Events in French Polynesia History
- 1767-06-18 Samuel Wallis, an English sea captain, sights Tahiti; considered the first European to reach the island
James Cook
1767-11-12 Meeting of the Royal Society appoints James Cook as head of an expedition to the Pacific Ocean to observe the transit of Venus on Tahiti in 1769 (will be Cook's 1st voyage aboard HMS Endeavour) [1]
- 1768-04-06 French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville's expedition arrives in Tahiti, claiming it for France and naming it New Cythera [1]
- 1769-04-13 British ship Endeavour captained by James Cook, arrives in Matavia Bay, Tahiti, with botanist Joseph Banks on board
- 1777-12-08 Captain James Cook leaves the Society Islands
- 1803-02-05 English explorer George Bass and crew set sail from Sydney to Tahiti and Chile - they're never seen again
- 1835-10-20 HMS Beagle leaves Galapagos Archipelago to sail to Tahiti
Darwin Reaches Tahiti
1835-11-15 Charles Darwin reaches Tahiti on board HMS Beagle, the location where he would formulate his ideas later written in The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs
- 1835-11-26 HMS Beagle leaves Tahiti for New Zealand
- 1880-06-29 France annexes Otaheite (Tahiti)
Gauguin Leaves for Tahiti
1891-04-01 French painter Paul Gauguin leaves Marseille for Tahiti
- 1891-06-09 French painter Paul Gauguin arrives in Papeete, Tahiti
- 1891-07-26 France annexes Tahiti.
- 1895-06-28 Painter Paul Gauguin leaves France for Tahiti for the second time and never sees France again
- 1905-02-08 Cyclone hits Tahiti & adjacent islands, killing some 10,000 people
Kon-Tiki Strikes French Polynesia
1947-08-07 Thor Heyerdahl and the crew of the Kon-Tiki crash into a reef in the Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia after 101 days crossing the Pacific Ocean
- 1966-07-02 1st France nuclear test on Mururoa Atoll
- 1966-09-11 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1966-10-04 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1968-07-07 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1968-07-15 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1968-08-03 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1968-08-24 France becomes the world's fifth thermonuclear power with a detonation on Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific
- 1968-09-08 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1970-05-15 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1970-05-22 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1970-07-27 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1970-08-06 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1971-07-04 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1971-08-08 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1972-07-29 France conducts a nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1973-06-28 New Zealand ship HMNZS Otago sails for Mururoa nuclear test zone after France’s refusal to accept an International Court of Justice injunction against its atmospheric nuclear testing
- 1973-07-21 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific
- 1973-07-28 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific
- 1973-08-19 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1973-08-25 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1973-08-28 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1974-07-17 France performs nuclear Test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1974-07-26 France performs nuclear Test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1974-07-29 France conducts a nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1974-08-15 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1974-08-25 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1976-04-03 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1976-07-11 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1976-07-23 France performs nuclear Test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1977-02-19 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1977-03-19 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1977-07-06 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1977-11-12 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1977-11-24 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1977-12-17 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1978-02-27 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1978-07-19 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1978-07-26 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1978-11-02 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1978-12-18 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1979-03-09 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1980-02-23 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1980-03-03 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1980-04-01 France performs underground nuclear test at the Moruroa Atoll in French Polynesia
- 1980-11-25 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1981-03-06 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1981-07-11 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1982-02-27 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1982-07-21 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1983-04-25 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1983-07-20 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1983-12-03 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1983-12-07 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1984-05-08 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1984-10-27 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1984-11-02 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific
- 1985-04-30 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1985-05-08 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1985-11-26 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1986-05-06 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1986-05-27 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1986-12-06 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1987-05-05 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1987-10-23 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1987-11-29 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1988-10-25 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1989-05-11 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1989-10-24 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1989-10-31 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1989-11-15 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1989-11-27 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1990-07-04 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1990-11-14 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1991-05-07 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1991-05-18 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1991-07-05 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1991-07-15 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 1991-11-18 France deports Marlon's daughter Cheyenne Brando to Tahiti
- 1996-01-27 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- 2020-03-14 Longest-ever scheduled passenger flight by distance by Air Tahiti Nui from French Polynesia to mainland France 9,765 m (15715 km) due to COVID-19 and it was domestic
Famous People from French Polynesia
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)
1848-06-07 French post-impressionist painter who worked in French Polynesia, born in Paris
- 1926-06-21 Conrad Hall, Tahitian-American cinematographer, born in Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia (d. 2003)
- 1944-11-01 Oscar Temaru, President of French Polynesia 2011-13, born in Faa'a, Tahiti, French Polynesia
- 1970-02-20 Cheyenne Brando, Papeete Tahiti, daughter of Marlon
- 1972-12-09 Fabrice Santoro, Tahitian tennis star, born in Tahiti, French Polynesia
- 1979-07-09 Ella Koon [Yun-na], Hong Kong Canto-pop singer and actress of Hakka heritage, born in Tahita, French Polynesia
Famous French People
Aimé Bonpland
Alain Delon
Alain Prost
Albert Camus
Albert Uderzo
Alexandre de Beauharnais