History Hop Tags - Islands

241

First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.

1479-03-06

Treaty of Alcaçovas - Portugal gives the Canary Islands to Castile in exchange for claims in West Africa.

1492-08-12

Christopher Columbus arrives in the Canary Islands on his first voyage to the New World

1492-09-06

Columbus' fleet leaves Gomera, Canary islands

1501-05-20

Joao da Nova Castell discovers Ascension Islands

1503-05-10

Columbus discovers Cayman Islands

1534-06-29

Jacques Cartier discovers Prince Edward Islands Canada

1535-03-10

Bishop Tomés de Berlanga discovers Galapagos Islands

1574-11-22

Discovery of the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile.

1621-07-06

Dutch gov-gen John Pieterszoon Coen takes Banda-islands, 15,000 die

1648-11-11

Dutch & French agree to divide St Maarten, Leeward Islands

1678-05-11

French admiral Jean d'Estrees' fleet runs aground on Aves-islands, Curacao

1683-07-16

Manchu/Chinese Qing Dynasty naval forces under commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands.

1771-01-22

Spain cedes Falkland Islands to Britain

1772-06-12

Marion du Fresne is killed at Tacoury's Cove, Bay of Islands, New Zealand, by local Māori

1777-12-08

Captain Cook leaves Society Islands

1778-01-18

Capt James Cook stumbles over Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands)

1778-11-26

Captain Cook discovers Maui in the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii)

1791-11-29

Chatham Islands sighted by HMS Chatham commanded by William Broughton

1814-12-22

Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society arrives in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand to establish the country's first mission station; Sheep, cattle, horses and poultry are introduced

1819-02-19

British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III.

1832-02-12

Ecuador annexes Galapagos Islands

1832-12-22

HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reaches Barnevelts Islands

1833-01-01

British government demands Falkland islands

1833-01-03

Britain seizes control of Falkland Islands in South Atlantic

1834-03-16

HMS Beagle anchors at Berkeley Sound, Falkland Islands

1835-09-15

HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reaches Galapagos Islands

1835-11-19

A ship carrying 500 armed Maori from Ngati Tama and Ngati Mutunga arrives on the Chatham Islands; those Moriori (indigenous people of the Chatham Islands) that are not killed are enslaved

1835-12-21

HMS Beagle sails into Bay of Islands (New Zealand)

1836-04-01

Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle reaches Cocos Islands

1836-08-31

HMS Beagle anchors in Postage Praia, Cape Verde Islands

1839-06-17

In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the Edict of toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii Catholic Church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace is later established as a result

1840-01-29

First Governor of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi Captain William Hobson arrives in the Bay of Islands, NZ

1848-07-03

Slaves freed in Danish West Indies (now US Virgin Islands)

1850-11-06

Yerba Buena & Angel Islands (SF Bay) reserved for military use

1854-01-04

The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.

1854-06-21

First Victoria Cross won during bombardment of Bomarsund in the Aland Islands (Crimean War)

1859-07-05

Capt N C Brooks discovers Midway Islands

1860-08-08

Queen of Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) arrives in NYC

1864-03-29

Great Britain gives the Ionian Islands back to Greece

1865-12-05

Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.

1867-08-28

United States occupy Midway Islands in the Pacific

1867-09-30

Midway Islands formally declared a US possession

1867-10-29

Mail packets "Rhone" & "Wye" capsize off St Thomas, Virgin Islands

1871-09-20

Bishop John Coleridge Patteson martyred on the island of Nukapu, a Polynesian outlier island now in the Temotu province of the Solomon Islands. He was the first bishop of Melanesia.

1875-05-07

German SS Schiller sinks near Scilly Islands, 312 killed

1875-08-22

The Treaty of Saint Petersburg between Japan and Russia is ratified, providing for the exchange of Sakhalin for the Kuril Islands.

1898-06-12

Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain

1900-01-16

The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.

1900-01-16

The US gains control over Tutuila in Samoa and several smaller Pacific islands

1900-01-31

The final report of the USA's Philippine Commission is released, favouring territorial government for the islands with home rule in local affairs, but with US assumptions of ultimate responsibility for the government.

1901-06-11

Cook Islands annexed & proclaimed part of New Zealand

1904-02-22

The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina; the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.

1904-07-16

Islands of Manu'a group (Samoa) ceded to US by their chiefs

1905-02-08

Cyclone hit Tahiti & adjacent islands, killing some 10,000 people

1911-05-16

Remains of a neanderthal man found on Jersey, Channel Islands

1913-12-13

British foreign minister Sir Edward Grey proposes that southern Albania be divided between Greece and Albania with compensation to Greece in the Aegean islands

1914-06-13

Eleftherios Venizelos annouces that Greece intends to annex Chios and Mytilene, two large islands off the Turkish coast; Greece and Turkey have been heading towards conflict for months over claims to Aegean islands

1915-03-14

German cruiser Dresden scuttled off Más a Tierra, Chile, having been pursued by the Royal Navy after the Battle of the Falkland Islands, with her engines worn out and virtually no coal.

1916-08-04

Denmark cedes Danish West Indies, including the Virgin Islands, to the US for $25 million

1917-01-17

US pays Denmark $25 million for Virgin Islands (or 3/21)

1917-03-31

US purchases Danish West Indies for $25M & renames them Virgin Islands

1918-06-28

1st flight between Hawaiian Islands

1920-12-17

Japan receives League of Nations mandate over Pacific islands

1926-02-11

Tokelau (Union) Islands in South Pacific transfers to NZ

1935-11-14

FDR proclaims Philippine Islands a free commonwealth

1936-06-22

Virgin Islands receives a constitution from US (Organic Act)

1937-03-26

William H Hastie becomes 1st black federal judge (Virgin Islands)

1938-08-18

FDR dedicates Thousand Islands Bridge connecting US & Canada

1938-11-10

8.3 earthquake shakes East of Shumagin Islands, Alaska

1940-06-30

German troops begin the invasion of the undefended Channel Islands.

1941-01-25

Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.

1941-03-04

The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands, during World War II.

1942-03-23

Japanese forces occupy Andaman Islands in Indian Ocean

1942-05-03

Japanese troop attack Tulagi, Gavutu & Tanambogo, Solomon Islands during WWII

1942-06-07

Japanese troops lands on Attu, Aleutian Islands

1942-08-18

Carlson's Raiders land on Makin, Gilbert islands, kill 350 Japanese

1942-08-24

Sea battle off Eastern Solomon Islands between United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy

1943-02-09

Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, ends epic WWII battle on the Solomon Islands in the Pacific

1943-03-26

Battle of Komandorski Islands, Pacific Ocean

1943-08-02

Lt John F Kennedy's PT-boat 109 sinks at Solomon islands

1943-08-21

Japan leaves Aleutian Islands

1943-08-25

US forces overrun New Georgia in Solomon Islands during WW II

1944-01-30

US invades Majuro, Marshall Islands

1944-02-02

4th US marine division conquerors Roi, Marshall Islands

1944-02-03

World War II: United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.

1944-02-29

US troop land on Los Negros, Admirality Islands

1944-11-10

Ammunition ship USS Mount Hood (AE-11) exploded at Seeadler Harbour, Manus, Admiralty Islands

1945-05-09

World War II: The Channel Islands are formally liberated by the British.

1945-09-07

Japanese at Rioekioe-islands surrender

1946-05-01

The Paris Peace Conference concludes that the islands of the Dodecanese should be returned to Greece by Italy.

1946-05-07

William H Hastie inaugurated as 1st black governor of Virgin Islands

1947-02-12

Record 100.5-kg sailfish caught, C W Stewart, Galapagos Islands

1947-07-18

US begins administering Trust Territory of Pacific Islands

1947-08-07

Thor Heyerdahl and his fellow adventurers aboard the Kon-Tiki reach the Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia after 101 days at sea crossing the Pacific Ocean

1948-03-07

The Dodecanese islands officially become part of Greece again, ending the Italian rule.

1948-04-01

Faroe Islands receive autonomy from Denmark.

1949-01-01

Tokelau (Union) Islands declared part of New Zealand

1952-10-19

Alain Bombard departs from the Canary Islands on his solitary journey across the Atlantic ocean with almost no provisions and only a sextant for navigation to test his theory that a shipwrecked person could survive

1952-10-31

1st thermonuclear bomb detonated at Marshall Islands

1952-11-01

"Ivy Mike", the first thermonuclear weapon to utilize the H-bomb design of Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam, is detonated in the Marshall Islands, Pacific Ocean

1953-08-12

Heavy earthquake strikes the Ionian islands, 435 killed

1953-11-17

The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, Kerry, Ireland are evacuated to the mainland.

1954-06-22

Congress passes revised organic act for Virgin Islands

1954-07-22

US Virgin Islands adopt constitution (Revised Organic Act)

1954-09-03

The People's Liberation Army begin shelling the ROC-controlled islands of Quemoy.

1955-01-18

Battle of Yijiangshan Islands between Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the People's Liberation Army

1955-11-03

Australia takes control of Cocos Islands

1957-03-09

8.1 earthquake shakes Andreanof Islands, Alaska

1959-07-04

Cayman Islands separated from Jamaica, made a crown colony

1961-07-29

Wallis & Futuna Islands become a French overseas territory

1961-08-24

Windward Islands' Airways International (Winair) forms

1962-09-01

Channel Television launches to 54,000 households in the Channel Islands.

1965-08-04

Cook Islands enters into free association with New Zealand

1967-11-30

Kuria Muria Islands ceded by Britain to Oman

1968-06-26

Iwo Jima & Bonin Islands returned to Japan by US

1970-06-04

Tonga (formerly Friendly Islands) declares independence from UK

1971-04-25

US canal rights in Nicaragua & rights to Corn Islands expire

1971-07-01

Britain & Argentina sign accord about Falkland Islands

1974-12-22

Referenda in Comoros-3 islands for independence, 1 stays French

1975-10-01

Ellice Islands split from Gilbert Islands, take name "Tuvalu"

1976-08-30

Turks & Caicos Islands adopts constitution

1977-05-27

2 Boeing 747s by Pan Am & KLM collide in Canary Islands, killing 582

1977-06-01

British Virgin Islands adopts constitution

1978-07-07

Solomon Islands declares independence from UK

1978-10-01

Tuvalu (formerly Ellice Islands) declares independence from UK

1979-03-31

The last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).

1979-05-01

Marshall Islands (in Pacific) become self-governing

1979-07-12

Kiribati (formerly Gilbert Islands) declares independence from UK

1982-03-12

1st-class debut of Courtney Walsh, Jamaica v Leeward Islands

1982-04-02

Several thousand Argentine troops seize the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands from Great Britain

1982-04-03

UN Security Council demanded Argentina withdraw from Falkland Islands

1982-04-05

British fleet sails to Falkland Islands

1982-05-04

British destroyer HMS Sheffield hit by Exocet rocket off Falkland Islands

1982-05-21

British troops land on Falkland Islands

1982-06-12

Battle of Mount Longdon Falkland Islands

1983-01-09

British PM Margaret Thatcher visits Falkland Islands

1985-10-03

Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) adopts constitution

1985-10-03

South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands adopts constitution

1986-04-17

Netherlands & Scilly Islands sign peace treaty (war of 1651)

1986-10-21

Republic of Marshall Islands signs Compact of Free Association with US

1986-11-03

Northern Mariana Islands becomes a Commonwealth associated with US

1986-12-24

Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab

1987-05-21

Military coup in Fiji Islands under lt col Sitivani Rabuka

1988-03-05

Constitution of Turks and Caicos Islands is restored and revised.

1990-05-28

Longest wheelie (David Robilliard with 5h12m33s (Channel Islands)

1990-12-04

An Iraqi official reports that Iraq will withdraw if it can retain control of the Rumailah field and keep Bubiyan and Werbah islands; also says that demands that the Palestinian issue be treated separately would not be surmountable

1991-09-17

UN admits Estonia, Latvia, Lithuiania, North & South Korea, Marshall Islands & Micronesia

1993-01-05

The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.

1994-12-31

This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC-11 to UTC+13 and UTC-10 to UTC+14, respectively.

1995-09-28

Bob Denard and a group of mercenaries take the islands of Comoros in a coup.

1996-02-23

Rajindra Dhanraj takes 9-97 for Trinidad against Leeward Islands

1996-03-12

Leeward Islands beat Trinidad by 73 runs to win Red Stripe Trophy

2006-12-04

An adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.

2007-11-23

MS Explorer, a cruise liner carrying 154 people, sank in the Antarctic Ocean south of Argentina after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands.

2009-09-29

An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands causes a tsunami .

2012-09-11

Japan nationalizes three of the disputed Senkaku Islands

2012-09-17

China dispatches 1,000 fishing boats to Senkaku Islands

2012-09-25

50 Taiwanese ships clash with the Japan Coast Guard in waters off the Senkaku Islands

2012-09-27

UN publicly releases documents from China and Japan detailing their contesting claims for the Senkoku Islands

2012-12-13

Japan scrambles fighter jets in response to a Chinese plane in the Senkaku Islands dispute

2013-01-24

A Japanese Coast guard ship engages a Taiwanese activist ship in the Senkaku Islands dispute

2013-02-02

Shinzō Abe, Japan's Prime Minister, vows to defend the Senkaku Islands "at all costs"

2013-02-06

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake occurs off the Solomon Islands coast causing the death of nine people

2013-02-10

5 people are killed by a falling lifeboat from the cruise ship Thomson Majesty in the Canary islands

2013-03-11

Falkland Islands' sovereignty referendum: 99.8% choose to remain an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom

2013-04-10

Japan and Taiwan sign an agreement on fishing rights around the Senkaku Islands

2013-08-24

4 people are killed in a helicopter crash in the Shetland Islands

2014-01-26

21 people are killed after a tourist boat capsizes off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

2016-04-11

Egypt Gives Saudi Arabia 2 Islands in a Show of Gratitude

2016-04-12

Egyptians outraged at plan to transfer Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia

2017-09-09

Battered Caribbean islands brace for 2nd major hurricane in a week

1728-10-27

James Cook, Yorkshire, England, captain/explorer, discovered Sandwich Islands

1844-09-28

Robert Stout, Shetland Islands Scotland, NZ prime minister (1884-87)

1856-11-22

I.C. Christensen, Islands Altings besög i Köbenhavn

1861-12-04

Hannes Hafstein, Islands Altings besög i Köbenhavn

1887-03-04

Prins Gustav, Islands Altings besög i Köbenhavn

1901-10-19

Arleigh A Burke, Colo, admiral (WW II, Solomon Islands, Navy Cross)

1913-9-28

Margie Hart, Lure of the Islands

1914-02-11

Virginia Hogen, Song of the Islands

1916-01-21

Kahala Bray, Lure of the Islands

1918-02-16

Penny Gill, Song of the Islands

1919-10-14

Edward L Feightner, US rear-admiral (WW II-Santa Cruz Islands)

1925-02-10

Kerima, Outcast of the Islands

1925-07-29

Walter Friedel, Islands in the Stream

1927-11-24

Alfred Kraus, Las Palmas Canary Islands, tenor (La Scala)

1930-05-10

June Knox-Mawer, British radio host/novelist (World of Islands)

1930-08-02

Ron de Lugo, (Rep-D-Virgin Islands, 1973-79, 81- )

1932-07-27

Robert Cowan, CEO (Highlands & Islands Enterprises)

1934-09-01

Terepai Maoate, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands (1999-2002), (d. 2012)

1935-01-23

Richard Evans, Islands in the Stream

1936-04-20

Pauli Ellefsen, Miðvágur, Vágar, Faroe Islands, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands

1938-02-03

Emile Griffith, US Virgin Islands professional boxer, (d. 2013)

1939-11-18

John Cheek, Falkland Islands advocate

1943-05-23

Peter Kenilorea, PM Solomon Islands

1945-11-30

Ruben Gevorkyants, Islands

1946-06-10

Annabel Morley, Outcast of the Islands

1950-12-16

Ieremia Tabai, pres of Kiribati (Gilbert Islands) (1979-91)

1951-04-19

Jóannes Eidesgaard, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands

1955-02-20

Kelsey Grammer, Virgin Islands, actor (Fraiser Crane-Cheers/Fraiser)

1955-10-31

Gilat Ankori, Lost Islands

1959-08-29

Yigal Adika, Lost Islands

1961-9-08

Michael-James Wixted, Islands in the Stream

1966-11-07

Lisa Canning, Virgin Islands, hostess (Entertainment Tonight)

1970-05-02

Vania Thomas, Miss US Virgin Islands Universe (1997)

1972-11-09

Victoria Keil, Miss Universe-Cook Islands (1996)

1973-03-30

Melinda Penn, Miss British virgin islands Universe (1997)

1973-07-24

Tasha Ebanks, Miss Universe-Cayman Islands (1996)

1973-08-10

Keisha Delancy, Miss Turks & Caicos islands Universe (1997)

1973-9-25

Adam Edwards, The Islands of Zorraba

1976-04-25

Tim Duncan, Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands, NBA forward (San Antonio Spurs)

1976-08-23

Linette Smith, Miss Universe-British Virgin Islands (1996)

1979-01-16

Rashawn Ross, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, trumpeter (Dave Mathews Band)

1980-02-07

Luis Alandy, Islands

1986-06-03

Rafael Nadal, Manacor, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spanish tennis player

1989-12-20

Business magnate Richard Branson (39) weds Joan Templeman in British Virgin Islands

2005-05-09

Oscar-winning actress Renee Zellweger (36) weds country-music heartthrob singer Kenny Chesney (37) on the island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands

2005-06-29

American actress Jennifer Garner (33) weds actor and film director Ben Affleck (32) at the Parrot Cay resort on Turks and Caicos Islands

2009-03-21

Star of Die Hard film Bruce Willis (52) weds model and actress Emma Heming (29) in Turks and Caicos Islands

2010-11-06

Professional golfer Greg Norman (51) weds Australian interior decorator Kirsten Kutner (41) on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands

2011-07-15

American TV personality and host Vanessa Minnillo (30) weds American singer-songwriter Nick Lachey (37) at Sir Richard Branson's private Necker Island in British Virgin Islands

1641-10-06

Matthijs H Quast, fleet guardian (Gold Islands), dies in battle

1922-12-13

Hannes Hafstein, Islands Altings besög i Köbenhavn

1930-12-19

I.C. Christensen, Islands Altings besög i Köbenhavn

1944-10-05

Prins Gustav, Islands Altings besög i Köbenhavn

1965-10-03

Zachary Scott, US actor, (Southerner, Flame of Islands), dies at 51

1996-09-03

John Cheek, Falkland Islands advocate, dies at 56

1996-12-20

Amata Kabua, Pres of Marshall Islands (1979-96), dies

2000-01-19

Margie Hart, Lure of the Islands

2012-02-16

Baddeley Devesi, first Governor-General of the Solomon Islands, dies at 70

2012-07-09

Terepai Maoate, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, dies from prostate cancer at 78

2012-08-24

Pauli Ellefsen, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands, dies at 76

2013-07-23

Emile Griffith, US Virgin Islands professional boxer, dies from complication from dementia at 75