Tuvalu History: Difference between revisions

'''1400''': The first settlers are ''Samoans or Tongans''<br> '''1818-25''': Whalers and traders visit the islands. Some settle there.<br> '''1826''': The islands are mapped and named after a British Member of Parliament named Edward Ellice, who owned the ship that landed on '''Funafuti''' in 1819.<br> '''1850s''': Jack O’Brien, of Australian-Irish descent, comes to Funafuti and marries Sarai, the daughter of the King of Funafuti. This royal family still bears the O’Brien name.<br> '''1860''': Britain annexes the islands to protect them from Peruvian slave traders, who have kidnapped 400 Tuvaluans.<br> '''1865''': The London Missionary Society installs Samoan pastors on various islands.<br> '''1892''': The islands form part of a protectorate of Britain, known as the '''Gilbert and Ellice Islands'''. Traders from American, British, French, and German trading companies settle and leave their names: ''Duffy'' (Nanumea), ''Buckland'' (Niutao, Nitz (Vaitapu), ''O’Brien'' (Funafuti), ''Restieaux'', ''Fenisot'' (Nukufetau), and ''Kleis'' (Nui). <br> '''1915''': Britain annexes them as the '''Gilbert and Ellice Island Colony'''.<br> '''1975''': The '''Ellice Islands''' break away from the '''Gilbert Islands''' and become known as '''Tuvalu'''. The Tuvaluans are more ''Polynesian'' while the ''I-Kiribati'' of the Gilbert Islands are more ''Micronesian'' in ethnicity and culture.<br> '''1978''': The islands become independent with the name '''Tuvalu'''. <br> '''1979''': The U.S.A. gives ''Tuvalu'' four islands that have been U.S. territory.<br> '''2000''': Tuvalu joins the United Nations.