Timeline
1595 — Spaniard Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira is the first European to sight the islands.
1606 — Portuguese-Spaniard Pedro Fernández de Quirós made the first recorded European landing in the islands when he set foot on Rakahanga.
1773 — Captain James Cook explores the islands and names them the Hervey Islands. Fifty years later they are renamed in his honour by Russian Admiral Adam Johann von Krusenstern.
1813 — English missionary John Williams made the first official sighting of Rarotonga.
1821 — English and Tahitian missionaries land in Aitutaki, become the first non-Polynesian settlers.
1823 — English missionary John Williams lands in Rarotonga, converting Makea Pori Ariki to Christianity.
1858 — The Cook Islands become united as a state, the Kingdom of Rarotonga.
1862 — Peruvian slave traders took a terrible toll on the islands of Penrhyn, Rakahanga and Pukapuka in 1862 and 1863.
1888 — Cook Islands are proclaimed a British protectorate and a single federal parliament is established.
1901 — The Cook Islands are annexed to New Zealand.
1924 — The All Blacks Invincibles stop in Rarotonga on their way to the United Kingdom and play a friendly match against a scratch Rarotongan team.
1946 — Legislative Council is established. For the first time since 1912, the territory has direct representation.
1965 — The Cook Islands become a self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand. Albert Henry, leader of the Cook Islands Party, is elected as the territory's first prime minister.
1974 — Albert Henry is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
1979 — Sir Albert Henry is found guilty of electoral fraud and stripped of his premiership and his knighthood. Tom Davis becomes Premier.
1980 — Cook Islands – United States Maritime Boundary Treaty establishes the Cook Islands – American Samoa boundary
1981 — Constitution is amended. Parliament grows from 22 to 24 seats and the parliamentary term is extended from four to five years. Tom Davis is knighted.
1984 — The country's first coalition government, between Sir Thomas and Geoffrey Henry, is signed in the lead up to hosting regional Mini Games in 1985. Shifting coalitions saw ten years of political instability. At one stage, all but two MPs were in government.
1985 — Rarotonga Treaty is opened for signing in the Cook Islands, creating a nuclear free zone in the South Pacific.
1986 — In January 1986, following the rift between New Zealand and the USA in respect of the ANZUS security arrangements Prime Minister Tom Davis declared the Cook Islands a neutral country, because he considered that New Zealand (which has control over the islands' defence and foreign policy) was no longer in a position to defend the islands. The proclamation of neutrality meant that the Cook Islands would not enter into a military relationship with any foreign power, and, in particular, would prohibit visits by US warships. Visits by US naval vessels were allowed to resume by Henry's Government.
1990 — Cook Islands – France Maritime Delimitation Agreement establishes the Cook Islands – French Polynesia boundary
1991 — The Cook Islands signed a treaty of friendship and co-operation with France, covering economic development, trade and surveillance of the islands' EEZ. The establishment of closer relations with France was widely regarded as an expression of the Cook Islands' Government's dissatisfaction with existing arrangements with New Zealand which was no longer in a position to defend the Cook Islands.
1995 — The French Government resumed its Programme of nuclear-weapons testing at Mururoa Atoll in September 1995 upsetting the Cook Islands. New Prime Minister Geoffrey Henry was fiercely critical of the decision and dispatched a vaka (traditional voyaging canoe) with a crew of Cook Islands' traditional warriors to protest near the test site. The tests were concluded in January 1996 and a moratorium was placed on future testing by the French government.
1997 — Full diplomatic relations established with China.
1997 — In November, Cyclone Martin in Manihiki kills at least six people; 80% of buildings are damaged and the black pearl industry suffered severe losses.
1999 — A second era of political instability begins, starting with five different coalitions in less than nine months, and at least as many since then.
2000 — Full diplomatic relations concluded with France.
2002 — Prime Minister Terepai Maoate is ousted from government following second vote of no-confidence in his leadership.
2004 — Prime Minister Robert Woonton visits China; Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao grants $16 million in development aid.
2006 — Parliamentary elections held. The Democratic Party keeps majority of seats in parliament, but is unable to command a majority for confidence, forcing a coalition with breakaway MPs who left, then rejoined the "Demos."
Read more about this topic: History Of The Cook Islands