Short answers, pulled from the story.
Uruguay became an independent state in 1828 through the Treaty of Montevideo, brokered by the United Kingdom. The Thirty-Three Orientals had declared independence on the 25th of August 1825 after a 500-day conflict known as the Cisplatine War. The first national constitution was adopted on the 18th of July 1830.
Uruguay became the first country in the modern era to fully legalise cannabis when President José Mujica signed the law on the 11th of December 2013. The Uruguayan Senate passed the measure on the same date with 16 votes in favour and 13 against. The legalisation covered the growth, use, and sale of cannabis.
The civic-military dictatorship ran from 1973 to 1985, a period of 12 years. It began when President Juan María Bordaberry asked the armed forces to dissolve Parliament amid economic and political turmoil. According to Amnesty International testimony from 1976, one in every five Uruguayans went into exile and around 180 people are known to have been killed or disappeared.
Uruguay has won the FIFA World Cup twice. It won the inaugural tournament on home soil in 1930 and again in 1950, defeating Brazil in the final match. Uruguay has by far the smallest population of any country that has won a World Cup.
José Gervasio Artigas was the military and political leader who launched a successful revolt against Spanish rule in 1811, defeating colonial forces on the 18th of May at the Battle of Las Piedras. He championed federalism and organised the Federal League, a coalition of six provinces seeking autonomy from Buenos Aires. His resistance to both Spanish authority and Argentine centralism laid the foundations of Uruguayan national identity.
In 2023-98% of Uruguay's electricity came from renewable energy sources, primarily hydroelectric facilities and wind parks. The shift was achieved in less than ten years without government funding. By 2021, Uruguay had 1,538 MW of installed hydropower, 1,514 MW of wind power, and 258 MW of solar capacity.