A chronology of key events:
Note: Thanks go to the BBC which put together the great majority of this timeline. Their version ended in 2016 so I have added the following years.
circa 2000 BC: First Micronesian navigators arrive in the Marshall Islands, naming the atolls Aelon Kein Ad – “our islands”. They are skilled navigators able to make long canoe voyages among the atolls.
1521 -29: Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and Spaniard Miguel de Saavedra visit the islands.
1592: Spain lays formal claim to the islands.
1788: The Marshall Islands are given their name by British Naval Captain John William Marshall who sails through the area with convicts bound for New South Wales.
1864: German Adolph Capelle establishes the first trading company. Several other German trading companies follow suit.
1885: Germany annexes the Marshall Islands and pays Spain 4.5 million US dollars in compensation. Germany leaves the running of the islands to a group of powerful German trading companies.
1886: Germany establishes a protectorate over the islands.
1887: The Jaluit Company, a German corporation, is entrusted with the governance of the Marshall Islands.
1914: Japan captures the islands and builds several large military bases there.
1920: League of Nations grants Japan a mandate to administer the islands.
1944: US forces capture islands from the Japanese.
1946: US begins a nuclear weapons testing program called Operation Crossroads on Bikini Atoll. Chief Juda of Bikini agrees to evacuate the 167 islanders to Rongerik Atoll, 125 miles east of Bikini Atoll, on the understanding that they will be able to return once the tests are over.
1946 to1958: US conducted Operation Crossroads tests with 67 weapons tests conducted in the Marshall Islands
1947: The Marshall Islands becomes part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands created by the UN and administered by the US.
1948: Islanders are forced to evacuate Enewetak Atoll as US expands nuclear weapons testing programme in the area.
1954: Bravo, the most powerful hydrogen bomb ever tested by the US, is detonated on Bikini Atoll.
1965: US government sets up the Congress of Micronesia in preparation for greater self-governance in Micronesia.
1969: US embarks on a long-term project to decontaminate Bikini Atoll.
1970s: Islanders are told that it is safe to return to Bikini but are subsequently found to have dangerous levels of radiation in their bodies and are evacuated once again. Following exposure to such high levels of radiation the islanders begin to develop severe health problems.
1973: Marshall Islands withdraw from the Congress of Micronesia seeking greater political independence.
1979: Independence. US recognizes the Constitution of the Marshall Islands and its government. Amata Kabua is elected president.
1980: Having removed much of the topsoil on Enewetak Atoll, the islanders are permitted to return.
1982: Officially renamed the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
1983: Marshall Island voters approve the Compact of Free Association with the US which will give them independence. The Marshall Islands will receive financial and other aid from the US, which retains responsibility for defense. The US keeps its military base on Kwajalein Atoll. Today this is a vital part of the US missile defense shield tests.
1985: US agrees to complete the decontamination of Bikini Atoll within 15 years.
1986 October 21: US Congress ratifies a Compact of Free Association giving the Marshall Islands independence. Islanders are promised compensation for damage caused by nuclear tests in the 1940s and 50s.
1988: US-funded Nuclear Claims Tribunal is set up to determine a final compensation package to the islanders.
1989: UN report warns that rising sea-levels will completely submerge the Marshall Islands by 2030 because of global warming.
1990: UN terminates trusteeship status. Country is admitted to the UN in 1991.
1996: Radiation levels are considered low enough to permit the return of tourism to Bikini Atoll.
1998: Marshall Islands become one of only a handful of states to officially recognize Taiwan.
2001: Nuclear Claims Tribunal determines damages to be paid to Bikinians. There is not enough cash to honor the award and it is left to the Bikinians to petition the US for more money. A decision is expected to take years.
2003 December: US president signs new Compact of Free Association, worth $3.5bn over 20 years, with Marshall Islands and Micronesia.
2004 January: President Kessai Note begins second four-year term.
2007 August: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) removes the Marshall Islands from its blacklist of uncooperative tax havens.
2007 November: National election takes place amid reports of “chaotic” organization.
2007 December: Election results show no clear winner and are challenged in court and by a number of recount petitions.
2008 January: Parliament elects former speaker Litokwa Tomeing as president by 18 votes to 15.
2008 December: Government declares state of emergency as waves flood Majuro and Ebeye urban centers, displacing hundreds of people.
2009 October: Jurelang Zedkaia is chosen as president after Litokwa Tomeing is ousted in a no-confidence vote.
2012 January: Christopher Loeak becomes president.
2013 September: Pacific island leaders meet in Marshall Islands, sign “Majuro Declaration” promising to tackle climate change.
2014 April: The Marshall Islands sues all nine of the world’s nuclear-armed states for allegedly failing to pursue disarmament talks stipulated under the
2014 March: Marshall Islands declares a state of emergency after major flooding.
2015 November: General election sees many veteran politicians lose office, including half the cabinet. Neither President Loeak’s supporters nor the opposition KEA party muster a majority.
2016 January: Parliament elects independent senator Hilda Heine first female president of the Marshall Islands, after toppling President Casten Nemra in no-confidence vote. He held office for one week.
2016 October: International Court of Justice rejects cases brought by the Marshall Islands against Britain, India and Pakistan for their alleged failure to pursue nuclear disarmament, saying it does not have jurisdiction in the matter.
2017 August: Climate Ambassador and former Minister Tony deBrum dies. President Hilda Heine wrote: “He fought for our independence, he fought against the tyranny of nuclear weapons and for nuclear justice for our people, and he led the international fight against climate change. The very existence of the Paris Agreement owes a lot to Tony deBrum. He was a giant of history, a legend in every meaning of the word, and a custodian of our shared future.
2018 March: The Marshall Islands became the first nation in the world to approve the use of digital currency as legal tender following the enactment of Bill 125.
2018 November: President Hilda Heine survives a vote of no confidence.
2019 May: The Kili/Bikini/Ejit Local Government buys land on the Big Island of Hawaii. The purchase of 283 acres of undeveloped land in the vicinity of Hilo was announced in a social media post by Peterson Jibas, brother of KBE Mayor Anderson Jibas.
2019 October: The European Union removes the Marshall Islands from its tax-haven blacklist after reforms.
2019 November: A bid to get the government to reverse its ban on postal voting is laid to rest when the Supreme Court denies the plaintiffs’ appeal to rehear the postal vote case.
2020 September 8: The Marshall Islands shuts its borders due to COVID-19.
2021 April: About 75 percent of urban adults had received their first COVID vaccination.
2022 March: A toxic cyber-attack takes down the National Telecommunications Authority, which it fully recovered from 10 days later.
2022 August: On August 8, the first community transmission of COVID-19 was confirmed, with the first death following shortly. It’s reported that 17 people died in quick succession.
2023 November: The general election is held on November 20, resulting in Hilda Heine returning as President in a secret ballot. In related news Majuro Mayor Ladie Jack was returned by voters.
2024 January: Hilda Heine is sworn in as President.
2024 June: The 10th Micronesian Games open in Majuro and are held from June 15 to June 24.
2025 January: The government designates Bikar and Bokak Atoll and surrounding waters as the country’s first marine sanctuary.
2025 February: Work beings on a multi-million-dollar coastal protection seawall in Ebeye, led by Australia companies, to defend against sea-level rise.
2025 March: 18 blocks of cocaine with an approximate weight of 45 pounds were discovered on the oceanside of Kabin Island, Wotho Atoll.
2025 August: Former President and Iroojlaplap Christopher Loeak died in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 8.
2025 August: Historic first-ever 11-a-side international soccer match hosted by the Marshall Islands was played in Springdale, Arkansas. The US Virgin Islands won the tournament.
2025 August: The nation’s parliament, Nitijela, was consumed by fire.
2025 September: The Marshall Islands Journal’s lead headline stated ‘Pot hole closed’, referring to the Nitijela bill to amend the Prohibition Drugs Act by adding marijuana to the list of prohibited drugs (it had earlier been mistakenly removed from the act).
