Timeline French Polynesia
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A South Pacific territory of France. A group of 5
archipelagos, included are the Society Islands, the Marquesas, the
Tuamotu Archipelago (which is also called the Low Archipelago or the
Paumotu Archipelago) and other scattered groups. Formerly French
Oceania. Also Bora Bora, Tahiti and Maupiti.
   (WUD, 1994, p.567,1522)(SFC,11/27/97, p.B5)(SFEC,
1/18/98, p.T1)
1767Â Â Â Â Â Â
The English found their way to Tahiti.
   (SFEC, 3/2/97, p.T12)
1769Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, British navigator,
Captain James Cook, British astronomer Charles Green and Swedish
naturalist Daniel Solander observed and recorded a transit of Venus
across the sun on the island of Tahiti during Cook's first voyage
around the world.
  Â
(http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/past-transits/1769-june-3/)
1777Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, Captain Cook left
the Society Islands (French Polynesia).
   (MC, 12/8/01)
1777Â Â Â Â Â Â Captain James Cook, while
exploring the Pacific, reported on long-board surfers in Tahiti and
Oahu and observed that the sport appeared recreational rather than
competitive.
   (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)
1777Â Â Â Â Â Â John Webber (1751-1793),
English artist, painted his protrait of Poedua. She had been hostage
together with her father, brother, and husband during the third
voyage of James Cook in exchange of two sailors that deserted onto
the island of Raiatea, the second largest of the Society Islands
(later part of French Polynesia).
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poedua)
1789Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, Fletcher Henderson
left Tahiti with the Bounty with a light crew. 16 men were left
abandoned.
   (ON, 3/04, p.9)
1791Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, Capt. Edward
Edwards set sail from Tahiti in the Pandora with the Bounty
mutineers abandoned by Fletcher Henderson.
   (ON, 3/04, p.9)
1880Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 29, France annexed
Tahiti.
   (HN, 6/29/98)
1835Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, HMS Beagle and
Charles Darwin reached Tahiti.
   (MC, 11/15/01)
1880Â Â Â Â Â Â The French colonized
Polynesia.
   (SFEC, 3/2/97, p.T12)
1891Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, Paul Gauguin
(1848-1903), French painter, abandoned his wife and 5 children and
left Marseille for Tahiti.
   (SFEC, 3/2/97, p.T12)(MC, 4/1/02)(SSFC, 5/11/03,
p.C7)
1891Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, Painter Paul
Gauguin arrived in Papeete, Tahiti.
   (MC, 6/9/02)
1891Â Â Â Â Â Â Painter Paul Gauguin
painted his landscape “Haere Mai,” which means “Come here!” in
Tahitian.
   (SSFC, 10/23/11,
p.M5)(http://tinyurl.com/3qex6r3)
1892Â Â Â Â Â Â Â French artist Paul
Gauguin painted a picture of two Tahitian gilrs titled “Nafea Faa
Ipoipo {When Will You Marry?). In 2015 it sold at auction to a
Qatari buyer for close to $300 million.
   (SFC, 2/6/15, p.A2)
1896Â Â Â Â Â Â Paul Gauguin made his
sculpture “Tahitian Girl.”
   (SFEM, 11/24/96, p.62)
1901Â Â Â Â Â Â Paul Gauguin left Tahiti
for the Marquesas and arrived at Hiva Oa.
   (SFEC, 8/25/96, p.T1,6)
1903Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, Paul Gauguin
(b.1848), French born painter, died at his home on the Marquesas
Islands. He was buried at Atuona on Hiva Oa Island. Gauguin had
infected three child brides and a string of adolescents with
syphilis.
   (SFEC, 8/25/96, p.T6)(SSFC, 6/2/02, p.C9)(Econ,
4/11/20, p.30)
1905Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, A cyclone hit
Tahiti and adjacent islands killing some 10,000 people.
   (MC, 2/8/02)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, Cheyenne Brando
(d.1995), daughter of Marlon, was born in Papeete, Tahiti.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheyenne_Brando)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Australia joined with New
Zealand and 14 independent of self-governing island nations to form
the South Pacific Forum. The name was changed in 2000 to Pacific
Islands Forum. Member states include: Australia, the Cook Islands,
the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall
Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa,
the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Since 2006,
associate members territories are New Caledonia and French
Polynesia. In 2011 Guam, the Northern Marianas and American Samoa
became associate members.
   (Econ, 10/20/07,
p.61)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islands_Forum)(Econ.,
2/13/21, p.41)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â David McTaggart (d.2001),
one of the founders of Greenpeace Int’l., sailed his small boat into
the French nuclear-testing site at Mururoa atoll in the South
Pacific.
   (SFC, 3/24/01, p.A22)(SSFC, 10/19/03, p.A31)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Kawika Kapahulehua
(d.2007 at 76), leading a 15-man crew on a double-hulled canoe with
sails, departed Hawaii to Tahiti. Organizer and anthropologist Ben
Finney wanted to prove the trip was possible. They reached Tahiti
after 34 days despite issues of ethnicity raised by part of the
crew. Mau Piailug (1932-2010), Micronesian master navigator, steered
the Hokule’a (Star of Gladness) by the stars, the feel of the wind
and the look of the sea.Â
   (SFC, 5/28/07, p.D3)(Econ, 7/24/10, p.84)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Francis Sanford
(1912-1996) helped write a statute in the French National Assembly
that provided autonomy in daily affairs to the territory.
   (SFC, 12/23/96, p.A16)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Roman Polanski, film
director, was accused of drugging and raping a 13-year-old model at
the home of Jack Nicholson. He pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor and left the country on bail to film
"Hurricane" in Tahiti, and then fled to Paris.
   (SFC, 10/2/97, p.E3)
1978Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, Jacques Brel,
Belgian cabaret singer, died at 49. He was buried at Atuona on the
Marquesas Island of Hiva Oa.
   (MC, 10/9/01)(SSFC, 10/11/03, p.C9)
1984Â Â Â Â Â Â The French granted
Polynesia internal autonomy.
   (SFEC, 3/2/97, p.T12)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, France performed
nuclear test at Muruora Island.
  Â
(www.seismo.ethz.ch/bsv/nuclear_explosions/undergr/france.html)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, Tahitian
authorities found a 55-foot catamaran, the Hakuna Matata, that
belonged to former NBA star Bison Dele (b.1969 as Brian Carson
Williams). His brother, Kevin Williams (Miles Dabord) was seen
docking the catamaran on July 16 in Taravao, Tahiti. Williams met
his girlfriend on July 8 in Papeete and described a scuffle that
left 3 people dead. He was last seen Sept. 5 in Phoenix, when he
tried to pick up an order for $500,000 in American Double Eagle
coins using his brother’s passport. A comatose Williams was arrested
Sep 19 at a San Diego hospital and died Sep 27.
   (SFC, 9/14/02, p.A15)(SFC, 9/17/02, p.A1)(SFC,
9/19/02, p.A7)(SFC, 9/20/02, p.A1)(SFC, 9/21/02, p.A1)(SFC, 9/28/02,
p.A5)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May, In Tahiti the Union
for Democracy coalition of Oscar Temaru won elections with a 1-seat
majority, dislodging Gaston Flosse from a long incumbency.
   (Econ, 11/13/04, p.48)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, In Tahiti a
defection led to new elections that ousted the government of Oscar
Temaru in favor of Gaston Flosse by 1 seat. Temaru refused to leave
the presidential premises.
   (Econ, 11/13/04, p.48)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, Researchers from
the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill reported that coral
coverage in the Indo-Pacific, an area stretching from Indonesia's
Sumatra island to French Polynesia, had dropped 20 percent in the
past two decades. They said the decline was driven by climate
change, disease and coastal development.
   (AP, 8/8/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, A small airplane
plunged into the sea moments after taking off from the French
Polynesian resort island of Moorea, apparently killing all 20 people
aboard in the territory's worst-ever plane crash.
   (AP, 8/10/07)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, In French Polynesia
German tourist Stefan Ramin (40) was murdered while visiting Nuku
Hiva island. Haiti, a 31-year-old local guide, said Ramin was
injured and then attempted to sexually assault Ramin’s girlfriend
Heike Dorsch (37). Human remains were found in a charred pit on the
island on Oct 12.
   (AFP, 10/18/11)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, French Polynesia
created a 1.5 million square mile shark sanctuary.
   (SFC, 12/19/12, p.A5)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, In Italy a nurse
(48) reportedly killed her two young children, a boy of 7 and a girl
of 9, by lethal injection, then took her own life in the
northwestern mountain town of Aymavilles. The woman left notes
saying she couldn't bear the "weight of life's adversities".
   (AP, 11/16/18)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Canadian
billionaire Guy Laliberte (6), co-founder of global circus company
Cirque du Soleil, turned himself in and was arrested in Papeete,
Tahiti, for growing cannabis on his private island in French
Polynesia.
   (Good Morning America, 11/14/19)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, President Emmanuel
Macron began a visit to French Polynesia to showcase France’s
commitment to the region amid concerns about the impact of climate
change on the Pacific island territory, the legacy of French nuclear
testing on its atolls — and most of all, growing Chinese dominance
in the region.
   (AP, 7/24/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, French President
Emmanuel Macron confirmed the government will take charge of
cleaning up contaminated lands in French Polynesia, open government
archives, create a permanent mediator between the state and the
community on the issue — and speed up compensation to local
populations.
   (AP, 7/28/21)
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