Timeline Gabon
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A country in West Africa south of Cameroon with
an area of 103,000 sq. mls. The capital is Libreville.
(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.8)(SSFC, 10/5/03, p.D10)
CIA Factbook: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/gb.html
Gabon Page: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Country_Specific/Gabon.html
Infonautics: http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/04840.html
Lonely Planet: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/afr/gab.htm
Map: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/CIA_Maps/Gabon_19874.gif
USDS: http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/gabon_0197_bgn.html
1856 Aug, Paul Du
Chaillu, French-American journalist and hunter, hired a large number of
men and women from the Mbondemo tribe to hunt for gorillas in Gabon.
(ON, 11/04, p.11)
1856 Sep 2, Paul Du Chaillu
(1831-1903), French-American journalist and hunter, shot and killed his
1st gorilla in Gabon. Over the next 3 years he killed 31 gorillas. In
1861 he published “Explorations & Adventures in Equatorial Africa.”
(ON, 11/04, p.12)
1913 Dr. Albert Schweitzer
(1875-1965) and his wife Hélène moved to Gabon and opened
a hospital in Lambarene, on the banks of the Ogooue River. The area was
then know as French Equatorial Africa. He later expanded it with money
from his 1952 Nobel Peace Prize. Born near Alsace, Germany, Schweitzer
decided to devote himself to providing health care to people in Africa
at the age of 30. Schweitzer also spoke out against the dangers of
nuclear weapons, be-came an organist and expert on Johann Sebastian
Bach, and served as a church pastor and university professor. He lived
by the principle of "reverence for life."
(HNPD, 9/4/98)(T&L, 10/80, p. 162)
1952 Oct 30, Dr. Albert Schweitzer
(1875-1965) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize but only received it in
1953. Schweitzer and his wife Hélène had moved to Gabon
(French Equatorial Af-rica) in 1913 and opened a hospital in
Lambaréné, which he later expanded with money from the
Nobel Peace Prize.
(AP, 10/30/97)(HNPD, 9/4/98)
1958 Nov 28, Chad, Gabon and
Middle Congo, became autonomous republics within the French community.
The Middle Congo province of French Equatorial Africa voted to proclaim
it-self independent as the Congo Republic (Brazzaville).
(AP, 11/28/97)
1960 Aug 17, Gabon became
independence from France. Leon M'Ba, head of the Gabon Democratic
Block, became the 1st president.
(PC, 1992, p.973)(WSJ, 1/24/97, p.A14)(EWH, 1st ed.,
p.1173)
1965 Sep 4, Philosopher, musician,
doctor, theologian and humanitarian Albert Schweitzer died in
Lambaréné, Gabon. Born near Alsace, Germany, in 1875,
Schweitzer decided to devote himself to providing health care to people
in Africa at the age of 30. Schweitzer and his wife
Hélène moved to Gabon in 1913 and opened a hospital in
Lambaréné, which he later expanded with money from the
Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded in 1952. Schweitzer also spoke out
against the dangers of nuclear weapons, became an organist and expert
on Johann Sebastian Bach, and served as a church pastor and university
professor. He lived by the principle of "rev-erence for life."
(HNPD, 9/4/98)
1965 French paratroopers
re-established order.
(WSJ, 1/24/97, p.A14)
1967 Dec 2, In Gabon Pres. Omar
Bongo began ruling upon the death of Leon M'Ba. Jacques Foccart,
architect of French policy in Africa, helped to handpick Omar Bongo.
(WSJ, 12/10/96, p.A22)(SFC, 3/20/97, p.A24)(AP,
11/30/05)
1972 Scientists discovered an
extinct natural nuclear reactor in a uranium mine in Gabon. Re-search
revealed it had operated intermittently for a few million years from
about 2 billion years ago.
(SFC, 11/29/04, p.A4)
1993 Pres. Bongo suppressed
protests on his re-election victory that was described as an “electoral
coup d’etat.”
(WSJ, 12/10/96, p.A22)
1996 Oct 31, An outbreak of the
Ebola virus killed at least 17 people. It was the 4th outbreak in
Africa since 1995.
(SFC, 11/1/96, p.A21)(SFEC, 11/10/96, p.T5)
1996 Dec 10, Pres. Bongo was
believed to be among the world’s richest individuals.
(WSJ, 12/10/96, p.A22)
1996 Dec 25, Officials said that
Pres. Bongo’s ruling party swept 47 of 55 parliamentary seats in
elections last week.
(SFC, 12/26/96, p.B4)
1997 May 17, From Gabon it was
reported that controlled logging in the tropical forests has led to
savage territorial wars among the native chimpanzees. The population
was estimated to have dropped from 50,000 to 30,000.
(SFC, 5/17/97, p.A4)
1998 Dec 6, In Gabon Pres. Omar
Bongo (63) won the election for a new 7-year term. He re-ceived 66% of
the vote with clear ballot stuffing.
(SFC, 12/9/98, p.B8)(SFC, 12/18/98, p.D2)
1998 Dec 17, Karen Phillips (37),
a US Peace Corps worker from Philadelphia, was raped and stabbed to
death in Oyem. 3 people were arrested in connection with her death.
(SFEC, 12/20/98, p.C10)
2001 Dec 2, An outbreak of Ebola
virus hit Gabon with the 1st death in Ekata, about 5 miles from the
Congo border. Within weeks at least 15 people died. The virus spread to
Congo and movement in the area was restricted.
(SFC, 12/21/01, p.A5)
2001 Dec 9, An outbreak of the
Ebola virus was confirmed in the Ogoouer Ivindo province of Gabon. 7
deaths were reported.
(SFC, 12/10/01, p.A3)
2002 Jan 10, In Gabon a medical
team fled the site of an Ebola outbreak following threats af-ter they
insisted that villagers not touch corpses at funerals.
(WSJ, 1/11/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 25, The WHO reported that
experts investigating a possible outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in
Republic of Congo have found four suspected cases in neighboring Gabon.
(AP, 625/02)
2002 Sep 5, In Gabon US Sec. of
State Colin Powell talked into the night with the Pres. Omar Bongo
about the country's commitment to preserve its lush forests, peace
efforts and the IMF.
(AP, 9/6/02)
2002 Pres. Omar Bongo decided to
preserve a tenth of Gabon's 103,000 square miles in 13 nature preserves
based on stories and photographs by Mike Fay and Nick Nichols.
(SSFC, 10/5/03, p.D10)
2002 Dec 23, More than 100
Gabonese students took over their embassy in Senegal, trap-ping three
diplomats overnight to protest unpaid scholarships.
(AP, 12/24/02)
2004 Jan 31, China’s oil-refining
boss signed a deal to buy crude oil from Gabon. Pres. Hu Jintao visited
Gabon the next day.
(Econ, 2/7/04, p.45)
2004 Jun 8, In Gabon a small
airliner crashed after takeoff from Libreville. At least 14 of 30
people aboard were killed.
(WSJ, 6/9/04, p.A1)
2005 Nov 27, Gabon President Omar
Bongo, Africa's longest-serving ruler, was re-elected to another
seven-year term in office with a landslide 79% of the vote.
(AP, 11/29/05)
2005 Dec 1, Researchers in Gabon
reported that 3 species of fruit bats served as the animal reservoir of
the Ebola virus. The deadly disease 1st emerged in 1976.
(SFC, 12/1/05, p.A7)
2006 Jan 19, President Omar Bongo
(69) of Gabon, was sworn in for another 7-year term. Bongo has been
president since Dec. 2, 1967, taking over upon the death of Leon M'Ba,
the country's only other head of state since independence from France
in 1960. Gabon produces about 290,000 barrels of oil a day and boasts
sub-Saharan Africa's third largest reserves, around 2.5 billion
barrels. Half the country still lives below the poverty line.
(AP, 1/19/06)
2006 Mar 22, A ferry carrying 150
passengers sank off the coast of Cameroon, and 23 people were rescued.
The rest were feared dead. The was bound for Gabon from Nigeria with
passen-gers from Burkina Faso, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast.
(AP, 3/23/06)(SFC, 3/24/06, p.A12)
2006 Nov 18, Gabonese President
Omar Bongo said in a statement that the Central African Economic and
Monetary Community (CEMAC) had "acceded to a request from the Central
Afri-can Republic authorities to intervene in securing conflict zones."
CEMAC's members include the Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon,
Congo, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
(AFP, 11/18/06)
2006 Dec 7, Researchers said the
Ebola virus may have killed more than 5,000 gorillas in West Africa
(Congo-Gabon), enough to send them into extinction if people continue
to hunt them.
(Reuters, 12/7/06)
2006 Dec 27, Gabon's
Constitutional Court confirmed President Omar Bongo Ondimba's camp as
official winner of the nation's general elections held December 17 and
24.
(AFP, 12/27/06)
2007 Apr 26, Six central African
countries (Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Central African Republic,
Cameroon and Congo) plan to launch a common passport in July,
permitting the free movement of goods and people across their borders.
(AFP, 4/26/07)
2009 Jan 17, A helicopter carrying
10 French soldiers crashed off the coast of Gabon in cen-tral Africa.
At least 2 survived and 2 were killed as rescuers searched for 6
missing.
(AP, 1/17/09)
2009 Jan 30, In Libreville, Gabon,
leaders of the six Central African states (Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, CAR,
Congo, Equatorial Guinea), began meeting to discuss closer economic
ties, in-cluding the creation of a new regional airline. The Economic
and Monetary Union of Central Af-rica, known as CEMAC, planned
discussions on such issues as monetary reform and the free movement of
citizens.
(AFP, 1/30/09)
2009 Apr 19, The annual Goldman
Environmental Prize was awarded to 7 activists from 6 nations. Rizwana
Hasan (40) of Bangladesh was awarded for exposing environmental damage
and exploitative practices used in the country’s ship dismantling
industry; Marc Ona Essangui (45) of Gabon, the founder of Brainforest,
was awarded for exposing secret agreements for a Chinese mine project
that threatened Gabon’s rain forests; Yuyun Ismawati of Indonesia was
awarded for designing environmentally safe waste management systems for
poor Indonesia n communities; Olga Speranskaya (46) of Eco-Accord in
Russia was awarded for her efforts to control and store chemicals in
Russia and former Soviet republics; Wanze Eduards (52) and Hugo Jabini
(44) of Suriname, leaders of the maroon community, were awarded for
their efforts that led to a landmark ruling ending tribal exploitation
by the government. Maria Gunnoe (40) of West Virginia was awarded for
her fight against the practice of removing of the tops of mountains and
filing valleys below with tailings.
(SSFC, 4/19/09, p.A18)
2009 May 5, A French judge decided
to investigate three African heads of state for money laundering and
other alleged crimes linked to their wealth in France. The probe
follows a com-plaint by Transparency International France, an
association that tracks corruption, against Ga-bon's Omar Bongo,
Republic of Congo's Denis Sassou-Nguesso and Teodoro Obiang of
Equa-torial Guinea.
(AP, 5/6/09)
2009 Jun 8, Gabon Pres. Omar Bongo
(b.1935), the world's longest-serving president, died at a hospital in
Spain. His 42-year rule reflected an era when Africa was ruled by "Big
Men." He left behind at least 66 bank accounts. The first family owned
45 homes in France, including at least 14 in Paris and 11 on the French
Riviera. And they boasted of 19 or more luxury cars, in-cluding a
Bugatti sports model that cost the Republic of Gabon $1.5 million.
(AP, 6/8/09)(AP, 6/20/09)(Econ, 6/20/09, p.90)
2009 Jun 10, In Gabon Senate chief
Rose Francine Rogombe was sworn in as the country's interim president,
the first time in more than four decades that anyone except the late
leader Omar Bongo has held power.
(AP, 6/10/09)
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