Philippines
History Timeline - Philippines
25,000 B.C.:
People arrive from mainland Asia.
3000-1000 B.C.:
New inhabitants
migrate to the archipelago from Indonesia.
6200 B.C.:
Malayans settle on the islands in large numbers.
1521 A.D.:
Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan claims the islands for Spain, but is killed by a tribal group.
1542:
Spanish conquistador Ruy López de Villalobos reclaims the islands for Spain. He names them in honor of Prince Philip, heir to the Spanish throne.
1917:
The Treaty of Paris ends the Spanish-American War. The U.S. gains control of the islands. Emilio Aguinaldo leads a failed rebellion against U.S. occupation.
1935:
A constitution is approved, creating the Commonwealth of the Philippines. Manuel Quezon becomes the first president.
1941-1944:
Japan invades the Philippines. Three years later, U.S. forces retake the islands.
1946 The U.S. grants the islands full independence. The country is renamed the Republic of the Philippines.
1965-1986:
Ferdinand Marcos is elected president. In 1983, opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. is assassinated. The People Power movement, led by his widow, Corazon Aquino, forces Marcos into exile. She becomes president.
1992:
The U.S. closes its last military bases on the islands.
2007:
The government begins talks with an Islamic separatist group to set boundaries for a Muslim homeland on the southern island of Mindanao.
