Timeline American Samoa:
Samoa
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American
Samoa
A US territory. The largest island is Tutuila, home to 95 percent of
the territory's 65,000 population. It is slightly larger than
Washington, D.C.
(WSJ, 7/3/96, p.A8)(AP, 9/30/09)
The Samoan Islands in the South Pacific west of 170º W longitude
comprise an independent state and the rest belong to the US.
(WUD, 1994, p.1265)
TravelDocs:
http://www.traveldocs.com/as/index.htm
1872
The high chief of the tribes of the eastern Samoan
islands gave America permission to establish a naval base in exchange
for military protection.
(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.45)
1899 A treaty between American,
Germany and Britain gave Western Samoa to the Germans and Eastern Samoa
to the Americans. In an Anglo-German treaty the UK renounced its rights
to the Samoan Islands
(HN, 1/16/99)(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.45)
1904 The eastern Samoan islands
became territories of the United States and later became known as
American Samoa. The western islands became known as Western Samoa
(later the Independent State of Samoa), passing from German control to
New Zealand in 1914. New Zea-land administered Western Samoa under the
auspices of the League of Nations and then as a UN trusteeship until
independence in 1962. Western Samoa was the first Pacific Island
country to gain its independence.
(www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1842.htm)
1951 The US Navy too over control
of American Samoa.
(AP, 9/30/09)
1954 Oct 14, American Samoa
Government's vessel Manu'atele sighted William Willis's raft The Seven
Little Sisters, and towed it into Pago Pago Harbor. William Willis
(1893-1968) sailed a raft from Peru to Samoa. In 2006 T.R. Pearson
authored “Seaworthy: Adrift With William Willis in the Golden Age of
Rafting.”
(WSJ, 6/24/06,
p.P12)(www.asg-gov.net/026HISTORICALCAL_OCTOBER.htm)
2009 Jan 6, Pres. Bush designated
parts of 3 Pacific island chains as national monuments to protect them
from oil and gas extraction and commercial fishing. The areas totaled
some 195,274 square miles and included the Mariana Trench as well as
waters and coral surrounding 3 islands in the Northern Mariana Islands,
Rose Atoll in American Samoa and 7 islands along the equator in the
central Pacific Ocean.
(SFC, 1/6/09, p.A4)
2009 Sep 29, A magnitude 8.0-8.3
earthquake struck about 120 miles south of the islands of Samoa, which
has about 180,000 people, and American Samoa, a US territory of 65,000.
Four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters) high roared ashore on
American Samoa, reaching up to a mile (1.5 kilometers) inland. At least
136 were killed in Samoa and at least 32 on Ameri-can Samoa and leaving
dozens missing. Authorities in Tonga, south of the Samoas, confirmed at
least 9 dead.
(AP, 9/30/09)(AFP, 10/1/09)(AP, 10/5/09)
Samoa
CIA Factbook: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ws.html
Travel Docs: http://www.traveldocs.com/ws/index.htm
Samoa, formerly known as Western
Samoa or the Navigators Islands, was a protectorate of Britain, Germany
and New Zealand at various times. Slightly smaller than Rhode Island,
Samoa con-sists of two main islands, Savaii and Upolu, as well as
several smaller islands and uninhabited islets.
(SFC, 3/20/99, p.A21)(WUD, 1994 p.1265)(SFCM,
10/14/01, p.19)
The Samoan Islands in the South Pacific west of 170º W longitude
comprise an independent state and the rest belong to the US.
Samoa is about 40 miles (65km) west of American Samoa.
(WUD, 1994, p.1265)
c1850
European ties to Samoa increased due to trade and
religious ministry.
(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.45)
1894 Dec 3, Robert Louis Stevenson
(b.1850), Scottish-American writer, died in Samoa. He was the author of
such works as "Treasure Island," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "The Master
of Ballantrae," "The Silverado Squatters, "Kidnapped" and "Travels with
a Donkey." In 2005 Clair Harman authored “Robert Louis Stevenson: A
Biography.”
(Smith., 8/95, p.51-58)(AP, 12/3/97)(Econ, 1/29/05,
p.79)
1895 Photographer John Davis shot
his classic Samoan Princess Fa’ane.
Samoa
(WSJ, 7/3/96, p.A8)
1899 A treaty between American,
Germany and Britain gave Western Samoa to the Germans and Eastern Samoa
to the Americans. In an Anglo-German treaty the UK renounced its rights
to the Samoan Islands
(HN, 1/16/99)(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.45)
1900 Jan 16, The U.S. Senate
consented to the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 by which the UK renounced
its rights to the Samoan Islands.
(HN, 1/16/99)
1900 By this time Samoa supported
three residential. Commercial photographers.
(WSJ, 7/3/96, p.A8)
1904 The eastern Samoan islands
became territories of the United States and later became known as
American Samoa. The western islands became known as Western Samoa
(later the Independent State of Samoa), passing from German control to
New Zealand in 1914. New Zea-land administered Western Samoa under the
auspices of the League of Nations and then as a UN trusteeship until
independence in 1962. Western Samoa was the first Pacific Island
country to gain its independence.
(www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1842.htm)
c1914 When WW I began New Zealand
pried Western Samoa from the Germans.
(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.45)
1923-1924 Frances and Robert Flaherty, who made the
documentary "Nanook of the North," settled in Samoa to make the
silent-film classic "Moana: A Romance of the Golden Age."
(WSJ, 7/3/96, p.A8)
1928 “Coming of Age in Samoa” by
Margaret Mead was published. Franz Boas had sent Mead to study the
lives of adolescent girls. Boas held that the surrounding culture
determines all human action and that thus human nature lacks a
biological component. In 1983 Derek Freeman published "Margaret Mead in
Samoa," in which he laid waste Mead's portrayal of 1920s Samoan
society. Other books on the Mead controversy followed and in 1999
Freeman published "The Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead: A Historical
Analysis of Her Samoan Re-search."
(SFEC, 8/18/96, BR p.7)(WSJ, 3/3/99, p.A17)
1953 The film “Return to Paradise”
starred Gary Cooper and Roberta Haynes. It was directed by Mark Robson,
set in Samoa and based on a book by James Michener.
(TVM, 1975, p.475)(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.45)
1962 Jan 1, Samoa became
independent from New Zealand. Malietoa Tanumafili II nursed Samoa to
independence and presided as head of state jointly for 16 months and
thereafter on his own for 43 years.
(www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1842.htm)(SFCM, 10/14/01,
p.45)(Econ, 5/26/07, p.101)
1971 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, Ki-ribati, 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.
(Econ, 10/20/07,
p.61)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islands_Forum)
1978 Nov 15, Margaret Mead
(b.1901), American cultural anthropologist, died in NY. Her books
included “Coming of Age in Samoa.” In 1983 Derek Freeman authored
"Margaret Mead and Samoa: The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological
Myth," in which he challenged all of Mead’s major findings.
(SFEC, 8/18/96, BR
p.7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead)
1982-1998 Tofilau Eti Alesana (d.1999 at 74) served
as the prime minister.
(SFC, 3/20/99, p.A21)
1991 Barry and Jennifer Rose of LA
opened the Coconuts Beach Club.
(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.19)
1996 The 1st traffic light was
installed in the capital of Apia.
(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.16)
1997 Apr 14, In SF the winners of
the 1997 Goldman Environmental Prize were announced: Included were
Samoan chieftain Fuiono Senio and ethnobotonist Paul Cox for
establishing for-est preserves.
(SFC, 4/14/97, p.A11)
1997 The prime minister changed
the name of the Independent State of Western Samoa to the Independent
State of Samoa.
(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.45)
1998 Nov, Tofilau Eti Alesana
stepped down as prime minister.
(SFC, 3/20/99, p.A21)
1999 Jul 16, Luagalau Levaula Kamu
(44), a government minister, was shot and killed during a political
rally. In 2000 Leafa Vitale (57) and Toi Aukuso (68) were convicted of
planning the murder.
(SFC, 4/15/00, p.A13)
2000 Global Domains International,
Inc. (GDI) launched the .WS Internet domain in partner-ship with
the island nation of Samoa.
(www.website.ws/about.dhtml)
2001 Samoa’s population was
about 171,000.
(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.19)
2002 Jun 4, New Zealand's prime
minister apologized for mistakes her country made during its 48-year
rule over the tiny South Pacific island chain of Samoa.
(AP, 6/3/02)
2004 Sep 30, A deal was announced
between Samoa and UC Berkeley researchers to clone a promising
anti-AIDS drug, prostratin, from the bark of the native mamala tree.
(SFC, 10/1/04, p.B1)
2005 Feb 18, President Bush
declared American Samoa a major disaster area following Hur-ricane
Olaf, which wiped out nearly all homes in at least one village in the
Manua Islands.
(Reuters, 2/18/05)
2005 Feb 27, The tiny Pacific
island nation of Tokelau called for food and medical supplies, and
there were "grave concerns" for residents on Swain's Island in American
Samoa after Cy-clone Percy pounded the area.
(AP, 2/27/05)
2007 May 11, Malietoa Tanumafili
II, head of state of Samoa, died at age 94-95.
(Econ, 5/26/07, p.101)
2009 Sep 29, A magnitude 8.0-8.3
earthquake struck about 120 miles south of the islands of Samoa,
population about 180,000 people, and American Samoa, a US territory of
65,000. Four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters) high roared
ashore on American Samoa, reaching up to a mile (1.5km) inland. At
least 142 were killed in Samoa and at least 32 on American Sa-moa and
leaving dozens missing. Authorities in Tonga, south of the Samoas,
confirmed at least 9 dead. In 2010 new research indicated that 2 great
earthquakes caused the tsunami.
(AP, 9/30/09)(AFP, 10/1/09)(AP, 10/5/09)(SSFC,
10/11/09, p.A14)(SFC, 8/19/10, p.A2)
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Subject = Samoa
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