The Mapped History of Bogatazo

On April 9th, 1948 in Colombia, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala, the Liberal leader and presidential candidate, was assassinated in Bogotá. In response to the assassination massive riots broke out in the city. The riots of April 9th left 3,000 to 5,000 dead and thousands injured, with much of downtown Bogotá destroyed.

The History of Bogatazo is a story map which recounts the assassination of Gaitán and the resulting uprising in Bogotá. To progress through the mapped narrative you can click on the timeline control running along the bottom of the map. The buttons on the timeline show the time of each mapped event.

The impressive visual aesthetic of this map is created through the use of the custom vintage styling of the map tiles and the careful attention to detail in the map markers, timeline icons and the decorative corner images.

As you progress through the timeline the map automatically updates to show the important events of the day, with photos and text explaining each mapped event. The map is available in both English and Spanish versions.