Historical landmarks

c.2400 BC Nomadic Siboney ‘stone people’ populate the island.

1st century AD The Arawak people establish agriculture and trade.

1100 The Caribs conquer Arawak lands.

1493 Columbus names the island – Santa María de la Antigua.

1525 Spanish settlers land, but Caribs force them out.

1632 The island is colonised by the British.

1674 Christopher Codrington establishes the first sugar estate.

1784–87 Horatio Nelson arrives as commander of the fleet.

1807 The slave trade is abolished but slavery persists.

1830s–40s Antigua is hit by several natural disasters.

1834 Slavery is finally abolished.

1850s Sugar industry in crisis.

1938 Antigua among the most impoverished of the West Indies.

1941 Military bases extend US influence in the region.

1946 The Antigua Labour Party (ALP) wins local elections, led by V.C. Bird.

1967 The islands become an Associated State of the Commonwealth.

1968 Antigua becomes a popular port of call for large cruise ships.

1971 The last sugar plantation ceases production.

1981 ‘Papa’ Bird leads the islands to full independence.

1989 Barbuda People’s Movement campaigns for greater autonomy.

1993 V.C. Bird retires from politics; his son Lester B. Bird succeeds him.

1995 Hurricane Luís causes $300-million of damage.

2002 Tourism generates about 60 percent of the island’s income.

2004 The United Progressive Party wins the general election.

2009 Sir Allen Stanford arrested for fraud, causing massive job losses.

2014 The ALP, led by Gaston Browne, wins 12 June election.

2017 Hurricane Irma hits the islands. Antigua escapes serious damage but Barbuda is devastated and the island is evacuated.

2018 Gaston Browne and the ALP retain power at the election in March.

2019 Barbuda is open again for tourists, but its future autonomy is in conflict with the Antiguan government.