Haitian History Timeline

Independence from France on 1804, second independent country in Americas

1492 - Columbus lands in Haiti

1496 - European settlement - spain

1503 - African slaves brought by Spain

1697 - The island divided into two (Haiti- French, Dominican Republic- Spanish)

1791 - 1803 The slave rebellion: Boukman, General was Toussaint L'ouverture

1804 - Battle of Vertieres (Victorious)

1804 - Haiti becomes independent; former slave Jean-Jacques Dessalines declares himself emperor.

1807-1820 Civil War

Unified Haiti - excluded Black from power

1915 - US invades Haiti following black-mulatto (mix-raced) friction, which it thought endangered its property and investments in the country.

1934 - US withdraws troops from Haiti, but maintains control until 1947.

1937 - Great Massacre from Dominican Republic (Parsley massacre) Trujillo wanted Dominican Republic to be a non-black country. He killed all the Haitians in Dominican Republic

Duvalier dictatorships

1956 - Voodoo physician Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier seizes power in military coup and is elected president a year later. Personal soldiers: Tonton macoutes

1964 - Duvalier declares himself president-for-life and establishes a dictatorship with the help of the Tontons Macoutes militia.

1971 - Duvalier dies and is succeeded by his 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude, or "Baby Doc", who also declares himself president-for-life.

1986 - Baby Doc flees Haiti in the wake of mounting popular discontent and is replaced by Lieutenant-General Henri Namphy as head of a governing council.

1988 - Leslie Manigat becomes president, but is ousted in a coup led by Brigadier-General Prosper Avril, who installs a civilian government under military control.Haiti's fight for and gain of Independence

Democracy, coup and intervention

1990 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide elected president in Haiti's first free and peaceful polls.

1991 - Aristide ousted in a coup led by Brigadier-General Raoul Cedras, triggering sanctions by the US and the Organisation of American States.

1994 - Military regime relinquishes power in the face of an imminent US invasion; US forces oversee a transition to a civilian government; Aristide returns.

1995 - UN peacekeepers begin to replace US troops; Aristide supporters win parliamentary elections

Rene Preval, from Aristide's Lavalas party, is elected in December to replace Aristide as president.

1997-99 - Serious political deadlock; new government named.

1999 - Preval declares that parliament's term has expired and begins ruling by decree following a series of disagreements with deputies.

Aristide's second term

2000 November - Aristide elected president for a second non-consecutive term, amid allegations of irregularities.

2001 July - Presidential spokesman accuses former army officers of trying to overthrow the government after armed men attack three locations, killing four police officers.

2001 December - 30 armed men try to seize the National Palace in an apparent coup attempt; 12 people are killed in the raid, which the government blames on former army members.Toussaint L'Ouverture2002 July - Haiti is approved as a full member of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) trade bloc.

2003 April - Voodoo recognised as a religion, on a par with other faiths.

2004 January-February - Celebrations marking 200 years of independence turn into uprising against President Aristide, who is forced into exile. An interim government takes over.

2004 May - Severe floods in south, and in parts of neighbouring Dominican Republic, leave more than 2,000 dead or disappeared.

2004 June - First UN peacekeepers arrive, to take over security duties from US-led force and to help flood survivors.

2004 July - International donors pledge more than $1bn in aid.

2004 September - Nearly 3,000 killed in flooding in the north, in the wake of tropical storm Jeanne.

late 2004 - Rising levels of deadly political and gang violence in the capital; armed gangs loyal to former President Aristide are said to be responsible for many killings.

2005 April - Prominent rebel leader Ravix Remissainthe is killed by police in the capital.

2005 July - Hurricane Dennis kills at least 45 people.

Preval wins elections

2006 February - General elections, the first since former President Aristide was overthrown in 2004. Rene Preval is declared the winner of the presidential vote after a deal is reached over spoiled ballot papers.

2006 June - A democratically-elected government headed by Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis takes office.

2006 September - Launch of a UN-run scheme to disarm gang members in return for grants, job training.

2006 October - US partially lifts an arms embargo, imposed in 1991.

2007 January - UN troops launch tough new offensive against armed gangs in Cite Soleil, one of the capital's largest and most violent shantytowns.

2008 April - Food riots. Government announces emergency plan to cut price of rice in bid to halt unrest. Parliament dismisses Prime Minister Alexis.

2008 May - US and World Bank announce extra food aid totalling 30m dollars.

In response to plea from President Preval for more police to help combat wave of kidnappings-for-ransom, Brazil agrees to boost its peacekeeping force.

Tropical storms

Protests

2010 October-December - Cholera outbreak claims some 3,500 lives and triggers violent protests.

2010 November - Presidential and parliamentary elections.

2010 December - Announcement of inconclusive provisional results of presidential election triggers violent protests.

2011 January - Former president Jean-Claude Duvalier returns from exile, faces corruption and human rights abuse charges.

2011 March - Michel Martelly wins second round of presidential election.

2011 May - Mr Martelly takes up office as president.

2011 July - Death toll from cholera outbreak climbs to nearly 6,000.

2011 October - President Martelly appoints UN development expert Garry Conille as his prime minister, after parliament rejected his two previous nominees.

2012 January - Presidential Martelly proposes reviving Haiti's army, which was disbanded in 1995 because of its role in coups and its history of human rights abuses.

2012 February - Prime Minister Garry Conille resigns in protest at the refusal of many of his ministers and the presidential administration to cooperate with a parliamentary inquiry into dual citizenship among senior officials.

2012 May - Parliament approves Foreign Minister Laurent Lamothe as prime minister.

2012 October - Hundreds protest against the high cost of living and call for the resignation of President Martelly. They accuse the president of corruption and failure to deliver on his promises to alleviate poverty.

2013 - Former president Jean-Claude Duvalier charged human abuse

2014 - Former president Jean-Claude Duvalier died on heart attack