Short answers, pulled from the story.
Portuguese forces led by Estácio de Sá established the city of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro on the 1st of March 1565. This founding followed a military campaign to expel French colonists who had occupied Villegagnon Island in Guanabara Bay since 1555.
The French admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon built Fort Coligny as part of an attempt to create France Antarctique. He and his followers occupied the area until they were decisively expelled from Brazil for good by the 20th of January 1567.
The entire Portuguese royal family fled Napoleon's invasion of Portugal and relocated to Rio de Janeiro in 1808. Queen Maria I became the nominal ruler while her son Prince Regent John of Braganza effectively governed from the Brazilian city, making it the only European capital located outside Europe during that period.
Mayor Pereira Passos imposed sweeping reforms to modernize colonial infrastructure by demolishing cortiços where most poor residents lived. He constructed the Municipal Theater and the National Museum of Fine Arts while expanding electric power systems across the city to accommodate automobiles.
More than 1.3 million people reside across 813 distinct favelas representing 21 percent of Rio's total population. These areas are characterized by significant socioeconomic disparities with 95 percent of residents living below poverty lines compared to 40 percent nationally.