01 March 2007

Happy Birthday, Rio!

Today is the anniversary of the official founding of Rio de Janeiro (the city, not the state). It was founded in 1565 by Estácio de Sá (a Portuguese knight). The city's full name is São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, combining the name of King Sebastian (of Portugal, of course) with the name that the first settlers gave it.
Rio was the capital of Brasil from 1763 (when it was moved from Salvador) to 1960 (when it was moved to Brasília). It was also the capital of the Portuguese empire from 1808 to 1822, when the Portuguese royal family moved to Brasil to get away from Napoleon.
Many famous Brasilians are from Rio. Can you guess any?

(Thanks to wikipedia for the info)

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