{"slug": "colombo", "label": "Colombo", "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombo", "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35381", "qid": "Q35381", "description": "largest city and de facto capital of Sri Lanka", "entries": 10, "years": 10, "span": [1505, 2019], "span_label": ["1505 CE", "2019 CE"], "topics": [{"title": "Conflict & Security", "count": 4}, {"title": "Exploration & Expansion", "count": 1}, {"title": "Crime & Justice", "count": 1}, {"title": "Technology & Infrastructure", "count": 1}, {"title": "Health & Medicine", "count": 1}, {"title": "Economy & Finance", "count": 1}, {"title": "Disasters & Accidents", "count": 1}], "related": [{"slug": "sri-lanka", "label": "Sri Lanka", "shared": 7}, {"slug": "ceylon", "label": "Ceylon", "shared": 4}, {"slug": "royal-navy", "label": "Royal Navy", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "easter", "label": "Easter", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "sri-lankan-civil-war", "label": "Sri Lankan civil war", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "french-revolutionary-wars", "label": "French Revolutionary Wars", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "batavian-republic", "label": "Batavian Republic", "shared": 1}], "items": [{"year": 1505, "year_label": "1505 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "November 15", "text": "November 15 – Portuguese explorer Lourenço de Almeida and his fleet encounter a storm and are driven to the island of Sri Lanka and travels to Colombo. The King of Kotte, Dharma Parakramabahu IX, allows Almeida to build a trade station and a Roman Catholic chapel.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360582113#October–December", "title": "1505", "revid": 1360582113, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1588, "year_label": "1588 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "February 18", "text": "February 18 – In modern-day Sri Lanka, the siege of Colombo by King Rajasinha I of Sitawaka ends when Portuguese Admiral Pedro Teixeira arrives with a fleet of 80 ships and frees the capital of Portuguese Ceylon. King Rajasinha and his troops flee back to his capital at Seethawakapura.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362479687#January–March", "title": "1588", "revid": 1362479687, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1596, "year_label": "1596 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": "July 14", "text": "July 14 – King Dominicus Corea (Edirille Bandara) is beheaded by the Portuguese in Colombo, Ceylon.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369722581#July–September", "title": "1596", "revid": 1369722581, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1656, "year_label": "1656 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "May 12", "text": "May 12 – The Dutch capture the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka, marking the start of Netherlands colonial rule of Dutch Ceylon.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372048661#April–June", "title": "1656", "revid": 1372048661, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1796, "year_label": "1796 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "February 15", "text": "February 15 – French Revolutionary Wars: The Invasion of Ceylon (1795) ends when Johan van Angelbeek, the Batavian governor of Ceylon, surrenders Colombo peacefully to British forces.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368676893#January–March", "title": "1796", "revid": 1368676893, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1921, "year_label": "1921 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": "July 21", "text": "July 21 – Edward Harper, the \"father of broadcasting\" in Ceylon, arrives in Colombo to take up his post as Chief Engineer of the Ceylon Telegraph Department.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371086035#July", "title": "1921", "revid": 1371086035, "section": "Events › July"}}, {"year": 1942, "year_label": "1942 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "April 5", "text": "April 5 – WWII: Easter Sunday Raid – Aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy attack Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Royal Navy cruisers and are sunk southwest of the island.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372873908#April", "title": "1942", "revid": 1372873908, "section": "Events › April"}}, {"year": 1987, "year_label": "1987 CE", "section": "Health & Medicine", "date": "April 21", "text": "April 21 – In Colombo, Sri Lanka, the Central Bus Station Bombing kills 113 civilians.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372769014#April", "title": "1987", "revid": 1372769014, "section": "Events › April"}}, {"year": 1996, "year_label": "1996 CE", "section": "Economy & Finance", "date": "January 31", "text": "January 31 – Colombo Central Bank bombing: an explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371596794#January", "title": "1996", "revid": 1371596794, "section": "Events › January"}}, {"year": 2019, "year_label": "2019 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "April 21", "text": "April 21 – A series of Islamist bomb attacks occur at eight locations in Sri Lanka, including three churches, four hotels and one housing complex in Colombo, on Easter Sunday, leaving 259 people dead and over 500 injured. It is the deadliest terrorist attack in the country since the Sri Lankan Civil War ended in 2009.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373255188#April", "title": "2019", "revid": 1373255188, "section": "Events › April"}}]}