Editing Concepción, Chile (section)

==History==
[[File:Plano de la Bahía de Concepción del Reino de Chile en 1744 - AHG.jpg|thumb|left|Plan from 1744 showing the [[Bay of Concepción]] before the [[1751 Concepción earthquake|1751 earthquake]]]]
[[File:Habillement des habitants de la Conception, Chile.jpg|thumb|left|Clothing of the inhabitants of Concepción in the early 19th century]]
[[File:Atlas pittoresque pl 036.jpg|right|thumb|220x220px|House of a [[Mapuche]] ''[[cacique]]'' in Concepción in 1846]]
Concepción was founded by Don [[Pedro de Valdivia]]<ref>Ida Stevenson Weldon Vernon (1969) ''Pedro de Valdivia, Conquistador of Chile'', Greenwood Press</ref> in 1550 north of the [[Bío Bío River]], at the site which is today known as [[Penco]]. At that time it was given the name ''Concepción de María Purísima del Nuevo Extremo'' (Mary Immaculate Conception of the New End). The new settlement of Concepción was just a few kilometers north of ''[[La Frontera (geographical region)|La Frontera]]'' (The Frontier), the boundary between Spanish territory and the land of the [[Mapuche]], an American Indian ethnic group that remained independent until the 1870s. The settlement was formally recognized by the Spanish authorities as a town two years later by a royal decree. It was given a coat-of-arms that is still in use today.

At the time of the Spanish arrival to the Concepción area chronicler [[Jerónimo de Vivar]] noted local Mapuches wore gold and silver [[bracelet]]s and "sort of crowns". This is interpreted either as [[Incas in Central Chile|Incan]] gifts, war spoils from defeated Incas, or the adoption of Incan [[metallurgy]].<ref name="Silva1983">{{Cite journal |last=Silva Galdames |first=Osvaldo |date=1983 |title=¿Detuvo la batalla del Maule la expansión inca hacia el sur de Chile? |url=https://revistas.uchile.cl/index.php/CDH/article/download/46464/48492 |url-status=dead |journal=Cuadernos de Historia |language=es |volume=3 |pages=7–25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201013520/https://revistas.uchile.cl/index.php/CDH/article/download/46464/48492 |archive-date=February 1, 2019 |access-date=January 10, 2019}}</ref>

Although Concepción was a significant military settlement for the [[Captaincy General of Chile]], it was overrun and destroyed by [[Arauco War|Mapuche armies]] in 1554, and once again after being refounded in 1555. Concepción was restored during the governorship of [[García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete|García Hurtado de Mendoza]] when he landed there and built a fort on the Alto de Pinto in 1557. The town was refounded once more on January 6, 1558, by captain Jerónimo de Villegas. It became the headquarters of the military forces engaged against the [[Mapuche]] in [[Araucanía (historic region)|La Araucanía]] over the next two centuries, growing to a population of 10,000 despite a [[siege]] in 1564 and other attacks by the Mapuche. Concepción was the home of the [[Audiencia Real|Real Audiencia]] from 1565 to 1575.

[[Earthquakes]] and [[tsunamis]], which razed the town in [[1570 Concepción earthquake|1570]], 1657, 1687, 1730 and 1751, led the authorities to move the town to its current site in the [[Valle de la Mocha]], alongside the [[Bío Bío River]]; the old site lay empty until March 29, 1842, when the present town of [[Penco]] was founded.

The new site for the town of Concepción became the main town of the Intendancy of Concepción, whose jurisdiction extended from the [[Maule River]] to La Frontera. The first Intendant of Concepción was the Irishman [[Ambrose O'Higgins, Marquis of Osorno]], who later became [[Royal Governor of Chile]] and [[List of Viceroys of Peru|Viceroy of Peru]].

When the First National Government Board met in [[Santiago]] on September 18, 1810, citizens of Concepción joined up. Concepción was used as the point of entry by the Spanish Army in the attempt by the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] to re-conquer Chile. Concepción politicians and soldiers became a significant political force in the newly independent country.

On January 1, 1818, Ambrose O'Higgins's son, [[Bernardo O'Higgins]], proclaimed and took the oath of the [[Chilean War of Independence]] in the main square of Concepción, which since then has been known as "Plaza de la Independencia". Until the moment of independence, the city had been the scene of [[Battle of Concepción, Chile (disambiguation)|various engagements]] in its old and new settlements.

On February 20, 1835, the town again was largely destroyed by [[1835 Concepción earthquake|an earthquake]] and had to be rebuilt.

By 1875, a key British community and German colony existed within the province. By 1895, there was an even larger Spanish presence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Edmundson |first=William |url=https://archive.org/details/historybritishpr00edmu |title=A History of the British Presence in Chile: From Bloody Mary to Charles Darwin and the Decline of British Influence |date=2009 |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |isbn=9780230114838 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historybritishpr00edmu/page/n138 126] |url-access=limited}}</ref>

The [[Universidad de Concepción]], founded in 1919, became the first secular private university in Chile. The neighboring harbor of Talcahuano is the site of the largest naval base in Chile.

On February 27, 2010, an [[2010 Chile earthquake|8.8 magnitude earthquake]] struck the city of Concepción, killing more than 521 people and injuring thousands nationwide. Following the earthquake, geologists relying on global positioning satellite (GPS) data concluded that the city had been displaced roughly {{convert|3|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}} to the west as a result of the event.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/09/chile.earth.shifts/index.html?hpt=T2 |title=Chile quake moves city more than 10 feet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312141611/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/09/chile.earth.shifts/index.html?hpt=T2 |archive-date=March 12, 2010 |date=March 9, 2010 |access-date=March 10, 2010}}</ref> The tsunami that followed missed the city.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1969570,00.html |title=Quake Response Doesn't Live Up to Chile's Self-Image |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306092346/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1969570,00.html |archive-date=March 6, 2010 |first=Eben |last=Harrell |date=March 4, 2010 |access-date=March 4, 2010}}</ref>

After the [[2010 Chile earthquake]], a [[prison riot]] began in Concepción's [[El Manzano (prison)|El Manzano]] prison following a failed escape attempt by the inmates. Different parts of the prison were set on fire and the riot was controlled only after the guards shot into the air and received help from military units.<ref>[[El Mercurio]], March 1. Cuerpo C, page C13</ref> As of March 5, 2010, a Peruvian field hospital has been deployed to the city.<ref name="UKPA-2010-03-06">UKPA, [https://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5iBff_XdP-pA7r-utFKQZ9iV3hxiA "Foreign hospitals help out Chile"]{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''March 6, 2010'' (accessed March 6, 2010)</ref>