Basel is the capital of the canton of Basel-Stadt. After the Rauricans, Helvetians and Romans, the Alamanni settled in Basel. At times, Basel was part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1501 Basel joined the Swiss Confederation. Until 1529 Basel was a bishopric. The university was founded in 1460. Basel is an important location for the pharmaceutical industry. The Botanical Garden of the University of Basel is the oldest botanical garden in Switzerland. It is extremely rare that an Agave americana come sto blossoms out of the wild in a botanical garden. This is the first (and last) blossom of this plant in nearly 50 years.