1849 Josefina Borrás (c. 1826–1912), George Santayana’s mother, marries George Sturgis (1817–57) of Boston, aboard a British warship in Manila Bay.

1857 George Sturgis dies in Manila at age forty.

1862 Josefina Borrás Sturgis marries Agustín Santayana (1814–93) in Madrid.

1863 George Santayana born on 16 December at No. 69, Calle Ancha de San Bernardo, Madrid.

1864 Santayana christened Jorge Agustín Nicolás on 1 January in parish church of San Marcos, Madrid.

1868 (or 1869) Santayana’s mother, with daughters Susana and Josephine, moves to Boston, to honor her first husband’s wish that his children be raised in America (her son Robert had moved to Boston as a 13-year-old in 1867); Santayana remains with his father in Spain.

1872 Santayana and his father travel to America in June; his father returns to Ávila several months later.