# Timeline of Antiguan and Barbudan history

This is a timeline of Antiguan and Barbudan history, consisting of various important political and historical events. To read about the background to these events, see the History of Antigua and Barbuda.

## 16th and 17th centuries

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1520 | | Don Antonio Serrano attempts to colonise Antigua, expels indigenous people. |
| 1627 | | Earl of Carlisle granted Antigua. |
| 1629 | | Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc and his crew attempt to colonise Antigua, leave due to lack of water. |
| 1632 | | Antigua successfully settled by Sir Thomas Warner, under instructions of the Earl of Carlisle. |
| 1640 | | Kalinago pillage British settlements. Members of the Governor's family may have been killed. |
| 1654 | | Major Kalinago attack, Kalinago defeated |
| 1666 | 4:00 am, 3 November | French attack Antigua, occupy it until the Treaty of Breda |
| 1668 | 13 April | Antigua's legislature meets for the first time |
| 1671 | | British Leeward Islands established |
| 1685 | 9 January | Codrington family is granted lease of Barbuda |
| 1689 | | Christopher Codrington becomes governor |
| 1692 | 11 January | Original five parishes of Antigua are established |

## 18th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1702 | | First town markets established St. John's elects its first town wardens |
| 1706 | | Daniel Parke arrives in Antigua |
| 1710 | 7 December | Parke is killed |
| 1725 | 22 January | Division of New North Sound (then part of Saint Peter) becomes the Parish of Saint George |
| 1736 | | Kingdom of Antigua plot uncovered |
| 1772 | | St. John's and English Harbour are severely damaged by hurricanes |
| 1776 | | Sancta Rita, a Spanish ship, is shipwrecked off the coast of Barbuda |
| 1793 | | Black Antiguans allowed to serve in the Antiguan militia's artillery |
| 1794 | | Antigua joins invasion of Guadeloupe and Martinique |

## 19th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1800 | | Census conducted. Antigua has a population of 37,000 |
| 1805 | | French squadron nearly attacks Antigua, decides to attack Nevis instead |
| 1808 | 1 March | Slave trade abolished |
| 1813 | | Police force established |
| 1816 | | British Leeward Islands abolished, Antigua-Barbuda-Montserrat established |
| 1820 | | Census is taken. Antigua has 37,031 people, Barbuda has 503 945-man militia is raised |
| 1832 | | British Leeward Islands reestablished |
| 1834 | 1 August | Emancipation Day |
| 1834 | | Liberta established |
| 1838 | 1 July | Militia is abolished |
| 1842 | | Bermudian Valley and Bridgetown become ghost towns. Bridgetown residents moved to Freetown |
| 1858 | | Point uprising due to dispute between Antiguan dockworkers and Barbudan dockworkers |
| 1860 | 1 August | Barbuda reverts to British crown, becomes dependency of Antigua |
| 1871 | | British Leeward Islands federalise |

## 20th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1904 | 30 April | Barbuda Ordinance goes into force, establishes system of island wardens and formalises communal land |
| 1914 | 14 August | Antigua Defence Force put on active duty |
| 1946 | 26 July | First election held in Antigua |
| 1945 | | Village councils established |
| 1950 | December | Village council elections held |
| 1951 | 20 December | First democratic election held in Antigua |
| 1958 | 3 January | Colony of Antigua joins the West Indies Federation, becomes the Territory of Antigua |
| 1960 | 1 January | Antigua becomes self-governing |
| 1962 | 31 May | West Indies Federation abolished |
| 1965 | 29 November | General election held |
| 1966 | 28 February | Antigua Constitutional Conference held |
| 1967 | 27 February | Associated State of Antigua established |
| 1969 | | Barbudan independence movement emerges |
| 1971 | 11 February | Progressive Labour Movement takes office |
| 1981 | 1 November | Antigua gains independence, renamed to Antigua and Barbuda |
| 1984 | 17 April | First election held after independence |
| 1992 | | Vere Bird involved in bribery scandal |
| 1994 | 8 March | Lester Bird becomes second Prime Minister after an election deemed neither free nor fair |
| 1999 | 9 March | Another election deemed neither free nor fair is held, Lester Bird remains prime minister |

## 21st century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 2004 | 23 March | First democratic general elections since 1989 in Antigua and Barbuda are held, Baldwin Spencer becomes Prime Minister |
| 2009 | 12 March | Baldwin Spencer retains office, holding a two-seat majority |
| 2014 | 12 June | Gaston Browne becomes Prime Minister |
| 2017 | 8 September | Nearly all of Barbuda's infrastructure destroyed, entire population evacuated to Antigua until about late 2018. |
| 2018 | 21 March | Early elections held, resulting in a landslide victory for the Labour Party |
| 2023 | 18 January | General election held, Labour Party holds one-seat majority |
| 2024 | 4 November | Asot Michael assassinated |