Timeline of Spiritism

This article is a chronological index of some of the main events in the prehistory and history of Spiritism, covering events from the 16th century - starting with the emergence of Spiritism in 1857 with the release of The Spirits' Book - until the end of the 20th century.

16th century

 * 1527 - Birth of John Dee
 * 1575 - Birth of Jakob Böhme

17th century

 * 1688 - Birth of Emanuel Swedenborg

18th century

 * 1734 - Birth of Franz Anton Mesmer
 * 1746 - Birth of Abbe Faria
 * 1751 - Birth of Armand-Marie-Jacques de Chastenet, Marquis of Puységur
 * 1792 - Birth of Edward Irving

19th century

 * 1804 - Birth of Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail (Allan Kardec)
 * 1806 - Birth of Jean-Baptiste Roustaing
 * 1820 - Birth of Émilie Collignon
 * 1826 - Birth of Andrew Jackson Davis
 * 1830 - Publication of the spiritualist work: "Die Seherin von Prevorst, Eröffnungen über das innere Leben des Menschen und über das Hineinragen einer Geisterwelt in die unsere", by Dr. Justinus Kerner
 * 1831 - Birth of Bezerra de Menezes
 * 1832 - Birth of Alexandre Aksakof
 * 1832 - Birth of Sir William Crookes
 * 1833 - Birth of Daniel Dunglas Home
 * 1834 - Birth of Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner
 * 1837 - Birth of Albert de Rochas
 * 1838 - Birth of Charles Foster
 * 1839 - Birth of William Stainton Moses
 * 1843 - Birth of Dr. Sousa Martins
 * 1846 - Birth of Léon Denis
 * 1846 - Manifestation in Buffalo, New York (Davenport brothers)




 * 1847 - First Spiritist meeting in Manchester, United States
 * 1848 - Hydesville manifestations (Fox sisters)
 * 1850 - Manifestation of physical mediumship by Daniel Dunglas Home in the United States
 * 1853 - Manifestation in Bergzabern, Bavaria (Filipina Sanger)
 * 1853 (c.) - M. Planchette allegedly created the Ouija board.
 * 1853 - In France, Professor Rivail begins observing the phenomenon of "table turning"
 * 1854 (January 31) - Birth of Eusapia Paladino
 * 1854 (June 10) - Foundation of the periodical "The Christian Spiritualist" in New York
 * 1855 - Birth of Elizabeth d'Espérance (Mme. d'Espérance)
 * 1855 - Birth of Jean Meyer
 * 1857 - Publication of the book "Le Livre des Esprits" by Kardec
 * 1858 - Establishment of the Parisian Society of Spiritualist Studies by Kardec
 * 1858 - Launch of the "Revue Spirite" in France by Kardec
 * 1858 - Birth of William Eglinton
 * 1859 - Birth of Arthur Conan Doyle
 * 1861 - Barcelona's auto-da-fé
 * 1861 - First spirit photography (William Mumler, Boston, MA)
 * 1865 - Birth of Fernando Augusto de Lacerda e Mello
 * 1866 - Publication of the book "The Four Gospels or the Revelation of Revelations" by Roustaing, received by Medium Émilie Collignon
 * 1867-1882 - London Dialectical Society
 * 1869 - Launch of the periodical O Écho d'Alêm-Tumulo in Brazil by Luís Olímpio Teles de Menezes
 * 1869 - Death of Allan Kardec
 * 1874 - First experiments by the English scholar William Crookes with medium Florence Cook
 * 1874 - Launch of the magazine "Psychische Studien"
 * 1874 - Birth of Harry Houdini
 * 1875 (June 16) - First trial in Paris of the so-called "Procés des Spirites" in which Pierre-Gaëtan Leymarie was indicted
 * 1875 - Foundation of the Theosophical Society in Adyar, India
 * 1877 - Birth of Edgar Cayce
 * 1878 - Birth of Ngô Văn Chiêu, founder of Cao Dai
 * 1882 - Foundation of the Society for Psychical Research
 * 1883 - Launch of the periodical Reformador in Brazil by Augusto Elias da Silva
 * 1884 - Foundation of the Brazilian Spiritist Federation
 * 1885 - Foundation of the American Society for Psychical Research
 * 1885 - Publication of the book "Spiritism Before Science" by Gabriel Delanne
 * 1885-1917 - Psychography of the novels by Rochester (spirit) through the Russian medium Vera Kryzhanovskaia
 * 1886 - Birth of Pietro Ubaldi
 * 1888 - I International Spiritist Congress in Barcelona
 * 1898 - Publication of Christianity and Spiritism by Léon Denis
 * 1889 - International Spiritist and Spiritualist Congress in Paris
 * 1891 - Commencement of research by Cesare Lombroso with Eusápia Paladino
 * 1891 - Launch of the periodical Rebus in Russia by Aksakof
 * 1900 - International Spiritist and Spiritualist Congress in Paris

20th century

 * 1901 - Experiments in Italy by Enrico Morselli with medium Eusápia Palladino
 * 1902 - Foundation of Allan Kardec School in Minas Gerais, Brazil, by Eurípedes Barsanulfo
 * 1903 - Experiments in Algiers by Charles Robert Richet and Gabriel Delanne with physical medium Marthe Beráud (later Eva Carrière)
 * 1908 - Experiments in Italy by Enrico Imoda with medium Linda Gazzera
 * 1908 - Manifestation of the Caboclo of the Seven Crossroads through medium Zélio Fernandino de Moraes, giving rise to Umbanda in Brazil
 * 1908 - Publication of the first volume of "From the Land of Light" in Portugal, a collection of texts psychographed by medium Fernando de Lacerda
 * 1910 - Birth of Francisco Cândido Xavier
 * 1910 - Establishment of Rationalism, systematized by Luís de Matos and Luís Alves Tomás
 * 1910 (May 14-18) - I Universal Spiritist Congress in Brussels, where the "Bureau International d'Espritisme" was created, headquartered in Liège, Belgium
 * 1912 - Establishment of the Rosicrucian Order
 * 1913 - Commencement of communications through the English medium George Vale Owen
 * 1913 - Scandal of the periodical "Miroir": photographs by Dr. Albert von Schrenck-Notzing
 * 1916 - Establishment of the Liberal Catholic Church
 * 1918 - Foundation of the Institut Métapsychique International
 * 1920 - Publication of the book "Spiritism Facing Science" by Gabriel Delanne
 * 1922 - International Spiritist Congress in London
 * 1923 - Foundation of the International Spiritualist Federation in Liège, Belgium
 * 1924 (July 23) - The name of Mina Crandon is presented as a candidate for a prize offered by the magazine Scientific American to any medium who could demonstrate telekinetic abilities under scientifically controlled conditions.
 * 1924 - Scientific theory of Spiritism by Charles Henry
 * 1925 - International Spiritist Congress in Paris, organized by the International Spiritist Federation, with representatives from 22 countries, presided over by Léon Denis
 * 1925 (May 15-18) - I National Spiritist Congress held in Portugal, promoted by the Algarve Spiritist Union
 * 1925 - Publication of "Voices from Beyond the Telephone" by Oscar D'Argonnel in Brazil, a pioneer work in instrumental transcommunication
 * 1926 - Publication of "The History of Spiritualism (2 vols.)" by Arthur Conan Doyle in the United Kingdom
 * 1926 - Publication of "The Life Beyond the Veil (5 vols.)" by George Vale Owen, with an introduction by Arthur Conan Doyle
 * 1926 (May) - Constitution of the Portuguese Spiritist Federation (FEP)
 * 1927 - Birth of Divaldo Pereira Franco
 * 1927 - Launch of the magazine "Light" in England, with a lecture by Oliver Lodge, under the auspices of the London Spiritist Alliance.
 * 1932 - Publication of Parnaso de Além-Túmulo by Francisco Cândido Xavier
 * 1932 - Birth of Waldo Vieira
 * 1934 - "V International Congress of Spiritism" held in Spain
 * 1934 - Publication of research results on paranormal phenomena by Joseph Banks Rhine in the United States
 * 1934 - In Great Britain, the British Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts for the first time a program on Modern Spiritualism, presented by Ernest Oaten.
 * 1937 - Foundation of the "Hellenic Metapsychic Society" (later renamed "Athens Metapsychic Society") in Athens, Greece. Among its founders is the Greek criminalist and former professor at the University of Athens, Panes Yotopolos (1878-1965).
 * 1939 - Interruption of the publication of the periodical Luce e Ombra in Rome, Italy, by the fascist regime. The periodical would only resume publication in 1946.
 * 1939 - Foundation of the Brazilian Spiritist Union of Umbanda
 * 1940 - Spiritism, under the name "Heliosophy," is established in Guatemala. The designation was adopted in compliance with the laws of that country, which at the time prohibited the use of the true name. Since then, the "Heliosophic Schools", protected under this name, have been disseminating the doctrine of Allan Kardec.
 * 1941 (October 19-26) - I Brazilian Umbanda Congress held by the Spiritist Federation of Umbanda
 * 1944 - Publication of the book "Nosso Lar" by Chico Xavier
 * 1946 - I Pan-American Spiritist Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina
 * 1946 - Foundation of the Pan-American Spiritist Confederation during the I Pan-American Spiritist Congress
 * 1948 - I Congress of Spiritist Youth in Brazil, held in Rio de Janeiro
 * 1949 - II Pan-American Spiritist Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, promoted by the Spiritist League of Brazil
 * 1956 - Publication of "The Search for Bridey Murphy" by Morey Bernstein
 * 1961 (July 16-23) - II Brazilian Umbanda Congress held in the auditorium of the Brazilian Press Association in Rio de Janeiro
 * 1963 - Foundation of the Brazilian Institute of Psychobiophysical Research in the city of São Paulo
 * 1966 - Publication of "Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation" by Canadian author Ian Stevenson
 * 1973 (July 15-21) - III Brazilian Umbanda Congress held in Rio de Janeiro
 * 1975 - II International Congress of Psychotronic Research in Monte Carlo, Monaco, promoted by the "The International Association for Psichotronic Research"
 * 1975 - Publication of "Life After Life" by Raymond Moody
 * 1983 - Publication of "Out on a Limb" by Shirley MacLaine
 * 1988 - Publication of "Many Lives, Many Masters" by Brian Weiss
 * 1994 - II National Spiritist Congress held in Portugal
 * 1999 (October 1-3) - I Brazilian Spiritist Congress (Goiânia-GO)
 * 1999 - Foundation of the International Spiritist Medical Association.

21st century

 * 2002 - Death of Francisco Cândido Xavier