce in Puerto Rico. |
| 1767 | The religious of the Society of Jesus are expelled from the Spanish dominions, and the image is carried to various parts of the world. |
| 1895 | Took place the coronation of the image, with pontifical authority and the attendance of a great part of the episcopate of the Americas. |
| 1908 | Pope Saint Pius X prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe, where he entrusts Our Lady of Guadalupe with the protection of the Sovereign Pontiff and asks her intercession for the holy Church and the keeping of our faith,is enriched with an indulgence of five hundred days on his audience held on August 18. |
| 1908 | Pope Saint Pius X granted indulgences which may be gained in any part of the world for prayer before a copy of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. |
| 1910 | Pope Saint Pius X declared the Virgin of Guadalupe Patroness of Latin America. |
| 1911 | A church was built on the site of Juan Bernardino’s home. |
| 1921 | A bomb placed beneath the image exploded, causing great damage, but nothing happened to the tilma. |
| 1924 | A very important 16th century source documenting the miracle is found in Peru by anthropologist M. Saville. It is a pictorial calendar known as the Codex Saville and shows the image of our Lady located in the position representing the year 1531. |
| 1928 | A coronation of the image was made in Santa Fe, Argentina. |
| 1929 | First documented note of an apparent reflected image of a man’s head in the right eye of the Virgin, by photographer Alfonso Marcue. |
| 1935 | Pious XI extended the patronage of the Virgin of Guadalupe to the Philippines. |
| 1945 | Pious XII stated that the Virgin of Guadalupe was the “Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas” and that she had been painted “by brushes that were not of this world”. |
| 1946 | Pope Pius XII declared her to be the Patroness of the Americas. |
| 1951 | Examination of the image by Carlos Salinas. Apparent reflection of a man’s head in the right eye of the Virgin observed. |
| 1956 | Dr. Torroela-Bueno, an ophthalmologist, examined the eyes of the Virgin on the tilma. |
| 1958 | Dr. Rafael Torija-Lavoignet published his study of the Purkinje-Sanson effect as exhibited in the Guadalupan image. |
| 1961 | Pope John XXIII prayed to her as Mother of the Americas. He addressed her as Mother and Teacher of the Faith to the peoples of the Americas. |
| 1962 | Dr. Charles Wahlig, O.D. announces the discovery of two images apparently reflected in the eyes of the Virgin when studying a photograph enlarged twenty five times. |
| 1966 | Pope Paul VI sent a Golden Rose to the Basilica. |
| 1975 | Glass was removed so the image could be examined by another ophthalmologist, Dr. Enrique Grave. |
| 1976 | Dedication of the new Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located four miles from central Mexico City. |
| 1979 | Dr. Philip Callahan takes 40 frames of infra-red photographs of the image. Later concluded that the original image is unexplainable as a human work. |
| 1979 | Pope John Paul II called her the “Star of Evangelization”, knelt before her image, invoked her motherly assistance and called upon her as Mother of the Americas. |
| 1979 | Dr. Jose Aste-Tonsmann announces the finding of at least four human figures apparently reflected in both eyes of the Virgin. Dr. Tosmann used sophisticated image processing techniques with digitized photographs of both eyes. |
| 1988 | The liturgical celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 was raised to the status of a feast in all dioceses in the United States. |
| 1990 | Juan Diego was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. |
| 1990 | Pope John Paul II returns to the Basilica in Mexico City. Performed the beatification ceremony of Juan Diego. |
| 1992 | Pope John Paul II dedicated a chapel in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Peter’s Basilica. |
| 1999 | Pope John Paul II, during his third visit to the sanctuary, declared the date of December the 12th as a Liturgical Holy Day for the whole continent. |
| 2002 | Juan Diego was canonized in a ceremony presided by His Holiness John Paul II in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, on July 31, 2002. It was John Paul II 5th pastoral visit to Mexico. |
