Events in Haiti History
Columbus Sights Hispaniola
1492-12-05 Christopher Columbus is the first European to sight Hispaniola (modern Dominican Republic and Haiti)
- 1492-12-26 1st Spanish settlement La Navidad in the New World is founded by Christopher Columbus (modern Môle-Saint-Nicolas in Haiti)
- 1772-06-06 Haitian explorer Jean Baptiste-Pointe Dusable settles in Chicago
- 1790-10-23 Slaves revolt in Haiti (later suppressed)
- 1791-08-22 Haitian Slave Revolution begins under voodoo priest Boukman
- 1793-08-29 Slaves in French colony of St Domingue (Haiti) freed
- 1793-09-20 British troops under Major-general Williamson lands on (French) Haiti
Toussaint Louverture Changes Sides
1794-05-06 In Haiti Toussaint Louverture changes sides, ambushing his former ally the Spanish at San Raphael
- 1801-07-07 Toussaint Louverture declares Haitian independence
- 1802-06-15 Toussaint Louverture leaves Haiti, prisoner on French ship Héros
Slavery Re-instated
1802-08-07 Napoleon orders re-instatement of slavery on St Domingue (Haiti)
- 1803-11-18 Battle of Vertieres; Haitian population inflict final defeat on French force attempting to quell slave rebellion on colony of Saint-Dominque
- 1803-11-29 Dessalines & Christophe declare St Domingue (Haiti) independent
- 1804-01-01 Haiti gains independence from France (National Day), making it the only state ever founded by former slaves and without slavery
- 1804-03-29 Thousands of Whites massacred in Haiti
- 1806-10-17 Former leader of the Haitian Revolution, Emperor Jacques I of Haiti is assassinated
- 1822-02-09 Haiti invades the newly founded Dominican Republic.
- 1844-02-27 Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti (National Day)
- 1869-04-16 Ebenezer Bassett, 1st African American diplomat, begins service as Minister to Haiti
- 1874-11-03 James Theodore Holly, elected bishop of Haiti
- 1877-09-27 John Mercer Langston named minister of Haiti
- 1885-05-07 John E. W. Thompson named US minister to Haiti
Douglass Minister to Haiti
1889-07-01 Frederick Douglass named US Minister to Haiti
- 1891-09-03 John Stephens Durham named US minister to Haiti
- 1897-06-17 US State Department appoints New Jersey educator William Frank Powell as Envoy to Haiti, and Chargé d’Affaires for Dominican Republic
- 1905-11-23 Henry Watson Furness, an American physician from Indiana is named US minister to Haiti
- 1908-12-04 Haiti's president General Alexis Nord flees from military coup
- 1911-08-02 Haiti's dictator Simon flees on US warship near Jamaica
- 1911-08-14 General Leconte appointed temporary President of Haiti
- 1914-02-08 General Zamon becomes President of Haiti
- 1915-01-27 US Marines occupy Haiti
US Marines Occupy Haiti
1915-07-28 Because of virtual anarchy, US Marines go ashore in Haiti on orders from President Woodrow Wilson; this will lead to an occupation that will last until 1934
- 1915-09-16 US takes control of customs & finances of Haiti for 10 years
- 1928-09-09 Silvio Cator of Haiti, sets then long jump record at 26' ½"
- 1934-08-06 US troops leave Haiti, which had been occupied since 1915
- 1934-08-15 US ends occupation of Haiti after 19 years; started after the 1915 assassination of Haiti's president
- 1935-10-25 Hurricane-produced floods kill 2,000 in Jeremie & Jacmel Haiti
- 1947-10-01 US control of Haitian customs & governmental revenue ends
Haitian Presidential Election
1954-09-25 Francois "Doc" Duvalier wins Haitian presidential election
- 1954-10-05 Hurricane Hazel forms in the Caribbean, killing 400-1000 people in the Bahamas and Haiti
- 1963-10-03 Hurricane Flora hits Haiti; about 5,000 die & 100,000 injured
- 1963-10-04 -8] Hurricane Flora, kills 6,000 in Cuba & Haiti
- 1963-10-07 Hurricane Flora hits Haiti & Dominican Republic, kills 7,190
- 1963-10-09 Hurricane Flora ravages Cuba & Haiti, kills 6,000
- 1968-05-24 Haiti closes down shortwave station 4VEH for 40 days
- 1983-08-27 Haiti adopts constitution
Duvalier Flees
1986-02-07 Haiti's President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier flees to France: Henri Namphy becomes leader of Haiti
- 1986-12-07 President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees Haiti
- 1987-09-11 Shoot out at Jean-Bertrand Aristides' church in Haiti, 12 die
- 1988-01-17 Leslie Manigay elected President of Haiti
- 1988-06-19 Namphy takes control of Haitian government
- 1988-06-20 Coup in Haiti: Henri Namphy overthrows Leslie Manigat, general assembly dissolved
- 1988-09-18 Coup in Haiti: General Prosper Avril takes control, Henri Namphy flees
- 1990-03-10 Prosper Avril resigns as President of Haiti
- 1990-12-16 Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide elected President of Haiti
- 1991-02-07 Jean-Bertrand Aristide sworn in as Haiti's 1st elected president
- 1991-09-30 Rev Jean Betrand Aristide ousted as president of Haiti
- 1991-10-10 US cuts all foreign aid to Haiti
Event of Interest
1992-05-23 US President George H. W. Bush orders Coast Guard to intercept boats with Haitian refugees
- 1993-02-17 Haitian ferry boat capsize in storm, 800-2,000 die
- 1993-06-08 Premier Marc Bazin of Haiti resigns
- 1993-06-23 United Nations authorizes worldwide oil embargo against Haiti
- 1993-10-11 US warship Harlan County anchors off Port-au-Prince Haiti
- 1993-10-19 UN authorizes arms, military and police supply embargo against Haiti
- 1993-12-15 Haitian premier Robert Malval resigns
- 1994-02-15 US asks Aristide to adopt a peace plan from Haiti
- 1994-04-23 Army shoots to death 23-40 fishermen in Gonaives, Haiti
- 1994-07-05 The United States announces it will no longer accept unrestricted immigration from Haiti
- 1994-07-31 UN votes 12-0 (2 abstentions) to authorize use of force against Haiti
- 1994-09-19 3,000 US militia lands on Haiti
- 1994-10-10 Lt-general Raoul Cedras resigns as dictator of Haiti
- 1994-10-15 President Jean-Baptiste Aristide returns to Haiti
- 1994-11-08 Haitian government of Smarck Michel forms
René Préval Elected
1995-12-17 René Préval wins the Haiti presidential elections for the Fanmi Lavalas party
- 1996-01-11 Haiti becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty
- 2004-02-05 Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front capture the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion
- 2004-02-29 Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as President of Haiti following popular rebel uprising.
- 2004-09-23 At least 1,070 in Haiti reported killed by floods due to Hurricane Jeanne
- 2006-05-14 René Préval sworn in as President of Haiti for the second time
Earthquake Devastates Haiti
2010-01-12 Earthquake devastates Haiti, killing approximately 160,000 and destroying the majority of the capital Port-au-Prince
- 2012-10-25 Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in Cuba and Haiti killing 65 people and causing over $80 million in damage
- 2014-05-13 Unidentified shipwreck is discovered off the northern coast of Haiti by marine archaeologist Barry Clifford
- 2016-09-28 Hurricane Matthew forms near the Windward Islands, will go on to kill over 1000 in Haiti, the Caribbean and the US
- 2016-12-01 UN admits its peacekeepers were responsible for the cholera epidemic in Haiti in 2010 that killed 30,000
- 2018-02-12 Oxfam deputy director resigns over charity's failure to deal with sexual misconduct allegations in Haiti and Chad
- 2018-07-14 Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigns after violent protests against fuel price rises
- 2019-02-17 Protests continue by thousands in streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, against government corruption and inflation
- 2019-09-23 Haitian Senator Jean-Marie Ralph Féthière opens fire hitting a journalist leaving parliament in Port-au-Prince
- 2020-02-13 Fire in US-run orphanage kills 15 children near Port-au-Prince, Haiti
- 2021-02-25 More than 200 prisoners escape and 25 people are killed at Croix-des-Bouquets prison near Port-au-Prince, Haiti
- 2021-07-07 Haiti president Jovenel Moïse assassinated in his home in Pétionville, Haiti, state of emergency declared across the country
- 2021-08-14 7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes south-west Haiti near city of Les Cayes, killing at least 2,200 people, injuring many more and destroying 52,000 homes
- 2021-09-18 US authorities begin moving, to repatriate, more than 10,000 mostly Haitian migrants living under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas
- 2021-12-14 Fuel tanker explosion after an accident leaves at least 90 dead in city of Cap-Haitien, Haiti [1]
- 2022-07-25 UN says 209 people killed in gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, including no-gang members over 10 days, with a further 254 injured with gunshot wounds [1]
- 2023-06-05 In western Haiti heavy rain and flooding leaves at least 42 people dead and thousands displaced [1]
François Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier
René Préval
Toussaint Louverture