As a historian, I find this excitement both important but also disappointing. Guam history stretches back thousands of years, with the last half-millennia written down, and yet we see nowhere near the level of public interest or commemoration for any other era or event. It is for this reason that I’d like to help commemorate this July with a timeline reminding us of some of the significant or at least interesting things that have taken place over the past 500 years on Guam.
1521 – Ferdinand Magellan stumbles across the Mariana Islands.
1565 – Miguel de Legazpi officially claims Guam for Spain.
1668 – First Spanish Catholic Mission is established on Guam.
1671 – Hurao’s coalition starts the first large-scale battle of the Chamorro-Spanish Wars.
1695 – The last battle of the Chamorro and Spanish Wars takes place on Aguiguan.
1698 – The Spanish reduccion, or forced resettlement, of Chamorros is completed.
1710 – First official Spanish Census is taken, only 3,529 Chamorros remain after decades of wars and disease.
1742 – Only 1,576 Chamorros are counted by the Spanish census.
1800 – Fort Apugan is built on a hill overlooking the capital of Guam, Hagåtña.
1819 – Louis de Freycinet visits Guam.
1849 – A massive earthquake hits Guam, destroying religious buildings in Hagåtña and Umåtak.
1854 – The first American consul is established on Guam.
1859 – Pale’ Jose Palomo is ordained in the Philippines and becomes the first ever Chamorro Catholic priest.
1872 to 1877 – More than 1,200 political exiles from Spain and the Philippines are sent to Guam.
1884 – Spanish governor is assassinated by Chamorro nationalist Jose de Salas.
1886 – An estimated 800 Chamorros who left as whalers are thought to be living in Honolulu.
1898 – As a result of the Spanish American War, the U.S. buys Guam, Germany buys the rest of the Marianas.
1899 – Guam’s first U.S. Naval governor revokes freedom of religion, assembly and speech.
1901 – First petition is signed and sent to the U.S. Congress by Chamorros demanding political rights.
1907 – Racial segregation is instituted on Guam, in terms of education, housing and marriage.
1909 – Guam’s first newspaper, The Guam News Letter, is published (in both English and Spanish).
1914 – A citizenship proposal for Chamorros is rebuffed by Franklin Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
1917 – A German ship sinks in Apra Harbor on Guam as the island enters World War I.
1919 – Whistling is banned by Guam’s Naval governor, and the Northern Mariana Islands become Japan’s.
1922 – Guam’s public educational system is formalized and modeled after the California School System.
1936 – Two Chamorros travel to Washington D.C. to petition directly for political rights for Chamorros.
1937 – Pan American makes its first flights to Guam.
1941 – Japan bombs, invades and occupies Guam.
1944 – The United States bombards Guam for 13 days prior to reinvading and reoccupying the island.
1945 – Tinian, which was taken by the U.S. the previous year, is used to launch the Enola Gay.
1947 – The Northern Mariana Islands and the rest of Micronesia become the U.S. Trust Territory.
1949 – The Guam Congress Walkout takes place.
1950 – The Organic Act for Guam is passed.
1960 – Joseph Flores is appointed governor of Guam, the first Chamorro to be officially appointed.
1962 – The security clearance for Guam which was enacted after World War II is lifted.
1969 – A plebiscite on Marianas reunification takes place, the Northern Marianas votes yes, Guam votes no.
1970 – Guam elects its first governor, Carlos Camacho, after Congress passed the Guam Elective Governor Act in 1968.
1972 – Antonio Won Pat becomes the first official non-voting delegate to the U.S. Congress.
1974 – Chamorro is made an official language on Guam, alongside English.
1975 – The Secret Guam Study, which detailed plans whereby Guam might receive a commonwealth status similar to that of the NMI, is written and later hidden.
1979 – Guam voters overwhelmingly reject an attempt to create a state-based constitution.
1984 – Felixberto Flores becomes the first Chamorro archbishop.
1987 – The Guam Commonwealth Act is approved by Guam voters.
1990 – War Reparations for Chamorros in Guam languishes and dies in the U.S. Congress.
1991 – The grassroots activist group Nasion Chamoru is formed.
1993 – 18 years after it was first passed, the Chamorro Land Trust Act is implemented.
1997 – A bill which would give Guam Commonwealth status dies in the U.S. Congress.
MICHAEL LUJAN BEVACQUA
Mangilao, Guam
