Timeline Solomon Islands
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The capital is Honiara
(Econ, 8/9/03, p.)
1936
Raymond Firth (1901-2002), New Zealand-born
anthropologist, authored “We the Tikopia,’ a study of the organization
of some 1,200 Tikopia islanders of the British Solomons. He later wrote
9 more books on the Tikopia.
(SFC, 3/19/02, p.A20)
1942 Jan 4, Japanese forces began
the evacuation of Guadalcanal
(HN, 1/4/00)
1942 Aug 7, The U.S. 1st Marine
Division under General A. A. Vandegrift landed on the islands of
Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon islands. This was the first
American amphibious landing of the war and the start of the first major
allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. The initial
landing party included Navajo Codetalkers. This was the 1st land
Japanese defeat of WWII; Japan was building an air base with designs on
isolating the Australian continent.
(AP, 8/7/97)(HN, 8/7/98)(WSJ, 10/12/99, p.A24)(MC,
8/7/02)
1942 Aug 8, U.S. Marines captured
the Japanese airstrip on Guadalcanal.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1942 Aug 18, Japan sent a crack
army to Guadalcanal to repulse the U.S. Marines fighting there.
(HN, 8/18/98)
1942 Aug 21, U.S. Marines turned
back the first major Japanese ground attack on Guadalcanal in the
Battle of Tenaru.
(HN, 8/21/98)
1942 Aug 23, The 1st US flights
landed on Guadalcanal.
(MC, 8/23/02)
1942 Aug 24, In the battle of the
Eastern Solomons, the third carrier-versus-carrier battle of the war,
U.S. naval forces defeated a Japanese force attempting to screen
reinforcements for the Guadalcanal fighting.
(HN, 8/24/98)
1942 Aug, Following the
Battle of Midway, American forces at Guadalcanal--code-named
"Cactus"--took delivery of 12 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers and
their escort of 19 Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat fighters, the advance
squadrons of Marine Air Group (MAG) 23. Within 12 hours the fledgling
"Cactus Air Force" helped finish off a Japanese infantry assault.
(HNQ, 8/15/01)
1942 Sep 13, Battle of Edson's
Ridge began at Guadalcanal.
(http://www.gnt.net/~jrube/indx2.html)
1942 Sep 14, The 3-day Battle of
Edson's Ridge at Guadalcanal continued.
(http://www.gnt.net/~jrube/indx2.html)
1942 Sep 15, The USS Wasp was
torpedoed by a Japanese submarine at Guadalcanal; the US Navy ended up
sinking the badly damaged aircraft carrier.
(www.b-26marauderarchive.org/PM/PM2105/PM4223.htm)(AP, 9/15/07)
1942 Oct 8, Fight at Matanikau,
Guadalcanal (John Hersey Into the Valley).
(MC, 10/8/01)
1942 Oct 11, In the World War II
Battle of Cape Esperance in the Solomon Islands, U.S. cruisers and
destroyers decisively defeated a Japanese task force in a night surface
encounter.
(AP, 10/11/97)(HN, 10/11/98)
1942 Oct 13, In the first of four
attacks, two Japanese battleships sail down the slot and shelled
Henderson field on Guadalcanal, in an unsuccessful effort to destroy
the American Cactus Air Force.
(HN, 10/13/99)
1942 Oct 25, Battle of Henderson
Field, Guadalcanal began.
(MC, 10/25/01)
1942 Oct 26, In the Battle of
Santa Cruz the USS South Dakota shot down a record 32 enemy planes
(MC, 10/26/01)
1942 Oct 26, Japanese planes badly
damaged the US ship Hornet in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, in the
South Pacific Solomon Islands. 300 survivors were rescued by the
destroyer Barton. The Hornet sank early the next morning.
(HN, 10/26/98)(AP, 10/26/07)(SFC, 10/14/05, p.B6)
1942 Oct 26, On the 2nd day in the
Battle of Henderson Field. Mitchell Paige (1918-2003), US Marine
platoon sergeant, held his position against Japanese forces at
Guadalcanal as all his men were killed or wounded, until reinforcements
arrived. He received a battlefield commission and later a Medal of
Honor. In 1975 he authored the autobiography "A Marine Named Mitch."
(HN, 10/26/98)(SFC, 11/19/03, p.A29)
1942 Nov 12, The World War II
naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. The Allies eventually won a major
victory over the Japanese. The battle was described by Ira Wolfert in
news reports and his 1943 book "Battle for the Solomons."
(SFC,11/28/97, p.B8)(AP, 11/12/07)
1942 Nov 13-15, Japanese-US sea
battle at Savo-Island in Guadalcanal.
(MC, 11/14/01)
1942 Nov 15, An American fleet
defeats a Japanese naval force in a clash off Guadalcanal. The five
Sullivan brothers, onboard USS Juneau, were all killed in the action.
(HN, 11/15/99)
1942 Dec 31, After five months of
battle, Emperor Hirohito allowed the Japanese commanders at Guadalcanal
to retreat.
(HN, 12/31/98)
1943 Jan 5, The Japanese began a
planned withdrawal from Guadalcanal.
(HN, 1/5/99)
1943 Feb 9, The World War II
battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ended with an Allied
victory over Japanese forces.
(AP, 2/9/08)
1943 Mar 8, Japanese forces
attacked American troops on Hill 700 in Bougainville. The battle lasted
five days.
(HN, 3/8/99)
1943 Mar 13, Japanese forces ended
their attack on the American troops on Hill 700 in Bougainville.
(HN, 3/13/99)
1943 Apr 7, US Marine Lt. James
Swett (1920-2009), division leader of Squadron 221, shot down 7
Japanese bombers over the Solomon Islands. He was later awarded the
Medal of Honor for his actions on this day.
(SSFC, 1/25/09, p.B3)
1943 Jul 29, Lt. Robert Scott
(d.1999 at 85) led a platoon on New Georgia in the Central Solomons to
capture a hilltop overlooking the Munda Point airstrip. He found
himself alone and continued fighting with grenades and his rifle to
force an enemy withdrawal. 28 Japanese were found dead from his attack.
He received the Medal of Honor in Oct 1944.
(SFC, 2/12/99, p.A24)
1943 Aug 2, A Navy patrol torpedo
boat, PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, sank after being
sheared in two by the Amagiri, a Japanese destroyer, off the Solomon
Islands. Lt. John F. Kennedy, towing an injured sailor, swam to a small
island in the Solomon Islands. The night before, his boat, PT-109, had
been split in half by the destroyer Amagiri. Kennedy was credited with
saving members of the crew. Two members of the crew were killed in the
collision in the Blackett Strait off Gizo, the main town of western
Solomon Islands. An injured Kennedy and the ship's other survivors
clung to the wreckage and swam to a nearby island, where Aaron Kumana
and Biuku Gasa found them. The pair rowed 35 miles through enemy-held
waters to summon a rescue boat.
(AP, 8/2/97)(HN, 8/2/98)(AP, 8/30/07)
1943 Aug 5, American forces took
the Munda Point airstrip.
(SFC, 2/12/99, p.A24)
1943 Aug 25, U.S. forces completed
the occupation of New Georgia in the Solomon Islands during World War
II. Losing Hill 700 to the Japanese meant defeat for the American
forces on Bougainville. To the men of the 37th Infantry Division, that
was unthinkable.
(AP, 8/25/97)(HN, 8/25/98)
1943 Oct 6, The Battle at Vella
Lavella was fought in the Solomon Islands.
(MC, 10/6/01)
1943 Oct 18, US bombing of
Bougainville, Solomon Islands.
(MC, 10/18/01)
1943 Nov 1, American troops
invaded Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.
(HN, 11/1/98)
1943 Nov 2, The Battle of Empress
Augusta Bay in Bougainville ended in U.S. Navy victory over Japan.
(HN, 11/2/98)
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, Kiribati, 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 Jul 7, The Solomon Islands
gained independence from Britain.
(SFC, 7/1/97,
p.A9)(www.worldstatesmen.org/Solomon_Islands.html)
2000 Jun 4, In the Solomon Islands
insurgents of the Malaita Eagle Force militia took Prime Minister
Bartholemew Ulufa’alua hostage in Honiara. The Malaita Force was
fighting the Isatabu force, which was trying to drive thousands of
migrants from Malaita off of Guadalcanal.
(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A9)
2000 Jun 7, Malaita rebels
released Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa’alu from house arrest and
dropped demands that he resign.
(SFC, 6/8/00, p.C3)
2000 Jun 13, Prime Minister
Ulufa’alu resigned prior to a no confidence vote forced by armed rebels.
(SFC, 6/14/00, p.A13)
2000 Jun 30, Mannasseh Sogavare
replaced Bartholomew Ulufa’alu as prime minister.
(SFC, 7/1/00, p.A13)
2000 Aug 2, In the Solomon Islands
warring militias signed a cease-fire on an Australian warship off the
capital of Honiara.
(WSJ, 8/3/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 15, Two rival Solomon
Island militia groups signed a peace agreement in Australia.
(SFC, 10/16/00, p.F8)
2002 Jul 11, Solomon Islands
police reported that 10 men who went in search of a rebel warlord to
capture him for a bounty payment had all been killed.
(AP, 7/11/02)
2002 Dec 29, Cyclone Zoe hit the
Solomon Islands' Tikopia, Fataka and Anuta islands, with the eye of the
cyclone sweeping over Tikopia. The islanders survived and aid arrived
Jan 5.
(AP, 12/30/02)(AP, 1/5/03)
2003 Jan 20, A powerful earthquake
hit the Solomon Islands, causing residents to flee homes and buildings.
(AP, 1/20/03)
2003 Jun 30, Foreign ministers
from 16 South Pacific nations endorsed a plan to send more than 2,000
troops and police to impose civil order in the violence-wracked Solomon
Islands.
(AP, 7/3/03)
2003 Jul 23, In "Operation Helpem
Fren" an Australian-led peacekeeping force poured into the Solomon
Islands to keep the island chain from slipping deeper into anarchy.
(AP, 7/24/03)(Econ, 8/9/03, p.34)
2003 Oct 1, Solomon Islands
Foreign Minister Laurie Chan said an Australian-led force has broken
the reign of gangsters and warlords terrorizing the Islands, paving the
way for the small South Pacific nation to start battling corruption.
(AP, 10/1/03)
2003 Oct 28, Australia and New
Zealand they will start withdrawing troops from the Solomon Islands,
claiming success in a mission to restore law and order.
(AP, 10/28/03)
2005 Mar 18, Former Solomon
Islands warlord Harold Keke and two other men were sentenced to life in
prison for the 2002 murder of a Catholic priest.
(AFP, 3/18/05)
2005 Jul 18, In a program to be
screened on ABC TV, the fisheries chief of the Solomon Islands in the
South Pacific says Japan poured money into the country in exchange for
its support over whaling and cheap access to tuna. Similar charges were
made by former officials from the tiny Caribbean nations of Dominica
and Grenada.
(AP, 7/18/05)
2006 Apr 5, In the Solomon Islands
former premier Sir Allan Kemakeza narrowly clung to his seat in
parliamentary elections.
(AP, 4/18/06)
2006 Apr 18, Mobs of Solomon
Islanders looted stores, torched buildings and cars, and pelted police
with stones after lawmakers elected Snyder Rini as the new prime
minister. He associated with a previous administration accused of
corruption. Seven officers were injured.
(AP, 4/18/06)
2006 Apr 18, Australia said it
will send up to 110 troops to the Solomon Islands to help restore calm
after the election of a new prime minister sparked rioting.
(AP, 4/18/06)
2006 Apr 26, Snyder Rini, the new
Solomon Islands prime minister whose election last week sparked two
days of rioting and looting in the archipelago's capital, resigned
after losing support in Parliament.
(AP, 4/26/06)
2006 Oct 15, Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer said Australia would cut ministerial contacts with its
northern neighbor until an investigation was held into the escape from
Papua New Guinea of a Solomon Islands official wanted on child sex
charges. Julian Moti, now in custody in the Solomons and facing charges
of illegal entry, was wanted in Australia on child sex charges
involving a 13-year-old girl in Vanuatu in 1997.
(AFP, 10/15/06)(Econ, 10/28/06, p.51)
2007 Apr 2, Tsunami waves churned
by an undersea earthquake crashed ashore in the Solomon Islands, wiping
away entire villages and triggering alerts from Australia to Hawaii. At
least 50 people were killed.
(AP, 4/3/07)(AP, 4/2/08)
2008 Apr 30, It was reported that
the value of spinner dolphin teeth in the Solomon Islands has
appreciated 400% in the last year from about .065 US cents to 26 US
cents. Dolphin teeth have been used there for centuries as currency.
(WSJ, 4/30/08, p.A1)
2009 May 15, In Indonesia 6
Asia-Pacific countries, meeting at the World Oceans Conference, agreed
on a management plan to protect one of the world's largest networks of
coral reefs, promising to reduce pollution, eliminate overfishing and
improve the livelihoods of impoverished coastal communities. The Coral
Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security covered
an area defined as the Coral Triangle, which spans Indonesia, the
Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East
Timor.
(AP, 5/15/09)
2010 Jan 4, A tsunami unleashed by
an earthquake plowed into the Solomon Islands with the crashing waters
devastating at least one village, leaving over a thousand people
homeless. The US Geological Survey recorded 8 earthquakes in the region
since late Jan 3. The magnitude 7.2 was centered 64 miles (103 km)
southeast of Gizo, and followed a 6.5 tremor less than two hours
earlier centered 54 miles (90 km) southeast of Gizo at a depth of 6
miles (10 km).
(AP, 1/4/10)(AP, 1/5/10)
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Subject = Solomons
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