Timeline Madagascar
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Madagascar is an island a little larger than
California.
(WSJ, 5/6/05, p.A1)
c230 Mil BP It
was reported in 1999 that Madagascar dinosaur fossils, found in 1995
might be the oldest known. The creatures were long-necked prosauropods
from about this time.
(SFC, 10/22/99, p.A1)
165 Million BP Madagascar broke away from the
continent of Africa. [see 160 mil BP]
(SFC, 1/15/98, p.A10)
160 Million BP Madagascar broke away from the
continent of Africa. [see 165 mil BP]
(WSJ, 9/8/00, p.W6)
c75 Million BP The 30-foot dinosaur Majungatholus
atopus lived here. Its fossils were discovered in 1996. It was similar
to creatures whose fossils were found in Argentina and India. The
horned dinosaur was a remote cousin of T. rex and had sharp serrated
teeth. In 2003 scientists determined that 2-ton, 30-foot creatures were
cannibals.
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.A2)(SFC, 4/3/03, p.A2)
~0AD Settlers began arriving from
Polynesia
(SFC, 6/23/96, zone 1 p.5)
1000 AD Large portions of the island fauna of
Madagascar, that once included a lemur the size of bear and the
ostrich-like Elephant Bird, was eliminated by the Malagash people of
Madagascar.
(NOHY, 3/90, p.188)
1500 Aug 10, Diego Diaz discovered
Madagascar.
(MC, 8/10/02)
1942 Sep 10, British troops landed
on Madagascar.
(MC, 9/10/01)
1943 Jan 8, The British handed
Madagascar over to the Free French.
(Historynet, 1/8/99)
1960 Jun 26, The Malagasy Republic
(Madagascar) gained independence from France.
(SFC, 8/19/96, p.A10)(PC, 1992, p.973)
1975 Military commander, Didier
Ratsiraka, took power. He published a “red book” of Marxist principles
and nationalized much of the economy. In the 1980s with severe economic
decline Ratsiraka changed course and established ties with the world
Bank and the IMF.
(SFC, 8/19/96, p.A10)
1975-1992 Didier Ratsiraka led a Socialist regime.
(SFC, 6/9/99, p.C3)
1975 A major cyclone hit the
island.
(NPR, 1/27/96)
1986 The Quebec Iron and Titanium
(QIT) subsidiary of Rio Tinto, an int’l. mining concern, began pursuing
rights in Madagascar to extract high-grade ilmenite, a form of titanium
dioxide used to whiten toothpaste, paint and cleansing powders. A
15,000 acre site at Fort Dauphin was expected to yield 750,000 tons a
year over 60 years for an investment of $400 million. The Malagasy
government would receive about $40 million per year plus $10 million in
taxes and fees. A decision was expected in 2005.
(SFC, 1/15/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 11/17/04, p.A1)
1990 The Malagasy government
agreed to an environmental action plan that called for the creation of
national parks and protected areas.
(SFC, 6/23/96, zone 1 p.5)
1991 A man from the United Arab
Emirates found a large black rock that in 1996 was found to contain the
world’s largest emerald cluster. Bangkok geologists spent a week
removing a thick layer of black mica before finding a group of 127
medium green emeralds weighing 167 pounds.
(SFC, 10/5/96, p.C1)
1992 Mass demonstrations and civil
service strikes led to a march on the palace by 100,000 people. The
elite guard killed an estimated 100. Didier Rastiraka soon agreed to
new elections that were won by Albert Zafy, a heart surgeon. Zafy
reversed the economic reforms begun by Rastiraka.
(SFC, 8/19/96, p.A8,10)(SFC, 6/9/99, p.C3)
1992-1997 The US Agency for International Development
has committed $85 mil for environmental programs here.
(SFC, 6/23/96, zone 1 p.5)
1994 Pres. Albert Zafy and Prime
Minister Francisque Ravony balked at an economic overhaul ordered by
the Int’l. Monetary Fund and World Bank.
(SFC, 9/6.96, p.A14)
1995 Madagascar signed the
Convention on Biological Diversity.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A12)
1996 Apr 4, In the capital city of
Antananarivo, Madagascar, thousands of people demonstrated against the
president amid calls for a military coup.
(SFC, 5/5/96, p.T-9)
1996 Jun 5, On World Environment
Day 210,000 hectares on the Masoala Peninsula were proclaimed a
national park, the 6th on the island.
(SFC, 6/23/96, zone 1 p.5)
1996 Aug 19, The per capita income
stands at $240 per year.
(SFC, 8/19/96, p.A10)
1996 Aug, Pres. Albert Zafy was
impeached for corruption.
(SFC, 2/1/97, p.C1)
1996 Didier Ratsiraka was elected
president as a democrat.
(SFC, 6/9/99, p.C3)
1997 Jan 24, In Madagascar a
cyclone struck and that some 200 were killed. It was later reported
that 520,000 people were affected.
(WSJ, 1/27/97, p.A1)(SFC, 2/8/97, p.A11)
1997 Jan 31, A constitutional
court said that Didier Ratsiraka edged out Albert Zafy in last year’s
elections.
(SFC, 2/1/97, p.C1)
1997 Apr 12, It was reported that
a plague of locusts was poised to sweep over the 5 million acres of
rich farmland in the south of the nation.
(SFC, 4/12/97, p.A12)
1998 Mar 28, A locust swarm was
reported to have covered an estimated 24 million acres in the south of
the country.
(SFC, 3/28/98, p.A5)
1998 Jun 13, The grasshopper
swarm, 7 miles long, flew into the capital city of Antananarivo.
(SFC, 6/13/98, p.A7)
1999 Oct 21, It was reported that
only some 4,000 diademed sifakas, the largest living lemurs, were left
in Madagascar.
(SFC, 10/21/99, p.AA7)
1999 Oct 22, It was reported that
dinosaur fossils, found 4 years ago in Madagascar, may be the oldest
known. The creatures were long-necked prosauropods from about 230
million years ago.
(SFC, 10/22/99, p.A1)
2000 Mar 3, In Madagascar an
estimated 600,000 people were affected by flooding from tropical storm
Gloria and at least 55 people were reported killed.
(SFC, 3/4/00, p.A12)
2000 Mar 8, In Madagascar tropical
storm Gloria left over 100 people dead just weeks after Cyclone Eline
left 54 dead.
(SFC, 3/9/00, p.A10)
2000 Mar 15, It was reported that
some 500 new cases of cholera had broken out following a year long
epidemic that had killed 1,350 people.
(SFC, 3/15/00, p.A10)
2000 Apr 3, A cyclone left 2
people dead and nearly flattened the town of Antalaha.
(WSJ, 4/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 16, The winners of the
Goldman Environmental Prize included: Nat Quansah (46), an
ethnobotanist in Madagascar.
(SFC, 4/17/00, p.A2)
2000 Jun, The US government passed
the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. It gave 23 sub-Saharan countries
the opportunity to ship a range of textile products to the US duty-free.
(WSJ, 1/2/02, p.A1)
2000 In Antananarivo, capital of
Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana, dairy mogul, took office as the mayor
and instituted a cleanup campaign.
(SFC, 8/21/00, p.A8)
2001 Dec 16, Elections were held
but no candidate won a majority. The results were annulled Apr 17, 2002.
(SSFC, 1/13/02, p.C12)(SFC, 4/18/02, p.A11)
2001 Mauritius textile worker
wages reached $1.47 cents an hour compared with 37 cents in Madagascar.
(WSJ, 1/2/02, p.A4)
2002 Jan 7, In Antananarivo some
30,000 protested the presidential election results.
(SSFC, 1/13/02, p.C12)
2002 Jan 25, The High
Constitutional Court certified Marc Ravalomanana with 46.2% of the
votes and Pres. Didier Ratsiraka with 40.8%. A runoff was set within 2
months as tens of thousands of opposition supporters protested the
result.
(SSFC, 1/27/02, p.A19)
2002 Feb 22, Madagascar declared a
3-month state of emergency after the main opposition leader, Marc
Ravalomanana, declared himself president following a 2-month dispute.
(SFC, 2/23/02, p.A11)
2002 Feb 28, Pres. Didier
Ratsiraka declared martial law following 2 months of strikes and mass
protests.
(SFC, 3/1/02, p.A17)
2002 Mar 8, The opposition seized
the defense ministry in a bid to install Marc Ravalomanana as president.
(WSJ, 3/11/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 25, Opposition supporters
thwarted an attempt by the military to seize control of Parliament.
(SFC, 3/26/02, p.A6)
2002 cMar 31, In Madagascar a
bridge linking the capital to a southern port was blown up.
(WSJ, 4/1/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 17, The Supreme Court
annulled the disputed results of the Dec 16 presidential elections.
(SFC, 4/18/02, p.A11)
2002 Apr 29, The High Court ruled
that opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana received over 51% of the vote
in December elections and that Pres. Ratsiraka won close to 36%.
Ratsiraka said he would not abide by the vote.
(SFC, 5/1/02, p.A13)
2002 May 6, Marc Ravalomanana was
sworn in as president. Talks with Ratsiraka were set for May 13-14.
(SFC, 5/7/02, p.A12)
2002 Jun 26, The United States
became the first country to take a formal stand on the leadership
battle for control of Madagascar, recognizing Marc Ravalomanana as the
legitimate president.
(AP, 6/26/02)
2002 Jul 5, Former Madagascar
President Didier Ratsiraka fled to the Seychelles with his family,
apparently ending more than six months of turmoil in his island nation.
(AP, 7/5/02)
2003 Dec 24, Madagascar's former
PM Didier Ratsiraka was sentenced to 12 years of hard labor and ordered
to pay $7.6 million in damages for his role in last year's election
crisis that led to the formation of two governments.
(AP, 12/24/03)(Econ, 1/1/05, p.34)
2004 Mar 7, The Samson, a ferry
carrying 113 people, vanished after it was caught in a cyclone as it
sailed between the Indian Ocean islands of Comoros and Madagascar.
There were 2 survivors. The drownings brought the death toll from
Cyclone Gafilo to 154.
(AP, 3/10/04)(AP, 3/11/04)
2004 Steven M. Goodman and
Jonathan P. Benstead co-edited “The Natural History of Madagascar.”
(Econ, 4/24/04, p.87)
2004 Alison Jolly authored “Lords
& Lemurs: Mad Scientists, Kings with Spears, and the Survival of
Diversity in Madagascar.”
(Econ, 4/24/04, p.87)
2005 Apr 18, Madagascar’s Pres.
Ravalomanana signed a $110 million, 4-year aid package in Washington,
designed to fix problems with corruption and local bank loans. The
grant was from the Millennium Challenge Account, unveiled by Pres. Bush
in 2002 to fund honest governments pursuing sound economic policies
(WSJ, 4/18/05, p.A1)(Econ, 4/23/05, p.75)
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