Timeline of Marshall Islands

Chronology

33 events spanning the history of Marshall Islands. BCE/CE dating.

1. 500

   http://www.rmiembassyus.org/History.htm

   500 BC - 2000 BC (approx.) - The first Micronesian navigators arrive in the Marshalls, calling the atolls Aelon Kein Ad (Our Islands). Dates and origins of the settlers are still uncertain. While controversial, archeological finds on Bikini Atoll in the late 1980s were carbon dated to 2000 years BC, suggesting that people may have settled the Marshalls as long as 4,000 years ago.

2. 1494

   http://www.rmiembassyus.org/History.htm

   The Treaty of Tordesillas cedes ownership of all of Micronesia to Spain

3. 1529

   http://www.rmiembassyus.org/History.htm

   Seeking a western route to the “Spice Islands,” Spaniard Alvaro Saavedra becomes the first European to “discover” the Marshalls.

4. 1788

   http://www.rmiembassyus.org/History.htm

   The area now known as the RMI was given its name by British Naval Captain William Marshall, who sailed through the area on the Scarborough while transporting convicts for New South Wales between Botany Bay and Cathay.

5. 1857

   http://www.rmiembassyus.org/History.htm

   Rev. Hiram Bingham, Jr. of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) creates missionary outpost on Ebon

6. 1860

   http://www.rmiembassyus.org/History.htm

   Adolph Capelle builds first large-scale trading company in the Marshalls. Several German trading firms begin operations in the Marshalls soon thereafter.

7. 1878

   http://www.rmiembassyus.org/History.htm

   Captain von Werner of the German Navy enters into a treaty with inhabitants of the Ralik chain, granting special trade privileges.

8. 1885

   http://www.rmiembassyus.org/History.htm

   Under mediation of Pope Leo XIII, German government annexes the Marshalls with compensation to Spain in the amount of $4.5 million.

9. 1886

   http://www.rmiembassyus.org/History.htm

   Germany establishes a protectorate over the Marshalls.

10. 1887

    http://www.rmiembassyus.org/History.htm

    Formation of the Jaluit Company, a German entity entrusted with governance of the Marshalls.