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Historical Dictionary or Country Handbook
Browse the Reference Collection from about Ref F1400 - Ref F3400.
Country handbooks and/or historical dictionaries will give you good overviews (often by century) of major events that happened in that country. For instance, Honduras:
Table of Contents from: Meyer, Harvey Kessler, and Meyer, Jessie H. Historical Dictionary of Honduras. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1994. Reference Books F1502 .M56 1994.