Timeline
1492 - Christopher Columbus accidentally lands on present day Haiti and Dominican Republic and conquers the island for Spain,naming the island Hispaniola.
1697 - Spain gives the western part of Hispaniola to France, and the French name it Ayiti.
1801 - Toussaint Louverture (a former slave) becomes the self- proclaimed leader of Haiti and ends slavery
1804 - Haiti becomes independent from France after the Haitian revolution and Jean-Jacques Dessalines becomes emperor.
1806 - Dessalines is murdered and Haiti is split into a black north and mulatto south
1818-43 - Pierre Boyer unifies the north and south of Haiti, but excludes blacks from power.
1915 - US invades and "monitors" Haiti
1934 - US removes troops, but holds fiscal control for 13 more years
1956 -Francois Duvalier seizes power and is elected president a year later.
1964 - Duvalier declares himself president for life and establishes a dictatorship
1971 - Duvalier dies and is succeeded by his 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude, who also declares himself president for life and carries on his father's cruel controlling methods but flees from Haiti in 1986
1990 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide becomes president in the first peaceful and free Haitian election poll.
1991 - Aristide is kicked out of office in a coup led by Raoul Cedras, and sanctions by the US are put on Haiti
1995 - Rene Preval, from Aristide's Lavalas party, is elected for president and replaces Aristide.
1999 - Preval claims that parliament's term has become old and begins ruling by decree, much like a dictatorship
November 2000 - Aristide is elected president, again, despite rumors of irregularities in the polls.
July 2002 - Haiti becomes a full member of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) trade bloc.
April 2003 - Voodoo is recognized as an official religion
January-February 2004 - A celebration for the 200 years of independence becomes an uprising against Aristide forcing him into exile
June 2006 - An elected government takes office, headed by Jacques-Edouard Alexis
August/September 2008 - Almost 800 people are killed due to numerous hurricanes and storms
July 2009 - World Bank and International Monetary Fund void 80% of Haiti's debt ($1.2 billion USD) due to Haiti's extreme poverty and attempts at economic reform.
January 2010 - Over 300,000 people are killed in a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hits Port-au-Prince
May 2011 - Michel Martelly becomes president.
July 2011- Cholera outbreak death toll is almost 6,000 lives
January 2012 - Presidential Martelly gives the proposal of rebooting Haiti's army, which was demobilized in 1995.
October 2012- Hundreds protest and call for the resignation of President Martelly. Martelly is accused of not fulfilling his promise to help the impoverished.
November 2015 - Riots arise near Port-au-Prince because of suspicions of an altered electoral vote count
1697 - Spain gives the western part of Hispaniola to France, and the French name it Ayiti.
1801 - Toussaint Louverture (a former slave) becomes the self- proclaimed leader of Haiti and ends slavery
1804 - Haiti becomes independent from France after the Haitian revolution and Jean-Jacques Dessalines becomes emperor.
1806 - Dessalines is murdered and Haiti is split into a black north and mulatto south
1818-43 - Pierre Boyer unifies the north and south of Haiti, but excludes blacks from power.
1915 - US invades and "monitors" Haiti
1934 - US removes troops, but holds fiscal control for 13 more years
1956 -Francois Duvalier seizes power and is elected president a year later.
1964 - Duvalier declares himself president for life and establishes a dictatorship
1971 - Duvalier dies and is succeeded by his 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude, who also declares himself president for life and carries on his father's cruel controlling methods but flees from Haiti in 1986
1990 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide becomes president in the first peaceful and free Haitian election poll.
1991 - Aristide is kicked out of office in a coup led by Raoul Cedras, and sanctions by the US are put on Haiti
1995 - Rene Preval, from Aristide's Lavalas party, is elected for president and replaces Aristide.
1999 - Preval claims that parliament's term has become old and begins ruling by decree, much like a dictatorship
November 2000 - Aristide is elected president, again, despite rumors of irregularities in the polls.
July 2002 - Haiti becomes a full member of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) trade bloc.
April 2003 - Voodoo is recognized as an official religion
January-February 2004 - A celebration for the 200 years of independence becomes an uprising against Aristide forcing him into exile
June 2006 - An elected government takes office, headed by Jacques-Edouard Alexis
August/September 2008 - Almost 800 people are killed due to numerous hurricanes and storms
July 2009 - World Bank and International Monetary Fund void 80% of Haiti's debt ($1.2 billion USD) due to Haiti's extreme poverty and attempts at economic reform.
January 2010 - Over 300,000 people are killed in a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hits Port-au-Prince
May 2011 - Michel Martelly becomes president.
July 2011- Cholera outbreak death toll is almost 6,000 lives
January 2012 - Presidential Martelly gives the proposal of rebooting Haiti's army, which was demobilized in 1995.
October 2012- Hundreds protest and call for the resignation of President Martelly. Martelly is accused of not fulfilling his promise to help the impoverished.
November 2015 - Riots arise near Port-au-Prince because of suspicions of an altered electoral vote count