by Chariot of Fire on Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:48 am
Falklands Timeline
1592 First confirmed sighting of the Islands by English navigator John Davis of Desire
1594 English navigator Richard Hawkins of Dainty maps the northern coastline and names the Islands 'Hawkins Maydenlande' after himself and Queen Elizabeth
1675 London merchant Anthony de la Roche sights South Georgia
1684 British explorers William Dampier, John Cook and Ambrose Cowley of Bachelor's Delight sight the Islands
1690 First landing at Bold Cove, Port Howard by British captain John Strong of Welfare whilst sailing to Chile who names Falkland Sound after Lord Falkland, Treasurer to the Navy
1696 British navigator William Dampier returns and circumnavigates the Islands
1708 British privateer Woode Rogers explores the Islands and uses the name Falkland's Land to describe the whole archipelago
1740 Lord Anson visits and recommends to the British Government that they use the Islands as a base for exploring the Pacific Ocean
1765 Captain John Byron of Tamar, sent to survey the Islands, lands at Port Egmont on Saunders Island in West Falkland which he names for the Earl of Egmont, First Lord of the Admiralty, and claims the Islands for King George III
1766 Captain John McBride of Jason establishes a naval garrison called Fort George and a settlement called Jason's Town at Port Egmont
1775 Captain James Cook discovers South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and takes formal possession of both territories on behalf of King George III
1819 South Shetland Islands discovered by Captain William Smith who claims them for King George III
1821 South Orkney Islands discovered by Captain George Powell who claims them for King George IV
1828 The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata grant Vernet all of East Falkland and its fishing and sealing resources, and exempts him from taxation if he forms a colony within three years;
Vernet acknowledges the primacy of the British sovereignty claim and lodges with the British Consul General a request that his colony be taken under British protection
1829 The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata appoint Vernet Governor of East Falkland; Britain formally protests Vernet's appointment and reiterates its sovereignty claim
1840 Colonial Lands and Emigration Commissioners approve the colonisation of the Islands
1841 British government appoints Lt Richard Moody as Lt Governor of the Islands; British settlers arrive at Anson's Harbour in brig Hebe from Portsmouth; Dictator General Rosas offers to surrender the claim of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata on the Islands in return for the release of debts owed by the United Provinces to the City of London
1843 British Government formally annex the Islands and their dependencies by the issue of Letters Patent, and appoint Lt Moody as Governor of the Islands;
Captain Ross recommends building on the south side of Port Jackson (later known as Stanley Harbour) and Governor Moody starts construction of the new capital
1853 The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata become the Argentine Republic
1854 Islands' first volunteer defence force formed in response to Crimea War
1858 Arrival of 35 Marines to form the Falkland Islands Garrison Company
1903 Argentina acquires administration of a meterological station in the South Orkney Islands and claims it as evidence of a transfer of sovereignty throughout all the Falkland Islands Dependencies
1908 British Government formally annexe South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, the South Orkney Islands, the South Shetland Islands and Graham Land by Letters Patent together declaring them the Falkland Islands' Dependencies
1914 WW1 opens in the South Atlantic with major naval engagements which became known as the Battle of Coronel and the Battle of the Falkland Islands which secured the Cape Horn passage for the remainder of the war for Britain and her allies
1939 WW2 opens in the South Atlantic with the Battle of the River Plate. HMS Exeter shelters in Stanley after being virtually destroyed in the battle. Argentina remains neutral
1960 UN Resolution 1514 calls for an end to colonialism; Britain lists the Islands as a colony and Argentina objects
1971 Communications Agreement signed between Britain and Argentina forcing travellers to and from the Islands to travel by air via Argentina and requiring Islanders travelling through Argentina to carry Argentine Identity Cards; Argentina agrees temporarily to shelve their claim to sovereignty while they try to win Islanders over
1972 Argentine military coup is followed by merciless persecution of left-wing academics and activists
1973 Newly-elected Argentine Peronist government renews sovereignty claim in the UN which passes Resolution 3160 urging sovereignty negotiations; Britain refuses to discuss sovereignty
1974 Britain grants Argentina's state-owned oil and gas companies a monopoly to sell petroleum and gas products in the Islands at mainland prices; Britain proposes condominium government for the Islands but Islanders reject proposal
1975 Diplomatic relations between Britain and Argentina are broken
1976 British Antarctic Survey ship RRS Shackleton fired-on by Argentine gunboat; UN Resolution 31/49 urges sovereignty negotiations, and talks between Britain and Argentina resume;
Argentina sets up illegal and clandestine military base on Southern Thule, a Falkland Islands Dependency situated south of South Georgia
1977 British-built Stanley Airport opens; Argentine sailors land on the island of Morrell in the South Sandwich Islands, claiming they are undertaking scientific research; Newly-elected British Labour government re-opens sovereignty negotiations and sends Minister of State Edward Rowlands to Islands to obtain Islanders' views; Britain secretly sends a nuclear submarine and two frigates to the South Atlantic in response to Argentine preparations for naval 'manoeuvres' which then halt
1980 General Leopoldo Galtieri appointed Commander-in-Chief of Argentine army; New talks held between Britain and Argentina in April; Sir Rex Hunt appointed Governor of the Islands;
Minister of State Nicholas Ridley visits to discuss sovereignty dispute but fails to persuade Islanders to accept 'leaseback' proposal
1981 British Nationality Act removes British nationality from any Falkland Islander who does not have a parent or grandparent born in Britain; FIG protest to British Parliament over sovereignty negotiations; British Parliament reaffirms 'paramountcy' of Islanders' wishes
1982 Britain and Argentina resume sovereignty negotiations; Argentine newspapers threaten military action if talks do not produce results soon
1982 2 April to 14 June 1982 Islands occupied by Argentine army until liberated by British Task Force - 257 Britons including 3 Islanders killed in the Conflict
1983 Galtieri arrested and charged with military bungling of the war; Opening of Falkland Islands Government Office in London; Closure of Falkland Islands Association London office
1984 Talks between Argentina and Britain in Berne fail because Britain refuses to discuss sovereignty; Pauline & Dave Hawksworth open Stanley's first fish & chip shop
1985 New Constitution adopted; South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands cease to be a Falkland Islands Dependency and become a United Kingdom Dependent Territory in their own right; Britain announces 150-mile Falkland Islands Interim Conservation and Management Zone; Resumption of trading relations between Britain and Argentina
1994 Amendment to Argentine Constitution ratifies Argentina's 'legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty' over the Islands and makes their recovery 'a permanent and unrenounceable object of the Argentine people
1995 British and Argentine governments sign a Joint Declaration designating a Special Area of Cooperation for the exploration and exploitation of offshore minerals
2012 saxitoxin conveniently overlooks all of the foregoing
Highest position #5 (18 Nov 2010) General 4,380pts (11 Dec 2010)