1000 Maori people settle in New Zealand 1000 Polynesians begin to build stone temples 1100 First statues erected on previously constructed platforms in Easter Island 1100 Beginnings of organized societies in Hawaiian Islands 1100 Earliest settlements by Polynesians in Pitcairn Island 1150 Maoris begin to settle in the river mouth areas in the north of the South Island, New Zealand, notably at Wairau Bar 1200 Tui Tonga monarchy builds coral platform for ceremonial worship on island of Tonga in South Pacific 1250 Beginnings of intensive valley irrigation schemes in Hawaiian Islands 1300 Hawaiian peoples start to develop class structure as a result of economic growth through agriculture 1300 Stone temple complexes, or ÃmaraeÃ, erected on Rarotonga, Cook Islands, and on Moorea Island in the Society Islands 1300 Huge stone statues erected on Easter Island 1350 Maoris flourish in the North Island, New Zealand; first terrace-type fortifications, called ÃpaÃ, built 1400 Tonga people build major ceremonial centre at Mu'a, on the largest island in the Tongatapu Group, South Pacific Ocean 1400 Widespread cultivation of wet taro in Hawaiian islands 1500 A village of oval stone houses is built on Easter Island 1511 Portuguese navigators begin to explore the Pacific 1519-1522 Ferdinand Magellan attempts voyage around the world: he navigates the Pacific, but later dies; his crew completes the voyage 1525 Diego Ribeiro, official mapmaker for Spain, makes first scientific charts covering the Pacific 1525 Portuguese probably visit Caroline Islands, northeast of New Guinea, and nearby Palau Islands 1526 Portuguese land on Papua New Guinea 1550 Maoris in both the North and South Islands of New Zealand build fortified enclosures called Ãpaà 1567 Alvaro de Mendaâa, Spanish sailor, sets sail from Callao in Peru westwards across the Pacific; he reaches the Ellice Islands and Solomon Islands, east of New Guinea; in 1569 he arrives back in Callao 1595 Mendaâa visits Marquesas Islands and then Nderic (Santa Cruz) 1600 Beginning of building of ÃtupaÃ, stone towers with inner chambers, on Easter Island 1600 In Tonga, dominant political leadership passes from Tu'i Tonga dynasty to Tu'i Konokupolu dynasty 1606 Luis Vaez de Torres from Spain sails around New Guinea and reaches the straits now named after him 1642-1644 Abel Tasman reaches Tasmania and New Zealand 1680 Statue building ends on Easter Island; resources and then population decline, and this leads to civil war 1700 First contact between Tahitians and Europeans; they meet in Opunohu Valley on Moorea Island 1722 Dutch navigator Roggeveen reaches Samoa Islands and Easter Island in the Pacific 1750 Aboriginal culture continues to flourish 1767 British Captain Samuel Wallis is the first European to reach Tahiti; six months later, French navigator Bougainville visits the islands 1768-1771 First of British Captain James Cook's three voyages to Pacific 1770 Spanish sailors reach Easter Island 1772-1775 Captain Cook's second voyage to the Pacific 1776-1779 Cook's third voyage; on his way through the Pacific he lands in Hawaii and is clubbed, or stabbed, to death by islanders Comte la PŽrouse, French navigator, leads expedition to Pacific and northwest America; touches Japan; he is lost at sea in 1788 1787-1789 Voyage of Lieutenant William Bligh in the Bounty to the Pacific to find breadfruit plants; crew mutiny and put him to sea 1788 First British convicts shipped to Botany Bay, Australia 1790 Bligh returns to England 1793 First free British settlers reach Australia 1798 Strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania navigated by Bass and Flinders 1799 Major civil war in Tonga 1801-1803 Matthew Flinders circumnavigates, then names, Australia; it means Ãsouthernà 1810 Kamehameha I becomes king of all Hawaii 1815 Russia tries to make landings in Hawaiian Islands 1819 Pomare II establishes Society Islands' first legal code 1819 Death of Kamehameha I of Hawaii; his heir, Kamehameha II, abolishes system which restricted contact between men and women 1821 Protestant missionaries arrive in Cook Islands 1824 Kamehameha II of Hawaii visits England and dies there 1825 Dutch annexe Irian Jaya, western part of New Guinea 1830 Tahitian Protestant missionaries arrive in Fiji 1830 Malietoa Vaiinupo of Savai'i becomes king of Samoa 1831 Charles Darwin sets out on five-year voyage to Pacific for scientific research 1834 French Catholic missionaries arrive in Mangareva in Tuamotu Islands in South Pacific 1837-1840 Frenchman Jules Dumont d'Urville attempts to chart coast of Antarctica; from 1838-42, Lt Charles Wilkes leads US exploring expedition to Antarctica 1837-1840 Frenchman Jules Dumont d'Urville attempts to chart coast of Antarctica; from 1838-42, Lt Charles Wilkes leads US exploring expedition to Antarctica 1840 British and Maoris in New Zealand sign Treaty of Waitangi 1840 Kamehameha III begins constitutional monarchy in Hawaii; first written Hawaiian constitution 1842 France annexes the Marquesas Islands and makes Tahiti protectorate 1848 Hawaiian King Kamehameha III gives his people shares in the islands 1850 Britain transfers some powers to the four major Australian colonies; they achieve self-government by 1856 1851 Gold found in southeastern Australia 1853 France annexes New Caledonia 1854 Eureka stockade; brief miners' revolt at Ballarat 1860 R O Burke and W J Wills cross Australia from south to north 1860-1870 Second Maori War in New Zealand 1861 Gold discovered in Otago, New Zealand 1864 First French convicts sent to New Caledonia 1865 First Chinese labourers arrive in Hawaii 1865 New Zealand seat of government transferred from Auckland to Wellington 1869 Germany acquires land in Caroline Islands 1870 Gold Rush in New Caledonia 1871 Cakobau, most important leader of Bau, one of Fiji Islands, establishes a national monarchy in Fiji 1874 Prince David Kalakaua becomes ruler of Hawaii (to 1891) 1878 New Caledonian peoples rebel against French 1879 Britain establishes a naval station in Samoa 1880 Australia's most famous bushranger, Ned Kelly, is hanged; becomes a folk hero 1880 France annexes Tahiti as a colony 1885-1886 Goldfields opened up in Papua New Guinea 1889 Malietoa Laupepa king of Samoa; is recognized by Britain, United States, and Germany, Ãjointsupervisorsà of Samoa 1893 Votes for women introduced in New Zealand 1897 New Zealand introduces eight-hour working day; old age pensions, 1898 1898 United States annexes Hawaii 1899 Australia and New Zealand troops sent to Boer War 1900 Phosphate-rich Ocean Island annexed by British 1900 New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands 1901 Britain gets control over Tonga's external relations 1901 Commonwealth of Australia formed 1902 Votes for women introduced in Australia 1904 Fijian delegates sit in legislative council for Fiji 1905 British New Guinea becomes the possession of Australia, and is named Papua 1906 Britain and France rule over New Hebrides 1907 New Zealand becomes a dominion 1907 First elections for national assembly in Philippines 1909 Creation of separate Labour party in New Zealand 1910 First victory for Labor party under Andrew Fisher in Australian general election 1911 Universal military training established in New Zealand 1913 Wallis Islands become a French protectorate 1913 Foundation of United Federation of Labour and Social Democratic party in New Zealand 1915 Britain annexes Gilbert and Ellice islands 1916-1918 Efforts to introduce national army conscription in Australia defeated in referenda 1917 Filipino National Guard organized in Philippine Islands 1918 Queen Salote becomes queen of Tonga 1918 Influenza epidemic kills one fifth of population of Western Samoa 1919 Dry dock completed at Pearl Harbor in US territory of Hawaii 1920 New Zealand given mandate over Samoa 1920 Formation of a federal Country Party in Australia 1920 New Zealand becomes member of League of Nations 1921 Australia given mandate over German New Guinea 1927 Canberra becomes federal capital of Australia 1929 Uprising of Mau people of Samoa against New Zealand government 1931 Foundation of United Australia Party (UAP) 1933 Australia takes control of large sector of Antarctica 1935 First Labour government elected in New Zealand; many reforms follow 1936 Arbitration court of New Zealand fixes basic wage for man and wife and three children 1937 Formation of New Zealand National Party, in opposition to Labour Party 1939 Robert Menzies becomes Australian prime minister 1941 Japanese attack US fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; United States enters World War II 1942 Naval victory of US fleet over Japanese fleet off Midway Island in the Pacific 1940 Immigration of non-English-speaking Europeans to Australia begins to change national ethnic make-up 1946 United States tests atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll in Marshall Islands; continuing US and French nuclear testing on Pacific islands causes massive resentment 1959 The Antarctic Treaty limits exploitation of Antarctica 1962 Western Samoa becomes independent 1970 Tonga and Fiji gain independence from Britain 1975 Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia 1975 Political crisis in Australia as governor-general, appointed by British monarch, controversially dismisses elected government, causing considerable resentment 1975 Asian immigration to Australia increases sharply; it continues to be high, making Australia more multicultural 1980 Australia and New Zealand go through economic recession; both develop trade links with Asia 1984 New Zealand declared a nuclear-free zone; in 1985 Rainbow Warrior sunk by pro-nuclear agents 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga sets up South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone