Return to home 80Mil BC Bones from a
velociraptor in Mongolia’s Gobi desert indicated that the dinosaur
had a wishbone. The wishbone, fused collarbones, later provided
attachment points for muscles that allow birds to fly. Also found
was a placental mammal with epipubic bones, structures that had been
only associated with marsupials and monotremes. In 2007 scientists
reported evidence of feathers on the velociraptor uncovered in 1998.
(SFEC, 10/5/97, p.A20)(Reuters, 9/20/07)
80Mil BC The Ukhaa Tolgod basin of Mongolia had
fossils from the late Cretaceous. The site was first discovered by
Roy Chapman Andrews during his 1923 Gobi Desert expedition. The
25-foot tall, 85-foot long Nurosaurus qaganesis was of this period.
(THM, 4/27/97, p.L4) 80Mil BC
Bones from a velociraptor in Mongolia’s Gobi desert indicated that
the dinosaur had a wishbone. The wishbone, fused collarbones, later
provided attachment points for muscles that allow birds to fly. Also
found was a placental mammal with epipubic bones, structures that
had been only associated with marsupials and monotremes. In 2007
scientists reported evidence of feathers on the velociraptor
uncovered in 1998.
(SFEC, 10/5/97, p.A20)(Reuters, 9/20/07)
80Mil BC The Ukhaa Tolgod basin of Mongolia had
fossils from the late Cretaceous. The site was first discovered by
Roy Chapman Andrews during his 1923 Gobi Desert expedition. The
25-foot tall, 85-foot long Nurosaurus qaganesis was of this period.
(THM, 4/27/97, p.L4)
70Mil BC A skeleton of Tyrannosaurus bataars,
dating to this time, was first discovered in 1946 during a joint
Soviet-Mongolian expedition in Mongolia’s Omnogovi Province.
(SFC, 6/20/12, p.A8)
70Mil BC In 2006 scientists in Mongolia uncovered
a chunk of sandstone dating to this time, which contained the almost
complete skeleton of a Tarbosaurus dinosaur, related to the giant
carnivorous Tyrannosaurus.
(AP, 7/24/08)
75-71 Mil Fossils from Ukhaa Tolgod,
Mongolia, of this period later provided the richest assemblage of
vertebrates in the world.
(NH, 7/00, p.51)
c9-8,000 BC In Neolithic times Mongolia was the
home of small groups of hunters, reindeer breeders, and nomads.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1000BC Bronze age nomads erected mysterious
megaliths throughout regions of Mongolia and southern Siberia about
this time. Some scholars believed them to be the work of Iron Age
peoples who appeared by 700BC.
(Arch, 1/06, p.17)
400-300BC The Chinese began suffering from fierce
attacks of nomadic herdsmen, the Hsiung-nu, from the north and west.
They began to build parts of what came to be called the Great Wall
for protection.
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.24)
300-200BC During the 3rd century BC Mongolia
became the center of the Hsiung-nu empire.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
c300-1000AD During the 4th-10th century AD, Orhon
Turks were prominent in Mongolia.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
500 Ancient Turks are believed
to have originated in Mongolia about this time.
(Arch, 1/06, p.17)
550-730 Ancient Turkic people flourished in
Mongolia during this period.
(Arch, 1/06, p.19)
745-840 The Uighur of eastern Turkestan formed an
empire in the north that was ended by an invasion of the Kyrgyz
peoples.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1167 Genghis Khan
(d.1227) was born in the Hentiyn Nuruu mountains north of Ulan
Bator in the early 1160's (it has been argued between 1162 and 1167,
but recently agreement has been made for 1167), the son of the
Kiyat-Borjigid chieftain Yisugei. His given name was Temujin, "the
ironsmith," and he seized control over much of 5 million square
miles that covered China, Iran, Iraq, Burma, Vietnam, and most of
Korea and Russia. His efforts in Vietnam were not successful. "In
Search of Genghis Khan" is a book by Tim Severin. He was succeeded
by his son Ogedai, who was succeeded by Guyuk. Ogedai ignored
numerous pleas from his brother Chaghatai to cut down on his
drinking and died of alcoholism as did Guyuk.
(WSJ, 1/11/99,
p.R6)(www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/vexhibit/genghis/biog.htm)
1190 Mongol leader Temujin
(Genghis Khan) lost a battle against Jamuka, a rival war leader, and
was forced to retreat. His enemy boiled alive some 70 captives.
Several clans deserted Jamuka and joined Temujin.
(ON, 8/12, p.8)
1201 Mongol leader Temujin
(Genghis Khan) defeated Jamuka and an alliance of aristocratic clans
that included the Tayichuid clan, which had enslaved him years
earlier.
(ON, 8/12, p.8)
1203 Mongol leader Temujin
(Genghis Khan) succeeded in assimilating the Tatars under his
command. His forces defeated Toghrul, head of the Kereyid tribe, to
whom he had been a vassal. Toghrul fled west to find sanctuary among
the Naiman, where he was apparently slain after not being
recognized.
(ON, 8/12, p.9)
1204 Mongol leader Temujin
(Genghis Khan) led his forces against the Naiman, a group of Turkic
tribes dwelling on the steppe of Central Asia, and the last
remaining independent steppe tribe.
(ON, 8/12,
p.9)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naimans)
1206 Mongol leader Temujin
(Genghis Khan) summoned the largest kuriltai in the history of his
people. He handed down a codification of his laws and reforms, the
Yasa, and named his people the Great Mongol Nation. He took the
title of Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan) and over the next twenty years
conquered northern China and all of Asia west to the Caucasus. The
Mongols numbered about 2 million and his army about 130,000.
(ON, 8/12, p.10)(V.D.-H.K.p.169)(SFEM, 10/12/97,
p.27)
1208-1231 Tree ring data later showed that
Mongolia enjoyed a string of wetter-than-usual years during this
period.
(Econ, 12/8/12, p.82)
c1220 Genghis Khan made
Karakorum his capital.
(SSFC, 3/27/05, p.F4)
1227 Aug 18, Genghis Khan
(Chinggis), Mongol conqueror, died in his sleep at his camp, during
his siege of Ningxia, the capital of the rebellious Chinese kingdom
of Xi Xia. Subotai was one of Genghis Khan's ablest lieutenants, and
went on to distinguish himself after the khan's death. In Khan's
lifetime he and his warriors had conquered the majority of the
civilized world, ruling an empire that stretched from Poland down to
Iran in the west, and from Russia's Arctic shores down to Vietnam in
the east. Russian archaeologist Peter Kozloff uncovered the
tomb of Genghis Khan in the Gobi Desert in 1927. In 2006 Zhu
Yaoting, a Beijing academic, authored a biography of Genghis Khan.
(AP, 8/18/97)(HN, 10/29/98)(Econ, 12/23/06, p.61)
1229-1241 Ugoodei (Ogedei), Genghis' successor,
reigned over this period.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1234 Ugoodei (Ogedei) attacked
and overcame the Chin (Juchen) dynasty of China.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1236 Queen Rusudani (41), the
daughter of Queen Tamara, fled Georgia as the unstoppable Mongol
hordes ravished the area. She had been proclaimed "King" at the
death of her brother.
(www.undelete.org/woa/woa01-18.html)
1237-1238 Batu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan,
invaded Russia.
(AM, Jul/Aug '97 p.28)
1238 Feb 3, The Mongols took
over Vladimir, Russia.
(HN, 2/3/99)
1240 Dec 6, Mongols under Batu
Khan occupied and destroyed Kiev.
(MC, 12/6/01)
1240 A chronicle of the life of
Genghis Khan and his successors: “The Secret Life of the Mongols,"
was written about this time. A Chinese version was discovered by a
Russian diplomat in the early 1800s. In 1982 Francis Woodman Cleaves
produced a modern version.
(www.ezlink.com/~culturev/secret.html)(SSFC,
5/22/05, p.C3)
1241 Apr 9, In the Battle of
Liegnitz, Silesia, Mongol armies defeated the Poles and Germans. In
this year the Mongols defeated the Germans and invaded Poland and
Hungary. The death of their leader Ughetai (Ogedei) forced them to
withdraw from Europe.
(HN, 4/9/98)(TOH)
1241 A trumpeter in Krakow,
Poland, was shot through the throat by an archer as he warned the
city of a fast-approaching Mongol army.
(SSFC, 12/28/03, p.C6)
1241 The Great Khan Ogedei
(Ugoodei) died after completing the Mongol conquest of China and
Korea. In April the Mongols routed the armies of Poles, Germans, and
Hungarians, at Liegnitz and Mohi, within easy distance of Vienna.
Only the death of Ogedei stopped their advance into Europe.
(V.D.-H.K.p.169)
1242 Batu, the grandson of
Genghis Khan, established his "Golden Horde" at Sarai on the Lower
Volga.
(TOH)
1243 Jun 26, The Seljuk Turkish
army in Asia Minor was wiped out by the Mongols.
(HN, 6/26/98)
1245 John of Plano Carpini was
a Franciscan monk who set out on the instructions of Pope Innocent
IV to gather intelligence. He was met by Mongol horseman and was
brought to witness the enthronement of Guyuk Khan. He experienced a
sudden hailstorm followed by a flash flood that killed 160 people.
(SFC, 4/14/96, T-10)(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.22)
1246 Khan Guyuk sent a letter
to the Vatican from Karakorum, the capital of the Mongol empire. The
document was retained in the Vatican archive and made available to
the public in 2010.
(Econ, 5/1/10,
p.87)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karakorum)
1253-1260 Ata-Malik Juvaini (b.1226) authored
“The History of the World Conqueror," an account of the life of
Genghis Khan and his successors. Juvaini, in service to the Mongol
governors, drew on the recollections of his father and grandfather.
In 1997 J.A. Boyle published an English translation.
(www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2082/is_3_61/ai_55426809)
1256 Kublai-khan began his
reign as the sixth grand khan, ruler of the Tartars. [see 1259]
(TMPV, p.108)
1258 Feb 10, Huegu, a Mongol
leader, seized Baghdad, bringing and end to the Abbasid caliphate.
Mongol invaders from Central Asia took over Baghdad and ended the
Abbasid-Seljuk Empire.
(ATC, p.91)(AP, 2/10/99)
1259 Aug 11, Mongke, Mongol
great-khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, died.
(MC, 8/11/02)
1259-1294 The great Kublai Khan, a grandson of
Genghis, reigned.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1260 Mar 1, Hulagu Khan,
grandson of Genghis, conquered Damascus.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1260 Sep 3, Mamelukes under
Sultan Qutuz defeated Mongols and Crusaders at Ain Jalut.
(HN, 9/3/98)
1264 Kublai Khan, grandson of
Genghis Khan, moved his capital from Karakorum to what later became
Beijing. Karakorum was all but abandoned and eventually destroyed by
Manchurian invaders over the next century.
(SSFC, 3/27/05, p.F4)
1264 According to Marco Polo,
Kublai Khan in this year sent a large body of troops to attack
Japan, then known as the island of Zipangu. The two officers in
charge, named Abbacatan and Vonsancin, failed to cooperate and the
adventure failed. [see 1274]
(TMPV, P.255)
1265 Mongols sacked the
monastic complex of David Gareja in Georgia.
(Econ, 8/28/10,
p.50)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gareja_monastery_complex)
1274 The first Mongol invasion
of Japan. [see 1264]
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
1279-1368 The Yuan, or Mongol, dynasty in China
(1279-1368) was established by the great Kublai Khan (reigned
1259-94), a grandson of Genghis.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1281 Aug 14, During the second
Mongol attempt to conquer Japan, Kublai Khan's invading fleet
disappeared in typhoon off of Japan. A Mongol army of 45,000 from
Korea had joined an armada with 120,000 men from southern China
landing at Hakozaki Bay. The typhoon destroyed their fleet leaving
them to death or slavery.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)(EWH, 4th ed.,
p.369)(MC, 8/14/02)
1294 Feb 12, Kublai Khan, the
conqueror of Asia, died at the age of 80.
(HN, 2/12/99)
1294 When Arghun died by
probable poisoning after six years of rule, he was succeeded by his
uncle, Ki-akato, who was able to seize power because the son of
Arghun, Kasan, was far away. After two years Ki-akato was poisoned
and his uncle, Baidu, a Christian, seized power. Kasan then
assembled an army and marched against Baidu. Kasan was victorious
and gained control over the Eastern Tartars.
(TMPV, pp. 334-336)
1336-1405 Timur (aka Timur Lang or Timur Lenk or
Tamerlane because of a lame leg) was a Tartar conqueror of a vast
empire from southern Russia to Mongolia and southward to India,
Persia, and Mesopotamia. After his death the empire fell apart.
Prince Timur is a national hero of Uzbekistan.
(V.D.-H.K.p.169)(WUD, 1994, p.1451)(WSJ, 7/3/97,
p.A4)
1347 Plague broke out among the
troops of the Kipchak Khan, who was besieging the Black Sea port of
Kaffa. He catapulted dead bodies over the city walls. When Italian
trading vessels in the harbor returned to Genoa, the carried the
plague to Europe.
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.31)
1347-1350 The Black Death: A Genoese trading post
in the Crimea was besieged by an army of Kipchaks from Hungary and
Mongols from the East. The latter brought with them a new form of
plague, Yersinia pestis. Infected dead bodies were catapulted into
the Genoese town. One Genoese ship managed to escape and brought the
disease to Messina, Sicily. The disease quickly became an epidemic.
It moved over the next few years to northern Italy, North Africa,
France, Spain, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, the Low
countries, England, Scandinavia and the Baltic. There were lesser
outbreaks in many cities for the next twenty years. An estimated 25
million died in Europe and economic depression followed. In 2005
John Kelly authored “The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the
Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time."
(NG, 5/88, p.678)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(SSFC,
3/6/05, p.B1)(SFC, 10/13/11, p.A6)
1368 Tamerlane lost control of
China as the Mings took over local power. [see 1369-1405]
(V.D.-H.K.p.172)
c1368-1600 For several centuries after 1368 the
Mongols were confined to their original homeland in the steppes,
their energies mostly absorbed by internal rivalries.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1369-1405 Timur (aka Timur Lang or Timur Lenk or
Tamerlane because of a lame leg) ruled from Samarkand.
(WUD, 1994, p.1451)
1380 Sep 8, Prince Dmitrii of
Moscow defeated the Mongols at Kulikovo Field. This marked the
beginning of the decline of Mongol control over Russian lands.
(DVD, Criterion,
1998)(http://fanaticus.org/dba/battles/Kulikovo/index.html)
1395 Tamerlane burnt Astrakhan
to the ground. Astrakhan is situated in the Volga Delta, a fertile
area that formerly contained the capitals of Khazaria and the Golden
Horde. Astrakhan itself was first mentioned by travelers in the
early 13th century as Xacitarxan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrakhan)
1395 The ikon of Our Lady of
Vladimir was brought to Moscow and placed in the Kremlin's
Assumption Cathedral for protection against the Mongol invaders
under Tamerlane. A monastery, know as Stretenskii, was built on the
spot where the Muscovites met the delegation from Vladimir.
(AM, Jul/Aug '97 p.38)
1399 Dec 17, Tamerlane's
Mongols destroyed the army of Mahmud Tughluk, Sultan of Delhi, at
Panipat.
(HN, 12/17/98)
1401 Jul 9, Timur Lenk, Mongol
monarch, destroyed Baghdad.
(MC, 7/9/02)
1405 Feb 14, Timur, aka
Tamerlane (68), crippled Mongol monarch, died at 68.
(V.D.-H.K.p.172)(MC, 2/14/02)
1500-1600 The stones of Karakorum were used to
build the Buddhist monastery of Erdene Zu.
(SSFC, 3/27/05, p.F4)
1500-1600 The Kalmyk people, descendants from the
Golden Horde of Genghis Khan, settled in the lowlands between the
Volga and Don rivers (Khazaria) with their livestock.
(SFC, 9/24/97, p.A12)
1540 May 17, Afghan chief Sher
Khan defeated Mongol Emperor Humayun at Kanauj.
(HN, 5/17/98)
1604-1634 Ligdan Khan (reigned 1604-34), the last
great Mongol leader, ruled. He united many Mongol tribes to defend
their homeland against the rising power of the Manchu.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
c1634 After Ligdan's death, the Mongols were
subdued by the Manchu and became part of the Ch'ing (Manchu) dynasty
of China.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1697 Two relatives of Galdan
Boshugtu Khan surrendered to China’s Qing Kangxi Emperor. Their
people were then organized into two Oolod banners and resettled in
modern Bayankhongor Province, Mongolia. The Dzungar (or Zunghar),
Oirat Mongols who lived in an area that stretched from the west end
of the Great Wall of China to present-day eastern Kazakhstan and
from present-day northern Kyrgyzstan to southern Siberia (most of
which is located in present-day Xinjiang), were the last nomadic
empire to threaten China.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzungar_people)
1717 Dzungar tribes of Mongolia
invaded Tibet, and a period of internal strife and civil war
followed. The Kangxi emperor sent armies into the area for 20 years,
and local leaders were forced to pledge their allegiance to the Qing
Empire. In 1724, the regions of Amdo and Kham were made into the
province of Kokonor, with parts of Eastern Kham incorporated into
neighboring Chinese provinces.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kham)
c1850 A Mongolian national
consciousness emerged in the mid-19th century.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1870's The Russian explorer,
Colonel Nicholas Prjevalski, traveled through Mongolia. The wild
horses of the Mongolian steppes are named after him.
(SFC, 4/14/96, T-1)
1906 Feb 20, Russian troops
seized large portions of Mongolia.
(HN, 2/19/98)
1912 After the fall of the
Manchu dynasty, Mongol princes, supported by tsarist Russia,
declared the independence of Mongolia from China.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1917 Just after the Russian
Revolution, defeated anti-Communist forces under "Mad Baron"
Ungern-Sternberg took Ulan Bator, then called Urga. The mad Baron
undertook city-wide arson and mass executions.
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.28)
1917 When the tsarist regime
fell, Mongolia reverted to Chinese control.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1920 During the Russian Civil
War, Mongolia was invaded by a White Russian force of 5,000 men.
Freiherr Roman Nikolai Maximilian von Ungern-Sternberg hoped to use
Mongolia as a base to restore the Romanov regime. During his 130-day
rule he ordered that Commissars, Communists, and Jews, together with
their families, be exterminated. In 2009 James Palmer authored “The
Bloody White Baron: The Extraordinary Story of the Russian Nobleman
Who Became the Last Khan of Mongolia."
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)(Econ, 2/14/09, p.96)
1921 Mar 13, Mongolia (formerly
Outer Mongolia) declared independence from China.
(HN, 3/13/98)(MC, 3/13/02)
1921 Jul 11, Mongolia gained
independence from China (National Day). The holiday of Naadam, which
originated in the time of Ghenghis Khan, was later fixed to July
11-13 to the anniversary of the Revolution.
(SSFC, 3/27/05, p.F5)
1921 Urga was renamed Ulan
Bator (Red Hero) after Mongolian freedom fighters and D. Sukhbaatar
sided with Russian communists and defeated the Chinese warlords. The
Mad Baron, Ungern-Sternberg, was executed.
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.28)
1921 Damdiny Sukhbaatar,
supported by the Bolshevik administration in Moscow, organized a
force that, with the help of Red Army troops, defeated the White
Russians and drove off the Chinese.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1922 Roy Chapman Andrews of the
American Museum of Natural History led an expedition to the Gobi
desert and discovered dinosaur bones. Later expeditions there turned
up bones and nests of Protoceratops, a small horned dinosaur. He led
6 expeditions to the Gobi between 1921 and 1930.
(T.E.-J.B. p.25)(AM, 7/97, p.80)
1923 Roy Chapman Andrews made
his Gobi Desert expedition and discovered the Ukhaa Tolgod
basin of Mongolia with fossils from the late Cretaceous, i.e. 80
Million ago.
(THM, 4/27/97, p.L4)
1924 Nov 26, The Mongolian
People's Republic was officially proclaimed. Close political,
economic, cultural, and ideological ties with the Soviet Union
continued thereafter.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1925 Mar 7, The Soviet Red Army
occupied Outer Mongolia.
(HN, 3/7/98)
1925 The People's Revolutionary
Party abolished clan names in an attempt to bury the feudal past.
(SFC, 5/10/00, p.A14)
1929-1932 The Communists forced collectivization
on the herders. The nomads slaughtered millions of head of livestock
rather than turn them over.
(NG, 5/93, p.136)
1929-1979 Tsevegmidyn Gaitav was a Mongolian poet.
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.28)
1930s Joseph Stalin destroyed
the Buddhist monastery of Erdene Zu as well as other Mongolian
monasteries. The monks were exiled or executed.
(SSFC, 3/27/05, p.F4)
1936 Mar 19, The USSR signed a
pact of assistance with Mongolia against Japan.
(HN, 3/19/98)
1936 Nov 22, 1,200 were killed
in a battle between Japanese and Mongolians in China.
(HN, 11/22/98)
1939 May, In Manchuria a
Japanese punitive attack failed and combined Soviet and Mongolian
forces wiped out a 200-man Japanese unit. This marked the beginning
of the conflict called the Nomonhan Incident by Japanese, the Battle
of Khalkhin Gol by Russians.
(http://tinyurl.com/ml2j3oh)
1939 Aug 20, Russian offensive
under Gen. Zhukov against Jap invasion in Mongolia.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1939 Aug, The Soviet Union and
Japan fought a massive tank battle at Khalkhin-Gol on the Mongolian
border. It was the largest armored battle in the world until that
point. By the end of the month the Soviets claimed victory over the
Japanese army at the Khalkhyn Gol river. This helped fend off a
possible Japanese invasion of Russia with Nazi Germany in 1941.
(http://tinyurl.com/mx9xowj)
1939 Sep 15, The Soviet Union
and Japan agreed to a cease-fire in Manchuria (later Mongolia),
which took effect the following day.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Khalkhin_Gol)
1940's Choibalsan was the
Stalinist dictator of Mongolia.
(SFC, 4/14/96, T-11)
1946 Tyrannosaurus bataars,
dating to 70Mil BC, were first discovered during a joint
Soviet-Mongolian expedition in Mongolia’s Omnogovi Province.
(SFC, 6/20/12, p.A8)
1952 Khorlooglin Choibalsan
(b.1895), head of Mongolia, died. His body was displayed in Ulan
Bator until 2005, when it was cremated.
(SFC, 9/10/08, p.A5)
1960s-1970s Mongolia's relations with China
worsened as Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1961 Oct 27, Outer Mongolia and
Mauritania become the 102nd and 103rd members of UN.
(MC, 10/27/01)
1980s Tensions between Mongolia
and China eased.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1986 Diplomatic relations were
established between Mongolia and China.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1987 The book "Modern Mongolian
Poetry" was published.
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.28)
1990 Jul 22, Voters in Mongolia
began casting ballots in their Communist-ruled nation's first
multiparty election ever.
(AP, 7/22/00)
1990 Demonstrations against
Russian rule began. The Mongolian Communist soon voted to dissolve
itself.
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.29)
1990 Elbegdorj Tsahkiagiin,
leader of a democratic revolution, became the first democratic PM of
Mongolia.
(www.intellectualconservative.com/article3341.html)(Econ, 10/11/14,
p.46)
1990-1991 Mongolia joined in the democratic
revolutions that swept eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The
country subsequently underwent major political and economic reforms.
(www.gobiexpeditions.com)
1991 Jul 26, US Secretary of
State James A. Baker the Third addressed Mongolia’s first
legislature chosen in multiparty elections, applauding the rise of
democracy and promising millions of dollars in aid.
(AP, 7/26/01)
1991 The government began to
eliminate price controls and the cost of living zoomed.
(NG, 5/93, p.138)
1991 A group of young foreign
exchange traders gambled away half the national treasury, $82 mil.
(SFC, 6/28/96, p.A12)
1992 A new constitution was
adopted.
(SFC, 7/2/96, p.A12)
1992 Radical market reforms
were launched and the national herd of 24 million livestock was
distributed to herding households.
(WSJ, 5/3/00, p.A1,17)
1993 Punsalmaagiyn Ochirbat was
dumped by the governing party during presidential elections. He ran
as an independent and won 57% of the vote.
(SFC, 6/30/96, B7)
1996 Jul 2, Results showed that
opposition democrats won 48 of the 76 parliamentary seats. Democrats
won 56 of the 76 seats in the Assembly. The Democratic Coalition
consisted of 4 parties: the Mongolian National Democratic Party, the
Mongolian Social Democratic Party, The Religious Democratic Party,
and the Greens.
(WSJ, 7/2/96, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/28/00, p.A14)
1996 Aug 14, In Mongolia
officials sealed off parts of Ulan Bator to halt an outbreak of
cholera.
(WSJ, 8/15/96, p.A1)
1996 Internet service first
arrived in Mongolia.
(SFEC, 7/23/00, p.B12)
1996 Mongolia’s population
numbered about 2.4 million people. The country also numbered some 5
million horses.
(SFC, 4/14/96, T-1,10) (WSJ, 8/1/96 p.A11)
1997 Jan 29, Mongolia joined
the World Trade Organization (WTO).
(www.wto.org/English/thewto_e/countries_e/mongolia_e.htm)
1997 May 18, Natsagiin
Bagabandi of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP), the
former Communist Party, won elections with 60% support.
(SFC, 5/19/97, p.A14)
1997 The film "A Mongolian
Tale" by Xie Fei won best director and best artistic contribution
for music at the Montreal Film Festival.
(SFEC, 4/20/97, DB p.10)
1997 The Central Asia Regional
Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program was initiated. The 8-member
group included Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
(www.adb.org/CAREC/default.asp)
1998 Jan 1, Mongolia switched
from a 46 hour to 40 hour work week.
(MC, 1/1/02)
1998 May 27, In Mongolia a
Yu-12 plane crash killed all 28 on board.
(WSJ, 5/28/98, p.A1)
1998 Jul, Mongolia’s government
fell and the prime minister and his Cabinet continued as caretakers.
(SFC, 10/6/98, p.A14)
1998 Oct 2, In Mongolia
Sanjaasurangiin Zorig (36), who helped oust the Communist regime in
1990, was assassinated. He was stabbed and hacked with a knife and
an ax. It was seen as a move to silence pro-democracy officials.
(WSJ, 10/5/98, p.A1)(SFC, 10/6/98, p.A14)(WSJ,
10/22/98, p.A17)
1998 In Mongolia a right-wing
movement began when young people grew angry at the appearance of
foreign languages on signs and made threats against business owners.
(Reuters, 7/2/13)
1999 Jan 1, New legislation
liberated the news media.
(SFC, 1/2/99, p.C12)
1999 Jan 22, The parliament
repealed its law authorizing casinos.
(WSJ, 1/25/99, p.A18)
1999 The Democratic Coalition
fell apart after one of its members was murdered.
(WSJ, 6/28/00, p.A14)
2000 Mar 13, In Mongolia the
Red Cross reported that winter blizzards had killed over 1 million
head of livestock and that some 300,000 people were short of food.
The dead animal number was soon raised to 1.8 million, or 1 in every
15 in the nation.
(SFC, 3/14/00, p.A10)(SFC, 3/27/00, p.A12)
2000 Jun, It was expected that
the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, led by Chairman
Enkhbayar, would win the elections. The former Communists embraced
market economics and democracy.
(WSJ, 6/28/00, p.A14)
2000 Jul 2, The People's
Revolutionary Party won 72 seats of the 76-member legislature.
(SFC, 7/3/00, p.A14)
2000 Jul 26, Nambaryn
Enkhhbayar was approved as prime minister by the Great Hural,
Mongolia's parliament.
(SFC, 7/27/00, p.C16)
2001 Jan 14, In Mongolia 9
people were killed when a Russian-made MI-8 helicopter crashed. The
dead included 4 members of a UN disaster assessment team.
(SFC, 1/15/01, p.A15)
2001 Feb 5, It was reported
that severe cold and snowstorms threatened to wipe out a 5th of the
nation's livestock and threatened tens of thousands of herders with
starvation.
(SFC, 2/5/01, p.A10)
2001 May 20, The 3rd
presidential elections were scheduled. Pres. Bagabandi was
re-elected with 58% of the vote.
(SFC, 5/17/01, p.C4)(SFC, 5/22/01, p.A11)
2001 Jul 13, It was reported
that record droughts persisted in Afghanistan northern China, North
Korea, Mongolia and Tajikistan.
(SFC, 7/13/01, p.D4)
2003 Jan, Heavy snowfall and
low temperatures killed at least 24,000 head of livestock. It was
the 4th consecutive "dzud," in which a winter disaster followed a
summer drought.
(SFC, 1/25/03, p.A20)
2003 Sep 2, In Inner Mongolia a
locust plague, Oedaleus decorus asiaticus, was reported to have
affected some 47 million acres of grasslands.
(WSJ, 9/2/03, p.A1)
2004 May 28, Andre Tolme of New
Hampshire began a trip golfing across Mongolia.
(SSFC, 7/4/04, p.A14)
2004 Jun 27, In Mongolia
elections the renamed Communists lost their majority to an
opposition block. The left-leaning MPRP won 36 seats while the MDC
took 34.
(WSJ, 6/29/04, p.A1)(Econ, 8/7/04, p.35)
2004 In Mongolia scientists and
American sport fishermen teamed with local Buddhist monks to help
stamp out habitat destruction and poaching of the Siberian salmon
called taimen.
(WSJ, 10/8/04, p.A1)
2005 May 22, In Mongolia
Nambariin Enkhbayar, a candidate from the former Communist Party,
won the presidency with 53% of the vote.
(AP, 5/23/05)
2005 Aug 10, A UN agency
reported the 1st avian flu appearance in Mongolia and said 80
migratory birds have died near the Siberian border.
(WSJ, 8/11/05, p.A1)
2005 Oct 22, Donald Rumsfeld,
US Defense Sec., wrapped up a 3-nation Asian tour with a stop in
Mongolia. Pres. Bush was scheduled to stop in Ulan Bator in
November.
(WSJ, 10/24/05, p.A13)
2005 Nov 21, President Bush,
the first US chief executive to visit Mongolia, saluted Mongolia's
"fearless warriors" for helping his embattled effort to establish
democracy in the heart of the Middle East.
(AP, 11/21/05)
2006 Jan 11, The Mongolian
People’s Revolution Party (MPRP) pulled out of the government,
accusing the current leadership of failing to fight corruption and
worsening poverty in the former communist country. The move would
leave the government without the minimum number of seats required to
stay in power.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006 Jan 12, Hundreds of
protesters stormed the headquarters of Mongolia's biggest political
party (MPRP), one day after it pulled out of the country's
15-month-old ruling coalition.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006 Jan 13, Mongolia’s
Parliament voted to dissolve the government of PM Tsakhilganiin
Elbegdorj.
(AP, 1/14/06)
2006 Jan 16, In Mongolia some
2,000 people gathered in the main square of Ulan Bator, demanding
their president resign.
(AP, 1/16/06)
2006 Jan 24, In Mongolia some
1,000 protesters gathered in Ulan Bator, calling for the resignation
of the president and an end to corruption.
(AP, 1/24/06)
2006 Jan 25, Mongolia's
president and parliament approved Mieagombo Enkhbold (41), the
chairman of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, as the new
prime minister, a major step toward rebuilding the former communist
country's collapsed government.
(AP, 1/25/06)
2006 Apr 18, In Mongolia
thousands of demonstrators marched outside government headquarters,
burning effigies of the nation's leaders and demanding their
resignations because of alleged corruption and the mishandling of
mineral wealth.
(AP, 4/18/06)
2006 Apr 23, In Mongolia some
200 demonstrators have ended their protests over alleged government
corruption and the mishandling of mineral wealth after the country's
leaders agreed to investigate their complaints.
(AP, 4/24/06)
2006 May, Mongolia imposed a
windfall tax on profits from gold and copper extraction when prices
reach specified levels.
(Econ, 12/23/06, p.62)
2006 Jul 11, With the release
of hundreds of prisoners, wrestling matches and hordes of warriors
on horseback, Mongolia began a once-in-800-year party in honor of
its famed emperor Genghis Khan.
(AFP, 7/11/06)
2006 Aug 25, In Mongolia the
Dalai Lama elevated a group of monks into the Buddhist priesthood's
higher ranks, bolstering the country's traditional faith as it
struggles to re-establish itself following decades of communist
persecution.
(AP, 8/25/06)
2006 Oct 19, In Malaysia
Altantuya Shaariibuu (28), a Mongolian model, was kidnapped outside
the house of Abdul Razak Baginda (46), who heads the Malaysian
Strategic Research Center think-tank. Shaariibuu was allegedly
extorting Baginda following an affair that had begun in 2004. She
was killed and her remains blown up with military-grade C-4
explosives and later found in an isolated area south of the capital
Kuala Lumpur. In Nov. Malaysian PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi vowed there
would be no cover-up over her murder. Abdul Razak allegedly abetted
two policemen, Azilah Hadri (30) and Sirul Azhar Umar (35), to
commit the murder. In 2008 a court acquitted Razak of charges of
abetting the murder of Shaariibuu. In 2009 a Malaysian court
sentenced two policemen to death on charges of murdering Shaariibuu.
An Appeals Court acquitted the men in 2013. On Jan 13, 2015, a
Federal Court unanimously ruled that the Appeals Court was wrong in
reversing the findings of the trial court.
(AFP, 11/9/06)(AFP, 11/16/06)(WSJ, 3/29/07,
p.A1)(WSJ, 11/1/08, p.A8)(AP, 4/9/09)(AP, 1/13/15)
2006 Mongolia began a tree
planting program, a “Green Wall," to block the increasing dust
storms from the Gobi Desert. The 2,000 mile project was expected to
take 30 years and cost some $150 million. A 30 million livestock
population was considered to be part of the problem.
(WSJ, 10/24/06, p.A1)
2006 Mongolia’s gross domestic
income per capita stood at $2,200.
(WSJ, 4/8/06, p.A10)
2007 Apr 22, The annual Goldman
Environmental Prizes were announced on Earth Day. The winners
included Julio Cusurichi of Peru for his work to fight illegal
logging; Willie Corduff of Ireland for his work to halt an energy
project that disregarded local and environmental concerns; Sophia
Rabliauskas of Canada for her work to help protect the boreal forest
in Manitoba; Orri Vigfussen of Iceland for his work on the North
Atlantic Salmon Fund; Ts. Munkhbayar for his work against
unregulated mining in Mongolia; and Hammerskjoeld Simwinga for his
work in organizing microloan programs in Zambia.
(SSFC, 4/22/07, p.E1)
2007 Jun 13, In Mongolia a
helicopter carrying firefighters and equipment crashed into a
mountain killing 14 of 22 aboard. The crash site was not discovered
until June 16.
(AP, 6/18/07)
2008 Jan 1, In Mongolia a
government official said at least 11 people died and another 21 were
hospitalized for drinking tainted vodka during New Year's Eve
celebrations in Ulan Bator.
(AP, 1/1/08)
2008 Apr 18,
In Mongolia more than 20,000 people flooded the center of the
capital, Ulan Bator, to demand that the government do something
about rising food prices that have nearly tripled in some cases.
(AP, 4/18/08)
2008 Jun 29, In Mongolia high
voter turnout capped a campaign between the two major parties for 76
seats in the Great Khural (Hural). The Democrats and the MPRP,
Mongolia's ruling party, won as many as 45 seats in the
parliamentary election contested over how to share more of the
country's natural wealth.
(AP, 6/30/08)(SFC, 6/30/08, p.A3)(Econ, 7/5/08,
p.56)
2008 Jul 1, In Mongolia
thousands of people staged a violent protest in the capital as they
voiced outrage over what they claimed were rigged elections, forcing
police to fire gunshots.
(AP, 7/1/08)
2008 Jul 2, In Mongolia at
least 5 people were killed and over 300 injured as police fought
demonstrators protesting the results of the June 29 parliamentary
elections.
(Econ, 7/5/08, p.56)
2008 Jul 23, Opposition
lawmakers walked out of a Mongolian parliamentary session before
they were to be sworn in, saying they refused to participate because
last month's election was fraudulent.
(AP, 7/23/08)
2009 May 24, Voters in Mongolia
went to the polls to choose a new president less than a year after
allegations of vote-rigging in parliamentary elections triggered
deadly riots. The Democratic Party candidate Elbegdorj Tsakhia won
51.24% of the votes, while incumbent Enkbayar Nambar of the
Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, the former communists, won
47.44%.
(AFP, 5/24/09)(AP, 5/25/09)
2009 Oct 6, Mongolia signed a
long-awaited deal with partners Rio Tinto and Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines
to develop a $4 billion Oyu Tolgoi gold and copper mine after a
heated national debate over how to exploit the country's mineral
wealth. In September 2011 members of parliament signed a petition
asking the government to reopen negotiations on the investment
agreement that set the $10 billion project in motion.
(AP,
10/29/09)(www.ivanhoemines.com/s/Home.asp)(Econ, 10/8/11, p.79)
2009 Oct 26, Mongolian PM Bayar
Sanjaa said he wanted to resign for health reasons, bringing new
political uncertainty to his impoverished but resource-rich nation.
(AP, 10/26/09)
2009 Oct 29, Mongolia's
parliament confirmed Batbold Sukhbaatar, one of the country's
wealthiest men as the new prime minister. The former foreign
minister pledged to continue the pro-business policies of his
predecessor Bayar Sanjaa, who stepped down as prime minister this
week after seeking treatment for liver problems. Batbold made his
fortune between 1992 and 2000 as head of the trading company Altai
Trading Co. Ltd., which formed a gold mining joint venture with
Canadian Centerra Gold Inc.
(AP, 10/29/09)
2009 Mongolia’s popluation
numbered about 2.6 million people.
(WSJ, 4/20/09, p.A12)
2010 Jan 14, Mongolia's Pres.
Elbegdorj Tsakhia announced a moratorium on the death penalty, a
move that rights groups welcomed as a step toward changing Mongolian
law to ban executions permanently.
(AP, 1/14/10)
2010 Jan 25, The UN said that
extreme winter weather in 19 of 21 provinces in Mongolia has killed
over 1 million in livestock impacting the country’s food supply and
worsening poverty.
(SFC, 1/26/10, p.A2)
2010 Apr 3, It was reported
that some 4.5 million animals in Mongolia had perished over the last
3 months. A dry summer in 2009 followed by low temperatures and a
heavy snow cover, a phenomenon called the zud, afflicted 19 of the
countries 21 provinces.
(Econ, 4/3/10, p.44)
2010 Apr 5, In Mongolia over
5,000 protesters surged through the center of Ulan Bator demanding
that the government of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party
and the Mongolian Democratic Party fulfill promises from the 2008
elections to crack down on graft and better distribute the country's
mining wealth.
(AP, 4/5/10)
2010 Sep 17, Bat Khurts, a key
figure in Mongolia's National Security Council, was detained as he
flew into London's Heathrow airport, for allegedly abducting a
Mongolian murder suspect in 2003. On Feb 18, 2011, a British judge
ruled that Khurts can be extradited to Germany.
(AFP, 2/18/11)
2010 Mongolia planned to
provide telephone connectivity across the country.
(SFEC, 7/23/00, p.B12)
2011 May 28, Chinese police
sealed off parts of two county seats in Inner Mongolia for a second
day in what residents described as a kind of martial law after
protests triggered by the death of a Mongolian herder run over by a
Chinese truck driver.
(AP, 5/28/11)
2011 Jun 14, Mongolia opened
its first official US consulate in San Francisco.
(SFC, 6/15/11, p.D1)
2011 Mongolia’s population was
about 2.8 million people. Another 5.8 million Mongols lived in China
with some 4 million in Inner Mongolia.
(Econ, 10/8/11, p.58)
2012 Apr 13, Mongolia’s police
detained former Pres. Nambariin Enkhbayar on charges of alleged
corruption. A day earlier Enkhbayar released internal government
documents finding Pres. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj responsible for
inciting deadly violence following the last parliamentary elections
in 2008.
(Econ, 4/28/12, p.45)
2012 May 20, A 70
million-year-old skeleton of Tyrannosaurus bataars sold by Heritage
Auctions for over $1 million. On June 19 a federal judge ordered the
dinosaur skeleton to be seized in NYC saying it was brought into the
country from Britain with erroneous claims that it had originated in
Britain and was worth only $15,000. Experts agreed that the skeleton
was from Mongolia. On June 22 the US government seized the skeleton.
In December Eric Prokopi of Gainesville, Fla., pleaded guilty to
smuggling charges. In 2013 NY authorities returned the
skeleton to Mongolia.
(SFC, 6/20/12, p.A8)(SFC, 6/23/12, p.A4)(SFC,
5/7/13, p.A5)
2013 Jun 26, Mongolia held its
6th free presidential election. Incumbant Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj of
the Democratic Party (DP) won 50.9% of the vote, just enough to
avoid a run-off.
(Econ, 6/29/13, p.37)
2013 Jun 27, Mongolia’s
election commission said Pres. Elbegdorj Tsakhia has won a 2nd
4-year term with 50.2% of the vote.
(SFC, 6/28/13, p.A2)
2012 Jun 28, Mongolians headed
to the polls to elect a new parliament. The ruling Mongolian
People's Party (MPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party have
campaigned on platforms of ensuring a fairer distribution of wealth
across the vast nation.
(AFP, 6/28/12)
2014 Apr 10, US Defense Sec.
Chuck Hagel signed an agreement with his counterpart in Mongolia to
expand US military training and exercises.
(SFC, 4/11/14, p.A2)
2014 Jul 10, US officials
returned the fossilized remains of over 18 dinosaurs to the
Mongolian government. They had been illegaly poached and smuggled
out between 2005 and 2012. The fossilized bones of at least 31 more
remained to be returned.
(SFC, 7/11/14, p.A7)
2014 Aug 21, China's Xi Jinping
began a two-day trip to neighboring Mongolia, the first Chinese
president to visit in more than a decade. China and Mongolia pledged
to almost double their annual two-way trade to $10 billion by 2020.
(AFP, 8/21/14)(AP, 8/21/14)
2014 Aug 22, Chinese President
Xi Jinping told Mongolia that Beijing respected its independence and
integrity as he concluded a visit looking to forge closer ties with
China's resource-rich but often suspicious neighbor.
(AFP, 8/22/14)
2014 Sep 2, Russian President
Vladimir Putin cited a 1939 Soviet victory over the Japanese army as
a foundation of relations with Mongolia during a visit to Ulan
Bator.
(AP, 9/3/14)
2014 Nov 5, Mongolia's
parliament voted to dismiss PM Altankhuyag Norov, who faced
criticism for drastically slower economic growth and alleged
corruption within his administration.
(AP, 11/5/14)
2014 Nov 21, Mongolia's
parliament appointed Chimed Saikhanbileg as prime minister, more
than two weeks after it ousted his predecessor for failing to get to
grips with a slumping economy and foreign investment.
(Reuters, 11/21/14)
