Nevertheless, the known history of Brazil dates only from the end of the fifteenth century. It was discovered in February, 1499, by Vicente Yañez Pinzon, a companion of Columbus. The following year it was annexed to Portugal by Pedro Alvares Cabral, but the new territory received little attention from the Portuguese monarchs until 1531, when an attempt at colonization was made. Shortly afterward a sugar mill was erected in São Vicente Piratininga, now São Paulo, and as the soil and climate of that part of the country were well adapted to cane culture, the industry grew and other factories were built. In 1580 there were 120 mills, the greater number being in Bahia and Pernambuco. That same year Philip II of Spain usurped the crown of Portugal, and Brazil, with the rest of the Portuguese possessions, came under Spanish rule. Under the new régime she was exposed to attack by powerful foes. Dutch forces occupied Bahia in 1624, only to be expelled by the Spaniards a year later; in 1629, however, they obtained a foothold in Pernambuco. They took Olinda and its port, but were unable to extend their influence beyond the borders of the town until the arrival of the newly appointed governor, Count John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen, in 1636. This able executive carried the Dutch dominion along the coast from the mouth of the São Francisco to Maranhão, and an expedition sent out by him captured Angola and São Thomé on the west African coast, thus securing a supply of negro slaves, while depriving the enemy of them. He did much to build up the sugar industry, so severely crippled by the war, and when in 1644 he resigned his post, the importance of Brazil as a sugar-producing country had been re-established. The Portuguese threw off the yoke of Spain in 1640 and immediately set about to retake their former colony, Brazil. After years of fighting, the Dutch were finally overcome and in 1655 a government decree drove them from the country. This banishment deprived Brazil of the Dutch sugar planters, with their slaves, their capital, their practical knowledge and skill. From the time of their exodus the Brazilian sugar industry began to decline. The greater number of these refugees established themselves in the West Indies, where they again engaged in sugar planting with marked success. Brazil became an independent power in 1825 as an empire, with Dom Pedro I, son of the Portuguese king, on the throne. This monarch abdicated in 1831 in favor of the five-year-old heir apparent, who took the name of Dom Pedro II and reigned until 1889, when the empire gave way to a republic. The wars carried on by Brazil against her neighbors between 1851 and 1870 brought her provinces into touch with each other, as well as with the outside world.