Timeline Sicily
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11,000BCE A Paleolithic burial in
San Teodoro Cave revealed an arrowhead embedded in the pelvis bone of
an adult female.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.24)
900-800BCE Sican and Siculian farmers settled the
valleys of central Sicily.
(WSJ, 6/9/99, p.A24)
729BCE Greek colonists settled in Catania, Sicily.
(SFC, 6/2/03, p.A11)
c600BCE The Greeks established city-states along the
southern coast of Italy and the island of Sicily. They contributed
letters to the Roman alphabet, religious concepts and artistic talent
as well as mythology.
(eawc, p.8)
c525BCE Acroliths, or partial statues, of Olympian
deities were later found in Morgantina in central Sicily that were made
by Greeks and dated to this time.
(SFC, 4/4/98, p.A13)
c450BCE The golden plate known as the “Phiale
Mesomphalos” was made. In 1998 it was valued at $1.2 million and held
by US Customs.
(WSJ, 10/8/98, p.W14)
211BCE Roman legions overran the
Greek settlement of Morgantina.
(SFC, 4/4/98, p.A13)
104BCE Rome faced a slave
retaliation in Sicily.
(eawc, p.15)
73BCE Rome faced a 2nd slave
uprising in Sicily.
(eawc, p.15)
0AD Central Sicily was thick with
native forests that were cut down by the Romans in order to grow wheat
on large estates.
(WSJ, 6/9/99, p.A24)
c200-400AD The Roman Villa del Casale dated to this
time. It was decorated with over 4,200 sq. yards of floor mosaics and
was later placed on the UNESCO world heritage list.
(WSJ, 6/9/99, p.A24)
902 Aug 1, The Aghlabid rulers of
Ifriqiyah (modern day Tunisia) captured Taormina, Sicily.
(HN, 8/1/98)
1000-1100 Sicily was in the possession of the Fatimid
caliph of Cairo.
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.68)
1072 Jan 10, Robert Guiscard and
his brother Roger took Palermo in Sicily.
(HN, 1/10/99)
1154 Feb 26, Rogier II Guiscard
(60), King of Sicily (1101-54), died. William the bad succeeded his
father, Roger the II.
(SC, 2/26/02)(HN, 2/26/99)
1156 May 28, Battle at Brindisi:
King William of Sicily beat a Byzantine fleet.
(MC, 5/28/02)
1194 Feb 20, Tancredo of Lecce,
King of Sicily, died.
(MC, 2/20/02)
1194 Dec 26, Frederick II, German
Emperor (1212-1250) and King of Sicily, was born in Lesi, Italy.
(HN, 12/26/98)(MC, 12/26/01)
1197 Sep 29, Emperor Henry VI died
in Messina, Sicily.
(HN, 9/29/98)
1266 Feb 26, Charles d’Anjou, king
of the two Sicilies, defeated Manfred (33), in the Battle of Benevento.
Manfred, the bastard son of Emperor Frederik II, king of Sicily, was
killed.
(PCh, 1992, p.114)(SC, 2/26/02)
1282 Mar 30, Furious inhabitants
of Palermo attacked French occupation force in the "Sicilian Vespers."
The Mafia appeared in Sicily to revolt against French rule after a
drunken soldier attacked a young woman on her wedding day.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(MC, 3/30/02)
1282 Mar 31, The great massacre of
the French in Sicily, "The Sicilian Vespers," came to an end. [see Aug
31,1303]
(HN, 3/31/99)
1282 Apr 28, Villagers in Palermo
led a revolt against French rule in Sicily.
(HN, 4/28/98)
1303 Aug 31, The War of Vespers in
Sicily ended with an agreement between Charles of Valois, who invaded
the country, and Frederick, the ruler of Sicily.
(HN, 8/31/98)
1347 Oct, Sailors from Genoa
arrived in Messina, Sicily. Plague had broken out earlier 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. The plague, an infectious fever caused by the bacillus
Yersinia pestis, appears in several varieties: bubonic (which involves
swelling of the lymph glands), pneumonic (which involves the lungs) and
septicemia (which involves severe infection in the bloodstream).
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.31)(HNQ, 1/20/01)(SSFC, 3/6/05,
p.B4)
1366 Oct 12, King Frederick III of
Sicily forbade decorations on synagogues.
(MC, 10/12/01)
1416 Apr 2, Ferdinand I (52) the
Justified, king of Aragon and Sicily, died.
(MC, 4/2/02)
1428 Feb 5, King Alfonso V ordered
Sicily's Jews to convert to Catholicism.
(MC, 2/5/02)
1452 Mar 10, Ferdinand II, the
Catholic King of Aragon (1479-1516) and Sicily (1468-1516), was born.
He bankrolled Columbus and expelled Jews.
(WUD, 1994 p.524)(MC, 3/10/02)
1492 Dec 31, 100,000 Jews were
expelled from Sicily.
(MC, 12/31/01)
1493 Jan 12, This was the last day
for all Jews to leave Sicily.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1609 Caravaggio (1571-1610)
completed his "Adoration of the Shepherds," during a brief stay in
Messina, Sicily.
(AP, 10/7/09)
1669 Mar 11, Mount Etna in Sicily
erupted killing 15,000. [see Mar 25]
(MC, 3/12/02)
1669 Mar 25, Mount Etna, Sicily,
erupted and destroyed Nicolosi, killing 20,000. [see Mar 11]
(MC, 3/25/02)
1693 Jan 11, Sicily’s Mt. Etna
erupted.
(MC, 1/11/02)
1740 Feb 3, Charles de Bourbon,
King of Naples, invited the Jews to return to Sicily.
(MC, 2/3/02)
1808 Aug 1, Joachim Murat
(1767-1815), French marshal and Napoleon's brother in law, became king
of Naples (1808-1815) and Sicily.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_Murat)
1848 Jan 9, A people's uprising
took place in Palermo, Sicily.
(MC, 1/9/02)
1860 May 11, Giuseppe Garibaldi
landed at Marsala, Sicily. He began a series of campaigns that
politically unified most of the Italian peninsula in 1861.
(HN, 5/11/99)(ON, 10/06, p.7)
1868 Nov 28, Mt. Etna in Sicily
erupted violently.
(HN, 11/28/98)
1892 Mar 9, Frank Puglia, actor
(Black Orchid, Jungle Book), was born in Sicily, Italy.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1896 Nov 11, Charles "Lucky"
Luciano, NYC Mafia gangster, was born in Sicily.
(MC, 11/11/01)
1896 Dec 23, Giuseppe Tomasi di
Lampedusa, Sicilian writer (The Leopard), was born.
(MC, 12/23/01)
1905 Jan 18, Joseph Bonanno
(d.2002), later NYC mafia boss, was born in Castellmare del Golfo,
Sicily.
(SSFC, 5/12/02, p.A23)
1908 Dec 28, Some 70,000-100,000
people died in the Messina earthquake in Sicily. The government hired a
number of steamships, including the Florida, to ship survivors to
America.
(WUD, 1994, p.899)(WSJ, 2/8/99,
p.A21)(http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqsmosde.html)
1930 Sep 11, The Stromboli volcano
in Sicily threw 2-ton basaltic rocks 2 miles.
(MC, 9/11/01)
1943 Jul 5, US invasion fleet (96
ships) sailed to Sicily.
(MC, 7/5/02)
1943 Jul 9, American and British
forces made an amphibious landing on Sicily. The 'man who never was'
pulled off one of the greatest deceptions in military history--after
his death.
(HN, 7/9/98)
1943 Jul 10, US and British forces
completed their amphibious landing in Sicily in Operation Husky.
(AP, 7/10/97)(HN, 7/10/01)(MC, 7/10/02)
1943 Jul 18, There was a British
assault on Catania, Sicily.
(MC, 7/18/02)
1943 Jul 22, The American Seventh
Army forces led by Gen. George S. Patton captured Palermo, Sicily. Gen
Patton moved his troops across Sicily through August.
(TMC,1994,p.1943)(WSJ,12/8/95,p.A-14)(HN,7/22/98)
1943 Aug 17, The Allied conquest
of Sicily was completed as U.S. and British forces entered Messina.
(AP internet, 8/17/97)(HN, 8/17/98)
1944 The US Army handed over the
reins of power to local "anti-fascists" who were in fact Mafia leaders.
(SFC, 5/5/99, p.A13)
1950 Jul 5, Salvatore Giuliano
(b.1922), Sicilian bandit, was shot by police in Castelvetrano.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Giuliano)
1969 Oct 18, The painting
"Nativity" by Caravaggio was stolen from the Oratory of San Lorenzo in
Palermo, Sicily. Peter Watson, English novelist, later wrote "The
Caravaggio Conspiracy," an account of his 1981-1982 attempt to recover
the work.
(www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/dec/22/caravaggio-art-mafia-italy)(WSJ,
12/11/96, p.A20)
1970 Jul 18, Arthur Brown
(b.1942), English rock singer, was arrested for stripping on stage in
Palermo, Sicily.
(www.godofhellfire.co.uk/60s.htm)
1971 Apr 5, In Sicily, Italy,
Mount Etna began a series of eruptions.
(http://boris.vulcanoetna.com/ETNA_erupt2.html)
1972 May 5, Alitalia’s DC-8 Flight
112 crashed west of Palermo, Sicily; killing 115.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alitalia)
1978-1994 A power struggle raged between Salvatore
“toto” Riina of Corleone and Gaetano “Tanu” Badalamenti of Cinisi. The
“mattanza” killed an estimated 12-14 thousand over 16 years.
(SFC, 1/8/01, p.A4)
1980 Jun 27, A DC-9 crashed near
Sicily and 81 people were killed. In 1999 it was reported that a fight
by warplanes led to the crash and coverup charges were filed against
Italian military officials.
(WSJ, 9/2/99,
p.A1)(www.emergency-management.net/avi_acc_1979_1989.htm)
1986 Feb 10, The largest
Mafia trial in history, with 474 defendants, opened in Palermo, Italy.
The trial ended on December 16, 1987, almost two years after it
commenced. Of the 474 defendants, both those present and those tried in
absentia, 360 were convicted. 2,665 years of prison sentences were
shared out between the guilty, not including the life sentences. A
total of 114 defendants were acquitted.
(HN, 2/10/97)(www.answers.com/topic/maxi-trial)
1988 The film “Cinema Paradiso” by
Giuseppe Tornatore was about life in a Sicilian town following WW II.
(WSJ, 8/7/98, p.W4)
1991 Aug 29, Libero Grassi,
Italian underwear manufacturer, anti mafia, was gunned down in Palermo.
(www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art105.htm)
1992 May 23, In Sicily anti-Mafia
investigator Giovannii Falcone was murdered on a highway outside
Palermo. Falcone’s wife and 3 bodyguards were also killed. Sicilian
politician Salvo Lima was also murdered. Anti-Mafia investigator Paolo
Borsellino was killed in another blast some months later. In 1997
Pietro Aglieri, aka "U Signurinu" (The Little Gentleman), was arrested
for involvement in all three murders. 24 mobsters were convicted in the
murder in 1997, including Leoluca Bagarella.
(SFC, 9/27/97, p.A12)(SFEC, 6/7/98,
p.A23)(http://giovanni-falcone.foosquare.com/)
1993 Jan 15, In Sicily Salvatore
"The Beast" Riina was arrested. "Toto" Riina, the Sicilian boss of
bosses, was arrested for his role in the murder of prosecutor Giovanni
Falcone. Bernardo Provenzano was considered to have taken over as boss
of the Sicilian Mafia following Riina’s arrest. Provenzano’s right-hand
man was Mariano Troia.
(USAT, 9/16/98,
p.14A)(www.answers.com/topic/salvatore-riina)(SFC, 1/22/00, p.A11)
1993 May 9, Pope John Paul II made
an anti-Mafia speech in Agrigento, Sicily.
(www.cbc.ca/news/obit/pope/timeline.html)
1993 In Catania a “man of honor”
reportedly ordered the strangling of 4 boys, aged 12-14, for the
robbery of his mother’s handbag.
(SFC, 9/3/97, p.C2)
1993 Rev. Giuseppe Puglisi (56), a
spokesman against organized crime, was shot in the back of the neck
while on the doorstep of his home. In 1999 Giuseppe Graviano, a Mafia
boss, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for ordering the
murder.
(SFC, 10/6/99, p.C16)
1997 Sep 3, It was reported that
Catania (pop. 378,000) has some 100 gangland killings per year.
(SFC, 9/3/97, p.C2)
1998 Jul 11, It was reported that
fires in southern Italy and Sicily burned 2,500 acres of forest and
grassland.
(SFC, 7/11/98, p.A8)
1998 Sep 15, Italian police
arrested Mariano Troia (65), one of the Mafia’s most notorious figures,
near Palermo.
(USAT, 9/16/98, p.14A)
1999 Oct 23, In Palermo, Italy,
Giulio Andreotti (80), 7 times prime minister, was acquitted of charges
that he was the Sicilian Mafia's protector in Rome.
(SFEC, 10/24/99, p.A17)
2001 Jan 8, The Mafia Archipelago
under the new Cosa Nuova was estimated to have annual earnings of $30
billion.
(SFC, 1/8/01, p.A4)
2001 Jun 10, Silvio Berlusconi
(64), known as Il Cavaliere, became premier for a 2nd time and formed
his Cabinet. He promised a 100-day revolution to transform the economy.
All 61 single-member constituencies in Sicily went to the center-right.
(SFC, 6/11/01, p.A8)(SFC, 9/7/01, p.A15)(Econ,
3/25/06, p.56)
2002 Jun 7, It was reported that
Italy had committed to a $4.3 billion project for a suspension bridge
linking Sicily over the 2-mile-wide straits of Messina.
(WSJ, 6/7/02, p.A1)(Econ, 11/22/03, p.75)
2002 Jul 20, In northeastern
Sicily a passenger train derailed and apparently crashed into an
abandoned house, killing at least eight people and injuring some 30
others.
(AP, 7/21/02)
2002 Sep, In Sicily the strongest
earthquake in 20 years caused some $500 million in damage.
(SFC, 9/14/02, p.A20)
2002 Oct 27, In Sicily Mount Etna
began spewing thick clouds of ash and magma.
(AP, 10/28/02)
2002 Nov 19, Vito Ciancimino
(b.1924), former mayor of Palermo and leading Mafioso tied to the
Corleonese clan, died while under house arrest. In 2006 Francesco Zummo
faced charges of laundering money to Monaco on behalf of Ciancimino.
(Econ, 2/18/06,
p.70)(www.centroimpastato.it/php/crono.php3?month=11&year=2002)
2003 May 2, In eastern Sicily
Giuseppe Leotta (42), a disgruntled worker, opened fire with a handgun
in the Aci Castello town hall, killing 5 people. He fled and then
killed himself.
(AP, 5/2/03)
2004 Feb, Experts were dispatched
to the village of Canneto di Caronia, Sicily, following a series
of mysterious fires that charred dozens of objects.
(SFC, 2/21/04, p.A22)
2004 Jun 11, In Palermo, Sicily, a
court convicted and sentenced 30 top Sicilian mobsters to life
imprisonment after a 10-year trial covering a total of 77 murders.
(AP, 6/12/04)
2005 Jul 11, A judge ordered the
arrest and isolation of 3 senior officers of the Banco di Credito
Cooperativo Sofige Gela, a small bank on Sicily’s southern coast. The
had been under investigation for aiding and abetting the Mafia.
(Econ, 7/16/05, p.72)
2005 Aug 6, A Tunis Air jet
carrying 35 passengers went down in the sea off the Sicilian coast, and
rescuers were on their way. 16 people were killed, while 23 survived. A
bad fuel gauge on the Tuninter plane caused the crash. On March 23,
2009, the Tunisian pilot who paused to pray instead of taking emergency
measures before crash-landing his plane, was sentenced to 10 years in
jail by an Italian court along with his co-pilot. Another five
employees of Tuninter, a subsidiary of Tunisair, were sentenced to
between 8 and 9 years in jail.
(AP, 8/5/05)(AP, 8/7/05)(WSJ, 9/8/05, p.A1)(Reuters,
3/24/09)
2005 Oct 28, Police in Sicily said
they have arrested two suspected mobsters accused of plotting to murder
a judge with a car bomb.
(AP, 10/28/05)
2005 Dec 26, Character actor
Vincent Schiavelli (57), who appeared in scores of movies, including
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Ghost," died at his home in
Sicily.
(AP, 12/26/05)
2006 Feb 10, In Sicily NATO
defense ministers sought to calm Islamic anger over cartoons of the
Prophet Muhammad at a counterterrorism meeting with Arab countries
including Israel, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and
Mauritania.
(AP, 2/10/06)
2006 Apr 11, Bernardo Provenzano
(73), Italy's reputed No. 1 Mafia boss, was arrested at a farmhouse in
Sicily after frustrating investigators' efforts to catch him during
more than 40 years on the run.
(AP, 4/11/06)(SFC, 4/12/06, p.A7)
2006 May 21, Local authorities
said boats carrying more than 400 migrants have been intercepted off
Lampedusa over the past 48 hours, overwhelming the tiny island south of
Sicily.
(AP, 5/21/06)
2006 Aug 18, At least 10 people
died and as many as 40 were feared missing when a small boat packed
with illegal immigrants sank off Sicily, prompting Italy to call for
greater cooperation to fight human trafficking.
(Reuters, 8/19/06)
2006 Aug 19, Ten bodies were found
and about 20 other people were believed missing after a 2nd boat in 2
days carrying would-be immigrants sank off the Italian island of
Lampedusa. Some 70 survivors were plucked from the water after the boat
sank, several of whom said there had been 120 people on the boat.
(AP, 8/20/06)
2006 Sep 2, A small boat of
African migrants from Eritrea was intercepted off the coast of Sicily.
They said eight people died during their grueling trip. They had left
from Libya 10-12 days earlier.
(AP, 9/3/06)
2006 Nov 15, A court in Palermo,
Sicily, convicted 46 deputies, confidants and helpers of jailed Mafia
boss Bernardo Provenzano, many of whom helped the former fugitive evade
capture, and sentenced them to terms of up to 18 years in prison.
(AP, 11/16/06)
2007 Jan 15, A cargo ship and a
commuter hydrofoil collided near the entrance to the Sicilian port of
Messina, killing four people and leaving dozens of passengers injured.
(AP, 1/16/07)
2007 May 30, In Sicily a dedicated
anti-Mafia economic crime unit began running under Antonio Ingroia.
(Econ, 6/9/07, p.87)
2007 Aug 22, Wind-whipped fires
that have been ravaging parts of Sicily consumed a hotel near the port
city of Messina, killing at least two people.
(AP, 8/22/07)
2007 Nov 5, In Sicily Salvatore Lo
Piccolo (65), who magistrates believe is the Sicilian Mafia's new "boss
of bosses," was arrested after nearly a quarter of a century on the
run. He was arrested with his son, Sandro (32), and two other Mafia
bosses.
(Reuters, 11/5/07)
2007 Dec 3, Daniele Emmanuello
(43), the Mafia godfather of Gela, Sicily, was killed while trying to
escape police. He was considered one of Italy's 30 most dangerous Mafia
fugitives.
(AP, 12/3/07)(Econ, 12/8/07, p.62)
2007 Dec 4, In Italy Vincenzo
Santapaola, a suspected Mafia boss, and scores of alleged mobsters were
arrested during raids in Catania, Sicily. Police also seized weapons
and drugs, and found a book that listed extortion fees and salaries of
the people working for the family.
(AP, 12/4/07)
2008 Jan 16, Italian police
arrested scores of suspected mobsters in Palermo in the latest raid on
suspected Sicilian Mafia hideouts.
(AP, 1/16/08)
2008 Jan 18, A court in Palermo
convicted Sicily's Gov. Salvatore Cuffaro of helping a Mafia boss and
sentenced him to five years in prison.
(AP, 1/18/08)
2008 Nov 18, Italian authorities
in Sicily seized assets worth euro700 million ($885 million) from
Giuseppe Grigoli, a supermarket chain owner, suspected of letting the
Mafia use his businesses to launder money.
(AP, 11/18/08)
2008 Dec 16, Italian police backed
by helicopters arrested almost 90 suspected mobsters and thwarted a
plan by the hobbled Sicilian Mafia to reconstitute itself and form a
new ruling commission to set strategy. Gaetano Lo Presti (52), the
alleged Mafia boss of a Palermo neighborhood, hanged himself in jail,
hours after he was arrested in a blitz against Cosa Nostra.
(AP, 12/16/08)(AP, 12/17/08)
2009 Jan 24, In Italy some 600
migrants and refugees broke out of an overcrowded immigration facility
on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa to protest their treatment. The
migrants returned to the facility after several hours.
(AP, 1/24/09)
2009 Apr 29, Youssef Magied
al-Molqui, one of the 4 Palestinians who hijacked the Achille Lauro
cruise ship and killed an American passenger in 1985, left prison in
Palermo, Sicily, after more than 23 years in jail. Ibrahim Fatayer
Abdelatif, another convicted Achille Lauro hijacker, was released last
year.
(AP, 4/30/09)
2009 Jun 16, Italian police said
they had arrested 13 people suspected of helping a top Mafia fugitive
hide, communicate with other mobsters and conduct his business.
Investigators said they are closing in on Matteo Messina Denaro, a
fugitive who is among a handful of mobsters vying to take over the
Sicilian Mafia. Most of the arrests were carried out in Trapani, a city
in Western Sicily that is the power base of Messina Denaro.
(AP, 6/16/09)
2009 Jun 20, Italian police in
Sicily said they have arrested 14 people and placed more than 250 under
investigation in the country's biggest sweep against Internet child
pornography.
(AP, 6/20/09)
2009 Oct 2, In Italy rivers of mud
unleashed by heavy rains overnight flooded parts of the Sicilian city
of Messina, leaving at least 22 people dead while sweeping away cars
and collapsing buildings. 40 people remained missing.
(AP, 10/3/09)(AP, 10/4/09)
2009 Nov 15, Italian police
captured convicted mobster Domenico Raccuglia, one of Sicily’s top
mafia fugitives, in an apartment near Trapani.
(SFC, 11/16/09, p.A2)
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