Timeline Sao Tome and Principe
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An African nation of two volcanic islands
straddling the equator in the Gulf of Guinea, 200 miles and 150
miles, respectively, off the coast of the western African nation of
Gabon. Sao Tome is 30 miles long and 20 miles wide, and Principe
about 10 miles long and 4 miles wide. The islands are in one of the
continent's most active oil exploration areas. They have a combined
population of some 150,000.
(AP, 7/18/03)(Econ, 7/19/03, p.37)1469-1472
The islands of Sao Tome and Principe were discovered by Portuguese
navigators and settled by 1500.
(AP, 7/18/03)
1469-1472
The islands of Sao Tome and Principe were discovered by Portuguese
navigators and settled by 1500.
(AP, 7/18/03)
1522 The Portuguese crown began
administering Sao Tome.
(AP, 7/18/03)
1573 The Portuguese crown
began administering Principe.
(AP, 7/18/03)
1919 May 29, A solar eclipse
occurred that was photographed by two British expeditions, one in
Africa and the other in Sobral, Brazil. Arthur Eddington, British
astronomer, confirmed Einstein’s prediction of the deflection of
light from Principe, a Portuguese island off the Atlantic coast of
Africa. In 1980 Harry Colling and Trevor Pinch published "The
Golem," an account of the expedition. The play “Rose Tattoo” by
Tennessee (Thomas Lanier) Williams was originally titled “The
Eclipse of May 29, 1919.”
(SFC, 10/12/96,
p.E3)(www.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~suchii/Edd.on1919.html)
1975 Jul 12, The islands of Sao
Tome and Principe achieved independence from Portugal. Pinto da
Costa ruled Sao Tome with an iron fist for 15 years after
independence.
(AP, 7/18/03)(AFP, 9/3/11)
1988 Members of Frente
Democrata Crista (FDC) staged an unsuccessful invasion of Sao Tome
from bases in Gabon.
(Econ, 7/19/03, p.37)
1990 Pinto da Costa lost the
presidency of Sao Tome and Principe after introducing reforms,
including multi-party democracy that saw the election as president
of Miguel Trovoada.
(AFP, 9/3/11)
1991 Mar 3, Miguel Trovoada was
installed as President of Sao Tomé e Principal. The former prime
minister had returned from exile to run for president.
(SC, 3/3/02)(AP, 7/18/03)
1996 Jun 30, Voters went 41%
for incumbent Miguel Trovoada and 39% for former Marxist ruler
Manuel Pinto da Costa. A runoff was scheduled for Jul 21.
(SFC, 7/3/96, p.C3)
2001 Fradique de Menezes was
elected president.
(AP, 7/18/03)
2003 Jul 16, In Sao Tome, an
island nation off West Africa, Pres. Fradique de Menezes was ousted
in a coup led by army Maj. Fernando Pereira. The revolt changed
control of the impoverished country's new oil wealth.
(AP, 7/16/03)
2003 Jul 21, In Sao Tome
military coup leaders freed seven government ministers detained in
last week's bloodless rebellion and resumed talks with international
mediators on restoring civilian rule.
(AP, 7/21/03)
2003 Jul 23, In Sao Tome rebel
leaders ended a weeklong bloodless coup after the president signed
an accord promising to replace the government and give them amnesty.
(AP, 7/24/03)
2003 Aug 1, In Sao Tome PM
Maria das Neves resigned. Four other government ministers also have
offered to resign.
(AP, 8/1/03)
2005 May 10, The UN children's
agency said it is sending medical aid to the West African country of
Sao Tome and Principe to combat a cholera outbreak that has infected
131 people, killing three.
(AP, 5/10/05)
2005 Oct 30, It was reported
that tourism in Sao Tome and Principe, hovering around 6,000 per
year for the last 10 years, was expected to rise to 25,000 annually
by 2010.
(SSFC, 10/30/05, p.F10)
2006 Jul 30, Residents on the
tiny island nation of Sao Tome and Principe off West Africa voted
for a new president.
(AP, 7/30/06)
2010 Nov 19, In the Republic of
Congo 8 countries signed a convention to limit the spread of weapons
in central Africa, but three countries opted out. Angola, Cameroon,
the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Gabon, The Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe all
signed. Burundi, Equatorial Guinea and Rwanda did not sign.
(AFP, 11/20/10)
2010 In Sao Tome and Principe
the Democratic Action party of Pres. Patrice Trovoada won
legislative elections.
(AFP, 9/3/11)
2011 Jul 17, Voters in the tiny
west African archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe voted for their
next president. 54% of the country's 200,000 people have been
described as poor by the UN Development Program (UNDP). Former
strongman Manuel Pinto da Costa led the field with 35.85% of the
vote. Speaker Evaristo Carvalho was second with 21.82% and will
challenge the 73-year-old former president on July 24.
(AFP, 7/17/11)
2011 Aug 7, Sao Tome and
Principe voted peacefully in the second round of a presidential
election. Former strongman Manuel Pinto da Costa (75) was elected
back to power.
(AP, 8/8/11)(AFP, 9/3/11)
2011 Sep 3, Sao Tome’s
communist-era strongman Manuel Pinto da Costa returned to power when
he was invested as president after an election campaign based on
fighting corruption.
(AFP, 9/3/11)
2012 Jul 26, The UN's food
agency said 10 Central African countries have agreed to take part in
a regional initiative to monitor the Congo Basin, one of the world's
largest primary rainforests. They included Burundi, Cameroon,
Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda and Sao Tome and Principe.
(AFP, 7/26/12)
2013 Apr 7, Missionary Jerry
Krause (54) disappeared near Sao Tome island as he flew in a
twin-engine Beechcraft 1900C from South Africa to Mali.
(AP, 4/17/13)
2013 Nov 12, The Sao Tome
government and Chinese representatives signed an agreement to
open a trade mission to promote projects in Sao Tome and Principe,
16 years after it broke off relations over the tiny Central African
island nation's diplomatic recognition of Taiwan.
(Reuters, 11/14/13)
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