17 Kasım 2013 Pazar

Idaho: A Historical Timeline

Prior to 1803 Pre-European Settlement
12,500– 6,000BCE	The area now known as Idaho is likely home to big-game-hunting Paleo-Indian groups, such as the Clovis, Folsom, and Plano cultures.
6,000 BCE	Native cultures establish permanent settlements. The predominant tribes of the region include the Nez Perce and the Coeur d’Alene in the north and the Northern and Western Bannock in the south.
1803–1860 European/U.S. Exploration and Settlement
1803	The U.S. purchases the Louisiana Territory, which extends to Idaho, from France for $15 million.
1805	(August 12) Idaho is the last of the 50 states to be explored by whites when Meriwether Lewis and William Clark reach it via the Lemhi Pass through the Rocky Mountains.
1809	John Jacob Astor, leader of the "Astorians," charters a fur company with a view to cornering the northwestern fur trade and establishing U.S. political domination from the Continental Divide to Alaska. To counter Astor’s plans, the British-backed North West Company sends David Thompson to establish a presence in the Idaho area. Thompson builds the first non-native establishment in the Northwest, Kullyspell House, near Lake Pend Oreille.
1810	Fur trader Andrew Henry enters the Snake River plateau. He builds Fort Henry, the first American fur-trading post west of the Rocky Mountains, along the upper river near present-day St. Anthony. Henry abandons the post the following spring after several disputes with the local Blackfoot population, returning to his home in Saint Louis, Missouri.
1811	Astorian Wilson Price Hunt navigates the Snake River, leading the first expedition into southern Idaho and becoming the first white explorer to discover the Boise Valley. At the time approximately 8,000 Native Americans live in the region.
1812	Astorian Donald Mckenzie establishes a fur-trading post at Lewiston.
1818	As part of the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, Britain and the United States agree to "joint occupancy" of land west of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Known as Oregon Country, this land encompasses modern-day Idaho. Donald Mackenzie begins the first extensive explorations of southern Idaho. They culminate in a trade rendezvous with Native Americans on the Boise River in 1819 and the negotiation of a peace treaty with the Shoshone tribe in 1820. Mackenzie’s annual expeditions continue through 1821.
1820s	The British Hudson’s Bay Company controls fur trade in the Idaho region. Russia gives up its claims to the area south of 54°40' and east of the 141st meridian in separate treaties with the United States and Britain.
1824	William H. Ashley and Jedediah Smith expand their St. Louis fur operations into Idaho.
1832	The Rendezvous of 1832. Hundreds of trappers, Natives, and fur traders meet to sell and trade furs for supplies at Pierre’s Hole, a valley west of the Teton Range. At the end of the meeting, a major battle breaks out between Gros Ventre Natives and a party of Americans aided by Nez Perce and Flathead allies near present-day Victor.
1833	French-born U.S. Army officer and explorer Benjamin Bonneville explores along the Snake River in present-day Idaho. He will later have an Idaho county named in his honor.
1836	The Rev. Henry H. Spalding establishes a Protestant mission near Lapwai. Here he prints the Northwest’s first book, founds Idaho’s first school, and develops its first irrigation system. Perhaps most prophetically, he plants and grows the state’s first potatoes.
1838	Belgian missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet helps establish St. Joseph’s Mission in what is now Council Bluffs. During this time he assists Joseph Nicollet in mapping the Upper Midwest, producing the first detailed map of the Missouri River valley system from the Platte to the Big Sioux rivers.
1841	The Bidwell-Bartleson Party is the first wagon train of emigrants to leave Missouri for the West over South Pass. More than 300,000 white settlers will follow in the next two decades. Many are lured by the California Gold Rush of 1849, and some, like the Mormons, escape religious persecution. Groups take over the land of the Bannock, Nez Perce, and Blackfoot.
1843	(May 2) The Provisional Government of Oregon is established by popular election. It provides a legal system and defense for early settlers. The Organic Laws of Oregon are adopted, serving as the region’s constitution. The government remains in power until 1849, when the region becomes a U.S. territory. The Oregon Trail is established in Idaho. It crosses the border near Montpelier, passes Fort Hall, then moves west south of the Snake River and on to Fort Boise.
1846	(June 15) Great Britain and the United States sign the Oregon Treaty, bringing an end to the Oregon boundary dispute. The treaty establishes the northern U.S. border at the 49th parallel.
1848	(August 14) The U.S. organizes Oregon Territory, which encompasses all of modern Idaho. Italian Jesuit missionary Antonio Ravalli founds the Cataldo mission. It becomes an important stop for traders, settlers, and miners. Currently the oldest building in Idaho, it will be designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
1852	French-Canadian prospectors discover gold on the Pend Oreille River.
1853	Washington Territory is split from Oregon Territory. As a result, the future state of Idaho is cleaved in two: while most remains part of Oregon, the northern tip is in Washington.
1857	The Oregon Constitutional Convention establishes Idaho’s western boundary.
1859	The modern boundaries of the state of Oregon are defined, and the rest of Oregon Territory (including Idaho) reverts to Washington Territory.
1860–1890 Idaho Territory
1860s	Gold, silver, and other natural resources are discovered throughout Idaho, encouraging more new settlements. One site of gold is on the Nez Perce reservation, which the federal government will consequently reduce to 1/10th its original size as the Lapwai Reservation. Chinese laborers come to Idaho to work the mines. Most mining operations recover metal; from 1860 to 1869, Idaho produces 19 percent of all U.S. gold.
1860	The Battle of Providence. A group of presumed Shoshone attacks Elijah Otter’s migrant party, killing almost all members. As a result, Col. George Wright requests $150,000 from the federal government to establish a military post near present-day Boise. (April) Mormon settlers found Franklin, the first organized town in Idaho (although they believe themselves to be in Utah at the time). Mormons go on to establish most historic and modern communities in southeastern Idaho. Today they represent nearly 23 percent of the Idaho population.
1862	President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act. Successful applicants are granted freehold title to 160 acres of undeveloped land outside the original 13 colonies. The act draws many settlers into the Teton Valley. New mines near Boise and in the Owyhee Canyonlands of northern Nevada lead to an influx of white settlers, causing unrest among the various Shoshone (called the "Snakes" by whites) living there.
1863	(March 4) Idaho splits from the Washington Territory, becoming the Territory of Idaho, which encompasses most of the present-day states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Its capital is Lewiston. (January 29) The Bear River Massacre. The westernmost battle of the Civil War, the event pits the U.S. Army against the Shoshone Native Americans during an unseasonably cold winter in what is now Franklin County. When the Shoshone run out of ammunition, troops led by Col. Patrick Conner massacre them, rape women in the nearby encampment, and murder Shoshone children. The massacre opens up Cache Valley to white, particularly Mormon, settlement.
1864	The Montana Territory is organized out of the part of the Idaho Territory east of the Bitterroot Range. The Snake War begins. Shoshone bands lead the fighting against white settlers in southern Idaho. Consisting of a series of guerrilla skirmishes throughout the Northwest, it ends four years later with peace negotiations. Total casualties on both sides reach slightly more than 1,700.
1865	Boise becomes the capital of the Territory of Idaho.
1866	The Idaho legislature proposes the State of Columbia in a petition to Congress. Included are all the lands in western Montana, northern Idaho, and eastern Washington. The proposal is rejected.
1868	Areas east of the 111th Meridian are made part of the new Wyoming Territory, and Idaho assumes its present-day boundaries.
1869	The First Transcontinental Railroad is completed between Council Bluffs and Alameda, California, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by rail for the first time and encouraging further western settlement.
1877	The Nez Perce War. Refusing to move to the Lapwai Reservation, a group of Nez Perce kills four white men in the Salmon River Valley. A cavalry of 100 white men retaliate, and continue to attack Nez Perce with Chief Joseph who are leaving the territory for Montana. In October, the Nez Perce surrender. By 1880 most Idaho Natives have been put on reservations, leaving their land open to white settlement.
1878	The Bannock Indian War. Led by Chief Buffalo Horn of the Bannocks and Paitutes Chief Egan, Natives attack when the U.S. government opens the Camas Prairie, which had previously been reserved for Natives, to white settlement. Defeated, the Bannocks move to the Fort Hall Indian Reservation with the Northern Shoshone, and gradually their tribes merge, becoming the Shoshone-Bannock. (May 10) The first telephone call in the Pacific Northwest is made in Lewiston.
1882	Mormons are banned from voting in Idaho Territory, ostensibly on the basis of the group’s practice of polygamy.
1884	The nation’s richest deposits of silver are discovered in the Coeur d’Alene mining district.
1887	President Grover Cleveland refuses to sign a bill that would divide Idaho between Washington Territory and Nevada.
1890–1950 Statehood
1890	(July 3) Idaho becomes the 43rd state admitted to the Union.
1890s	Idaho now exports more lead than any other state as mining becomes increasingly crucial to its economy.
1892	Miners in Coeur d’Alene strike over low pay, long working hours, and the right to unionize. The action develops into a shooting war between miners and company guards. The Frisco mine in the Burke Canyon is blown up, and guards are taken hostage. Strikers also shut down a mine in Gem and the Bunker Hill mining complex near Wardner. Several are killed in the melee, and the Idaho National Guard and federal troops are called in to quash the uprising.
1896	Idaho grants women suffrage 24 years before the passage of the 19th Amendment.
1899	The Bunker Hill mining facility fires 17 miners for unionizing. In retaliation, union members blow up the mill, killing two company men.
1906	The largest sawmill in the country opens in Potlatch.
1905	Western Federation of Miners member Harry Orchard assassinates former governor Frank Steunenberg for his perceived role in quashing the 1899 miner uprising. The Snake River’s Milner Dam is completed. The dam allows for the formation of several agricultural communities, signaling a shift away from mining to agricultural production. Today Idaho produces one-third of the potatoes grown in the U.S.
1907	Along with two other defendants, Western Federation of Miners’ "Big Bill" Haywood is tried for conspiracy to murder Governor Steunenberg. Trigger man Orchard strikes a deal and testifies against the three men. Famed attorney Clarence Darrow represents the defendants, and the men are all either exonerated or released. Orchard spends the rest of his life in an Idaho prison.
1910	Fires destroy one-sixth of northern Idaho’s forest area.
1914	Idaho governor Moses Alexander becomes the first elected Jewish governor in U.S. history.
1916	Idaho passes a prohibition law and alcohol is barred in the state.
1920	Fifteen-year-old student inventor and Rigby resident Philo Farnsworth develops concepts that eventually lead to the invention of television.
1925	American Falls becomes the first town in U.S. history to be relocated in its entirety when it is moved to make way for construction of nearby American Falls Dam.
1934	Idaho becomes the nation’s largest silver producer.
1936	The Sun Valley Lodge ski resort opens in Blaine County. Built on the site of a former mining community, it features the world’s first chair lifts and will become a major tourist attraction in the state, drawing winter sports enthusiasts from around the globe. Earnest Hemingway completes his famed novel For Whom the Bells Tolls at the lodge in the fall of 1939.
1950–present Modern Idaho
1951	The National Reactor Testing Station in eastern Idaho produces the first electricity by nuclear fission. The facility is now known as Idaho National Laboratory.
1955	(July 17) Arco becomes the first community in the world to be lit by electricity generated by nuclear power when it is powered by the NRTS.
1961	A meltdown of the SL-1 reactor at the NRTS causes three deaths. It is the world’s first fatal nuclear reactor accident and remains the only such fatal accident in the U.S.
1980s	The Bunker Hill Mine complex in Shoshone County closes, and the area’s economy is ruined.
1972	A fire at the Sunshine Mine in Kellogg claims 91 lives.
1976	The collapse of Teton Dam kills 11 and forces thousands of nearby residents to flee.
1983	An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale hits, killing two in Challis and causing millions of dollars in damage.
1992	U.S. Marshals and the FBI surround white separatist Randy Weaver’s compound at Ruby Ridge. Shots are fired, and a marshal and Weaver’s wife and son are killed. The incident garners national attention, with many decrying the federal government’s use of force.
1999	Victoria Keenan and her son are attacked by guards and held at gunpoint at the white supremacist Aryan Nations headquarters in Hayden Lake.
2001	Keenan wins a $6.3 million judgment against Aryan Nations, and the Hayden Lake compound is turned over to her as a result. She sells the property, which will later be acquired by North Idaho College and turned into a public "peace park."

Click to enlarge an image

1805: View from Lemhi Pass

1809: John Jacob Astor

1824: Jedediah Smith

1832: Pierre's Hole

1833: Benjamin Bonneville

1838: Pierre-Jean De Smet

1843: Map of Provisional Oregon

1860: Shoshoni tipi

1862: Abraham Lincoln

1862: Certificate of homestead given under the Homestead Act

1863: Seal of Idaho Territory

1864: Map of the Montana Territory

1869: Transcontinental Railroad Timetable

1887: Painting of Grover Cleveland

1905: Frank Steunenberg, 4th governor of Idaho

1907: Clarence Darrow

1914: Moses Alexander

1920: Statue of Philo Farnsworth

1976: Teton Dam failure

1992: U.S. Marshal's star badge

Hawaii: A Historical Timeline

Prior to 1600 Pre-European Exploration
300- 900	The first Polynesians arrive by outrigger canoe. The first island inhabitants are the Menehune, who come over 2,000 miles from the Marquesas Islands north of Tahiti.
1100	More Polynesian migration to the Hawaiian Islands from the Society Islands.
1627-1794 Early European Exploration
1627	Spanish sailors visit Hawaii and describe volcanic eruptions in their ship's log.
1778	(January 18) Captain James Cook of the British Navy lands at Waimea Bay on Kauai while attempting to find the Northwest Passage between Alaska and Asia. He names the Hawaiian archipelago the Sandwich Islands in honor of the Earl of Sandwich.
1779	Captain Cook is killed in a dispute with Hawaiians in Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island.
1780-90	European and U.S. trading ships arrive in Hawaii on their way to trade with China. Foreign diseases begin to kill many native Hawaiians.
1789	The first Chinese arrive after jumping off an English trading ship that stops in Kauai.
1794	Hawaii is placed under the protectorate of Great Britain.
1795–1893 Kingdom of Hawaii
1795	Kamehameha becomes king and begins uniting the Hawaiian islands with the help of foreign weapons.
1810	All Hawaiian islands are united under Kamehameha's rule.
1813	The Spanish advisor to King Kamehameha introduces coffee and pineapple to the islands. Both crops will become integral to the Hawaiian agricultural industry.
1815	Russian soldiers fail in their attempt to build Fort Elizabeth on Kauai.
1816	Volcano House, a series of hotels at the edge of the Kīlauea volcano, opens to tourists on the Big Island. At the time, lodging is one dollar per person per night. King Kamehameha commissions the first Hawaiian flag. The design now serves as Hawaii's state flag.
1819	King Kamehameha I dies. His son Liholiho becomes Kamehameha II. King Kamehameha II ends the ancient kapu ("forbidden") system of taboos by eating meals with women.
1820	American traders looking for sandalwood and whales begin arriving in Hawaii. Protestant missionaries arrive from New England and begin converting many Hawaiians to Christianity.
1824	The first coffee is planted in Kona. Kona coffee would develop a reputation making it one of the most expensive and sought-after coffees in the world.
1831	Catholic missionaries that had arrived in the 1820s are forced out under threat of imprisonment.
1835	Ladd & Company founds the first sugar plantation on Kauai. Sugar plantations would become Kauai's most important industry.
1838	Ground is broken to build Honolulu's Kawaiahao Church, the first Christian church in Hawaii. Fourteen thousand coral slabs are quarried by hand from the reefs to build the main structure.
1839	Kamehameha III issues the Hawaiian Declaration of Rights. Catholics receive religious freedom.
1840	Hawaii adopts its first constitution, changing the government from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy.
1842	The First House of Representatives meets. The first classes begin at Punahou School, founded for the children of missionaries. Today it is the largest independent school in the U.S. with nearly 4,000 students.
1843	Lord George Paulet seizes Hawaii for England. However, Paulet's superior, Admiral Richard Thomas, repudiates Paulet's actions and restores the Hawaiian government.
1848	King Kamehameha III signs the Great Mahele, which allows commoners and haoles (non-Hawaiians) to own land.
1849	French admiral Legoarant de Tromelin fails in his attempt to invade Hawaii.
1850	(August 31) King Kamehameha III declares Honolulu a city.
1852	The first steam-propelled ship is used for inter-island service. The first group of indentured Chinese plantation workers arrive. Between 1852 and 1856, several thousand Chinese are brought to the plantations for work. In the 21st century, Chinese-Americans comprise about 5 percent of the Hawaiian population.
1853	A smallpox epidemic kills over 5,000 Hawaiians.
1854	King Kamehameha III dies and Kamehameha IV becomes king.
1860	Building of the Queen's Hospital, Hawaii's first, begins. The king and queen had personally fundraised door-to-door for the hospital, which is now the largest private hospital in Hawaii.
1863	Elizabeth Sinclair purchases Niihau Island from King Kamehameha IV for $10,000. King Kamehameha IV dies and Kamehameha V becomes king.
1865	The first migrant workers arrive in Hawaii from Yokohama, Japan. In the 21st century, Japanese-Americans comprise about 17 percent of the Hawaiian population. Kalaupapa Leper Settlement on the isolated peninsula of Moloka'I is established in an attempt to control the spreading of the disease. It is founded by missionary Father Damien, who eventually succumbs to leprosy himself in 1889.
1872	King Kamehameha V dies. William Lunalilo is confirmed as king after an informal popular vote by the Hawaiian Legislature.
1874	Hawaii signs a treaty with the U.S. granting it exclusive trading rights.
1876	The Reciprocity Treaty allows for duty-free importation of Hawaiian sugar cane and rice into the U.S. This promotes sugar cane plantation and rice agriculture in Hawaii instead of local staples like taro.
1877	King Kalakaua dedicates Kapiolani Park, the oldest and largest public park in Hawaii. It is named after Queen Kapiolani.
1878	Portuguese immigrants arrive on the islands. Between 1878 and 1887, about 17,500 will come to Hawaii.
1881	The first German immigrants arrive on the islands. German-Americans now represent the fourth largest ancestry group on the islands. Macadamia nuts are introduced to the islands. They will eventually become another of Hawaii's major exports.
1887	The 1887 Constitution imposes income and property requirements for voting. Only wealthy Europeans, Americans, and native Hawaiians have full voting rights. King Kalakaua gives the U.S. exclusive use of Pearl Harbor as a naval base to encourage trade between the two nations.
1891	King Kalakaua dies and Queen Liliuokalani is the only ruling queen to ever take control of the Hawaiian Islands.
1894–1959 Republic and Territory of Hawaii
1893	American colonists, controlling Hawaii's economy, overthrow the Hawaiian Kingdom to bring about the Republic of Hawaii.
1894	(July 4) The Republic of Hawaii is established. Sanford B. Dole, the cousin of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company's James Dole, is appointed president of the republic. Dole serves until 1900 and is the republic's only president. He actively lobbies Congress to secure Hawaii's annexation by the United States.
1895	Queen Liliuokalani abdicates her throne.
1900	Hawaii is annexed to the U.S. and becomes a U.S. territory. Okinawans and Puerto Ricans arrive on the islands. The Great Chinatown Fire results from fires set by the Board of Health to burn buildings infected by the bubonic plague of 1899. The fire burns for 17 days and destroys 38 acres of Honolulu. Seven thousand homeless Chinese are moved to detention camps, where they are quarantined until April 30. Critics contend the fires are racially motivated.
1901	The Hawaiian Pineapple Company (now Dole) is established. The first pineapples are planted in the Wahiawa countryside.
1903	The first major group of Korean immigrants arrives on the islands from Inchon. Upon arrival, immigrants are scattered to plantations on Oahu and the Big Island.
1907	Filipinos arrive on the islands. Between 1907 and 1931, nearly 120,000, recruited as plantation laborers, make the journey.
1919	The first large group of Samoans immigrates to the islands
1922	Prince Jonah Kalanianaole Kuhio, the last powerful member of the Hawaiian royal family, dies. James Dole buys the island of Lanai and turns it into the world's largest pineapple plantation.
1923	Dredging of the Ala Wai Canal begins in Honolulu. Its purpose is to drain rice paddies and swamps, eventually clearing the way for the resort area of Waikiki. The project will be completed in 1928.
1924	The Federal Exclusion Act, motivated by increasing hostility towards the Japanese, almost completely halts any further immigration from Japan. Labor riots at Hanapepe, Kauai kill 16 workers and 4 police officers.
1927	(March) John Rodgers Airport opens in March; it's renamed Honolulu Airport in 1947.
1929	Stanley C. Kennedy makes the first inter-island flight in an amphibious plane from Honolulu to Hilo via Maui and Kauai. Later, service is added to Molokai. At the time, passenger fares range from $17-$32 one way.
1935	The first trans-Pacific flight from San Francisco to Honolulu by PanAm airways takes 21.5 hours and inaugurates airmail service from the mainland to Hawaii. Hickam Field is dedicated for the Army Air Corps (although it's not officially activated until 1938). When Japanese forces attack in 1941, they bomb Hickam Field to eliminate air opposition and keep U.S. planes grounded.
1941	(December 7) The bombing of Pearl Harbor and Oahu by Japan results in 189 deaths. President Franklin Roosevelt refers to it as "a day which will live in infamy" in his now-famous address. As a result of the attack, the U.S. declares war on Japan and enters World War II. Martial law is declared in Hawaii and the military assumes control until October 24, 1944.
1945	(September 2) Japan signs an unconditional surrender on the U.S.S. Battleship Missouri. The ship is still docked in Pearl Harbor.
1946	A massive tsunami (tidal wave) hits Hilo on the Big Island, killing over 100 people and resulting in $25 million in damage.
1947	(July 11) The newly united Pineapple Workers Union lead a strike for better wages and working conditions. It lasts five days, ending with favorable terms for the union.
1950	The eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano destroys the village of Ho'okena mauka.
1951	At the height of the "Red Scare," a group who come to be known as the Hawaii 7 is arrested, charged under the Smith Act for conspiring to overthrow the government. They are convicted after a two-year trial, and later released in 1958.
1954	The "Democratic Revolution" uses newly unionized workers and college-educated, postwar veterans to oust the Hawaii Republican Party, which many view as corrupt, from the legislature and replace it with the Democratic Party.
1959–present Modern-Day Hawaii
1959	(August 21) Hawaii becomes the 50th state in the Union.
1972	(March) Hawaii becomes the first state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. It does so unanimously.
1974	Sugar and pineapple plantation workers begin a 39-day strike. The first Asian-American governor, George Ariyoshi, is elected in Hawaii.
1983-93	Basalt lava flows erupt from Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island, destroying nearly 200 houses and severing the coastal highway.
1987	John Waihee, the first governor of Hawaiian descent, is elected.
1992	Hurricane Iniki, the most powerful hurricane to hit Hawaii in recorded history, kills six people and causes nearly $2 billion in damages.
1993	U.S. Congress passes the Public Law 103-150, which corrects misinformation regarding the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and apologizes for the suppression of the "inherent sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people."
1994	Ben Cayetano becomes the first governor of Filipino descent elected in the U.S.
1995	The last sugar plantation on the Big Island closes.
2000	The U.S. Supreme Court declares that restricting voting in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to native Hawaiians violates the 15th Amendment.
2006	(March) Six weeks of rain results in major damage from flooding on the islands. (October 15) A 6.7 magnitude earthquake on the Big Island results in property damage, landslides, tsunamis, power outages, and airport delays. The famous Mauna Kea Beach Hotel's entire south end collapses and it is shut down indefinitely. After a $150-million reconstruction, it reopens in December 2008.
2009	The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009 (the Akaka Bill) is introduced in Congress for the sixth time. The bill seeks to allow Native Hawaiians to seek a special status similar to that of Native Americans, but the bill fails to pass.

Click to enlarge an image

1100: The Society Islands, 2,000 miles to the south of Hawaii

1778: James Cook

1779: The Death of Cook, by John Cleveley

1795: Kamehameha I, also known as Kamehameha the Great

1810: Statue of King Kamehameha I in Kapa'au. It is decorated with floral leis on Kamehameha Day.

1813: Pineapples

1815: Staircase, Ruins at Fort Elizabeth

1816: The Volcano House as it stood in about 1912

1819: Kamehameha II, second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii

1838: Kawaiaha'o Church. Known as the Westminster Abbey of Hawaii, it has been the site of coronations, christenings and funerals.

1839: Kamehameha III, Hawaii's longest-reigning monarch

1850: Queen Street, Honolulu, by George Henry Burgess

1863: Kamehameha IV, born Alexander ʻIolani Liholiho Keawenui, fourth king of the United Kingdom of Hawaii 1855–1863

1863: Kamehameha V, reigned 1863–1872

1872: Lunalilo I, born William Charles Lunalilo. His one-year reign ended February 3, 1874.

1876: Taro plant. Its corm is a carbohydrate staple; the leaves are also used.

1877: King David Kalakaua

1877: Kapi'olani, Queen Consort of Hawaii

1895: Lili'uokalani, last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii

1895: Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole of Hawaii was a prince when the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown.

1941: USS Arizona burning and sinking in Pearl Harbor

1959: Ballot (inset) and referendum results for the Admission Act of 1959. All representative districts voted at least 93% in favor of admission.

1992: Satellite image of Iniki near peak intensity

1993: Rainbow with volcanic ash and sulfur dioxide emissions from Halema'uma'u vent

guam

Guam: A Historical Timeline

Prior to 1521 Pre-European Settlement
1500 BCE	Sea-faring people who migrate from southeastern Indonesia, the Chamorro are the first settlers on Guam.
1000 CE	The Latte Stones, the stone pillars of ancient Chamorro houses, are erected around this time. Unlike anything else in the world, the original Latte Stones are comprised of two pieces: a supporting column made of coral limestone and a capstone made from coral heads. Customarily, the bones of the ancient Chamorro, along with their possessions, are buried beneath the stones.
1500	When Europeans first arrive, Chamorro society is divided into three classes: matao (upper class), achaot (middle class), and mana’chang (lower class). The matao live in the coastal villages with access to the best fishing grounds while the mana’chang live inland. Early Europeans also note the Chamarros fast sailing vessels, used for trading with other islands in Micronesia.
1521–1800 European Exploration and Early Settlement
1521	(March 6) Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrives and anchors his three-ship fleet in Umatac Bay. Not sharing the European concept of ownership, the native Chamorro help themselves to everything on the ship. Magellan brands them as thieves as names Guam "Isla de los Ladrones" ("Island of Thieves").
1565	Miguel Lopez de Legazpi claims Guam, the Marianas, and the Philippines for Spain. However, Guam is not colonized until the 17th century.
1668	Jesuit missionaries led by Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores arrive and rename the islands "Marianas." The Spanish establish a permanent settlement on the island and force the Chamorro to convert to Catholicism. They also teach the Chamorro to cultivate maize, raise cattle, and to wear western-style clothing.
1672	A garrison is established at La Hagatna after Spain places Guam under military control. Guam becomes a regular port-of-call for Spanish galleons crossing the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Philippines. (April) Chief Mata’pang of Tomhom kills Jesuit priest Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores after San Vitores baptizes the chief’s baby girl without his consent. The death of Padre San Vitores leads to war with Spain, nearly extinguishing the Chamorro race. Chamorro casualties from fighting and disease reduce the population from 200,000 to roughly 5,000 by 1741.
1720	The Spanish quash Chamorro resistance and forcibly evacuate all Chamorro on Saipan and the other Northern Marianas to Guam. Spanish soldiers and Filipinos relocate to the area in order to restock the island’s population, marking the end of the pure Chamorro bloodline.
1700s	A number of scientists, voyagers, and whalers from Russia, France, and England visit the island, providing detailed accounts of the daily life on Guam under Spanish rule to those back home. Preying upon Spanish galleons, English pirates raid Guam, taking supplies and provisions.
1800–1900 Colonial Guam
1810	A typhoon devastates the Caroline Islands. The survivors sail to Guam, but only half make it through the journey. Once they arrive, Spanish authorities send the Carolinians to Saipan and Tinian to manage the Spanish cattle herds.
1849	(January 25) Preceded by a loud subterranean noise, a strong earthquake with both vertical and horizontal movements hits Guam. From January 25 to March 11, 150 aftershocks result in the island being inundated with tsunamis.
1898	(June 20) En route to the Philippines to fight the Spanish during the Spanish-American War, the U.S. Navy Cruiser Charleston seizes the island of Guam. (December 10) The Treaty of Paris officially ends the Spanish-American War. The U.S. pays Spain $20 million to gain possession of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Guam serves as a way station for American ships traveling to and from the Philippines.
1900–1930 The Territory of Guam
1901	The U.S. defines Guam as an "unincorporated territory," which mean the U.S. Constitution does not fully apply to its citizens.
1903	(July 3) The Pacific Cable telegraph opens, connecting San Francisco, Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines. President Theodore Roosevelt is the first to send a message, wishing "a happy Independence Day to the U.S., its territories, and properties." It takes nine minutes for the message to travel worldwide.
1927	The people of Guam, including schoolchildren who donate a penny each, collect $703.92 to have a ship’s bell and commemorative plaque manufactured in Shanghai. They present the bell to the Navy, and the bell has since served on each of the three USS Guam Naval vessels.
1929	After a single operator is transferred from a site in Shanghai, a U.S. intercept station is established on Guam. The need for an intermediate site in the Pacific to receive and process Japanese communications spurs its opening.
1930–1950 World War II and Japanese Occupation
1941	(December 10) Fifty five hundred Japanese Special Forces invade and capture the island. They occupy Guam for two and a half years, during which the people suffer terrible atrocities. They endure torture, beheadings, and rape for attempting to aid American servicemen. Japanese forces find and execute all American servicemen, except for Navy radioman George Tweed, who is hidden by the Chamorro community.
1944	(July 21) U.S. forces invade Japanese-occupied Guam after a naval bombardment in which thousands of Japanese and Chamorro lose their lives. Seven thousand Americans and 11,000 Japanese are killed before U.S. troops defeat the Japanese and recapture Guam on August 10.
1945	The U.S. defines Guam as a "non-self-governing territory."
1946	(May 30) the U.S. Naval Government is re-established on Guam. (July 15) U.S. Representative Robert A. Grant of Indiana introduces a Congressional bill that would provide Guam with the semi-autonomous status of "organized territory," which includes the privilege of sending a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill never makes it out of committee. The brown tree snake arrives on Guam and begins to feed on the native bird population. By 1998, an estimated 9 out of 11 native bird species have been eliminated. In 1994, Guam begins to use Jack Russell terriers to check cargo for brown tree snakes in an attempt to quell the population.
1949	President Harry Truman appoints Carlton Skinner as the first civilian governor of Guam. Skinner establishes the island’s first university and writes its first constitution. (February–March) The Guam Assembly Walkout occurs. The Guam Assembly subpoenas Abe Goldstein, a civil service employee of the U.S. Navy, for violations of local business laws. With backing from Governor Charles Alan Pownall, Goldstein refuses to testify. The assembly issues a warrant for his arrest, but the governor cancels it. In protest, the entire assembly walks out on March 6 and is summarily fired by Pownall (they are later reinstated). The event helps generate popular support for increased Guamanian self-rule, directly leading to the Guam Organic Act.
1950–present Modern Guam
1950	The Guam Organic Act gives Guamanians American citizenship. It gives the island status as an unincorporated organized territory and provides for a civilian government. It also transfers Federal jurisdiction from the United States Navy to the Department of the Interior. The Boy Scouts of America construct a replica of the Statue of Liberty observance of their 40th anniversary. It stands in the Paseo de Susana at the entrance of Hagatna harbor and is visible to boats approaching the harbor.
1951	President Truman authorizes the shipment of nuclear capsules to Guam during the Korean War. Starting in 1956, a wide variety of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems are sent to the Pacific Island territory as a first line of defense for the U.S.
1952	The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 expands the definition of the "United States" for nationality purposes to add Guam.
1954–75	Guam becomes a strategically located military base during the Vietnam War.
1962	President John F. Kennedy lifts the Naval Clearing Act, which opens Guam’s ports to domestic and foreign visitors. This allows for the development of a tourism industry on Guam. Today Guam is a popular destination for Japanese tourists, as well as travelers from South Korea, the U.S., the Philippines, and Taiwan.
1968	The Elective Governor Act gives Guamanians the right to vote for their own governor for the first time.
1969	(July 25) The Nixon Doctrine is unveiled at a press conference in Guam. In it, President Richard Nixon states that the U.S. expects its allies to take care of their own military defense, but that they will be aided in defense as requested. The doctrine helps set the stage for subsequent direct U.S. military involvement in the Persian Gulf region with military aid to Iran and Saudi Arabia.
1972	(January 24) The last Japanese World War II fighter, Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi, is found hiding in a cave in the Guamanian jungle. He has been hiding since his unit was scattered by advancing Americans in July 1944, in adherence with his army’s code of never surrendering. He returns to Japan as a national hero. Guam begins to elect a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives to serve a two-year term.
1975	Following the fall of South Vietnam, over 100,000 refugees are air-lifted to Guam before being sent to the U.S.
1978	(August 18) The War in the Pacific National Historic Park-Guam is established to commemorate the bravery and sacrifice of those participating in World War II. Visitors can still see Japanese coastal guns, pillboxes, caves, and other remnants from the Japanese occupation of Guam.
1996	Guam’s population increases with the immigration of more than 6,000 Kurdish refugees from Iraq.
1997	(August 6) Korean Air Flight 801 from Seoul crashes into a hillside a short distance from Guam’s Agana International Airport. Two hundred twenty-eight people are killed; 26 survive.
2002	(December 8) Typhoon Pongsona, a Category 4 typhoon, becomes the costliest U.S. disaster in 2002. It passes through Guam and the Northern Marianas with peak wind gusts of 173 mph, leaving Guam without power and destroying 1,300 homes. Damage on the island totals over $700 million.
2008	(February 23) A B-2 Spirit of the U.S. Air Force crashes at Guam. The crew survives, but the 1.2 billion dollar aircraft is destroyed, making it the most expensive air crash in history.