Haiti: UN record appeal for earthquake aid - timeline
Searching more than 75 years of world history
- January 2010. Some 230,000 people are killed when a sever earthquake hits Port-au-Prince (the capital) and its wider region.
- November 2009. Jean-Max Bellerive replaces Michéle Duvivier Pierre-Louis as prime minister.
- July 2009. The IMF and the World Bank cancel US$1.2 billion of Haiti's debt (some 80 per cent of the total) after judging it to have fulfilled economic reform and poverty reduction conditions.
- November 2008. At least 91 people, mostly children, are killed and more than 162 others injured when a school collapses on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince (the capital).
- September 2008. Pierre-Louis succeeds Jacques Edouard Alexis as prime minister.
- August-September 2008. A humanitarian crisis is caused by the passage through the country of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and Tropical Storm Hanna.
- June 2006. A democratically-elected government headed by Prime Minister Alexis takes office.
- February 2006. Former President René Préval of the Lespwa coalition wins a much-delayed presidential elections—legislative elections are held at the same time.
- October 2004. Over 50 people are killed in fighting in Port-au-Prince between the police and supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (the chimres).
- September 2004. At least 2,000 people are killed and many more injured when Hurricane Jeanne hits the north of the country.
- February 2004. President Aristide resigns and flees the country following an armed uprising - the UN immediately authorises the deployment of a multinational interim peacekeeping force.
- April 2003. President Aristide announces the recognition of voodoo as an official religion.
- July 2002. Haiti is granted full membership of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) trade bloc.
- November 2000. Aristide, the former president, is returned to power in presidential elections which are boycotted by opposition parties and international observers.
- May 2000. Under international pressure, legislative elections scheduled for November 1999 eventually take place, bur are seriously marred by allegations of vote rigging.
- March 1999. President Préval appoints a new government by decree in an attempt to end almost two years of political crisis and regain the confidence of the international community.
- February 1997. The centre-left government of Prime Minister Rosny Smarth becomes one of the few administrations in Haitian history to institute a land reform programme.
- February 1996. Préval is sworn in as president, on the first occasion in the country's history on which an elected president has handed over to an elected successor.
- December 1995. Préval, the Lavalas candidate endorsed by Aristide, wins a presidential election.
- September 1995. Legislative elections are completed and result in victory for the Lavalas coalition supporting President Aristide.
- October 1994. Supported by US troops, President Aristide returns to Haiti from exile in the USA where he is greeted by a crowd of some 100,000 - junta leaders flee to neighbouring countries.
- July 1994. The UN Security Council approves Resolution 940 (1994) authorising a US-led multinational force to use "all necessary means" to remove the military regime.
- July 1993. Exiled President Aristide and 1991 coup leader Gen. Raoul Cedras sign a peace agreement mediated by the UN and Organisation of American States (OAS) to resolve the political crisis, but continuing violence prevents Aristide's return.
- September 1991. President Aristide is deposed in a violent military coup and replaced by the head of the armed forces, Gen. Cedras, triggering the imposition of strict economic sanctions by the USA and the OAS.
- December 1990. Aristide defeats 10 other candidates to achieve a landslide victory in presidential elections.
- March 1990. Gen. Prosper Avril resigns as president after a period of prolonged and intensifying popular opposition to his government—he is succeeded by Ertha Pascal-Trouillot, the first female president in Haiti's history.
- September 1988. President Namphy is overthrown in a military coup and is replaced as president by Gen. Avril, the commander of the presidential guard.
- June 1988. President Leslie Manigat is overthrown by a military coup less than five months after taking office—the coup is led by Gen. Henri Namphy, who proclaims himself president.
- January 1988. Presidential elections, controlled by the army, are eventually held and the military's favoured candidate, Manigat, is elected president.
- November 1987. Presidential elections are abandoned after serious violence and intimidation disrupt voting.
- March 1987. A new liberal constitution is approved by national referendum.
- February 1986. President Duvalier flees Haiti for exile in France in the wake of mounting popular discontent and is replaced by Gen. Namphy as head of a governing council.
- July 1985. Constitutional reforms approved by referendum provide for the establishment of legal political parties, with elections to be held in 1987 and a prime minister to be appointed from among the majority party by the president.
- February 1984. Legislative elections are held and supporters of President Duvalier win all the seats in the 59-member National Assembly.
- August 1983. The legislature approves a new constitution which reaffirms the principle of presidency for life and gives President Duvalier the power to appoint his successor.
- March 1983. Pope John Paul II visits Haiti, as part of a wider tour of Central America and the Caribbean, and denounces social and economic inequalities in the country.
- November 1980. The authorities detain up to 400 people including opposition figures, human rights activists and journalists in a wave of arrests unprecedented since President Jean-Claude Duvalier took office in 1971.
- May 1979. President Duvalier and President Guzmn of the Dominican Republic meet on their mutual border, in the first meeting between heads of state of the two countries since 1958.
- February 1979. Legislative elections result in an overwhelming victory for Duvalierist candidates.
- September 1977. On the 20th anniversary of Duvalierist rule, President Jean-Claude Duvalier releases 104 political prisoners held for "terrorism or subversion".
- May 1975. The government announces an emergency programme for relieving the effects of a drought in the north-west, where 150,000 people are said to be "starving to death".
- February 1973. The first legislative elections since 1961 result in an overwhelming victory for independent Duvalierists.
- November 1972. Luckner Cambronne, who has generally been regarded as the "strong man" of the regime, is removed as minister of the interior and defence, after attempting to dismantle the Tontons Macoutes.
- April 1971. President Duvalier dies at the age of 64 as the result of a stroke and he is replaced as "president for life" by his 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.
- April 1964. Duvalier is re-elected as president "for life" by means of a referendum in which all ballot papers are marked "oui", and which approves a new constitution previously adopted unanimously by the legislature.
- October 1963. Over 5,000 people lose their lives in Haiti and Cuba, and hundreds of thousands are left homeless by the most violent hurricane ever known in the Caribbean since weather records have been kept.
- September 1957. Francois Duvalier is elected as president.
- December 1956. Gen. Paul Magloire resigns as president following widespread disorders and a general strike—this is followed by six months of serious political disturbances, during which Haiti is ruled by three successive provisional presidents, all of whom are ousted after a few weeks.
- May 1950. President Dumarsais Estime is overthrown in a military coup and replaced, five months later, by Magloire, a member of the military junta.
- August 1946. Estime is sworn in as the new president, replacing the army junta.
- January 1946. President Elie Lescot is overthrown by a military revolt.
- April 1944. The constitution is amended to extend the term of President Lescot until May 1951.
- April 1941. Lescot is elected president in succession to Stenic Vincent.
- August 1934. After 19 years of occupation by the USA, the command of the army and all police forces is turned back to the government of Haiti, although the USA retains fiscal control until 1947.
