Samoa Travel Guide

1000 BC

Polynesian migrants arrive in the Samoas

950 AD

Tongan warriors conquer Samoa

1722

Dutch explorer Roggeveen sights Samoa

1768

Bougainville expedition visits Samoa

1820

Ruffian whalers begin visiting

1828

Wesleyan missionaries arrive from Tonga

1830

Rev John Williams lands on Savai'i

1840

all Samoans have accepted Christianity

1904

the United States annexes the Manu'a Group

1856

German trading company set up in Apia

1868

government created by Samoan chiefs

1870

Germans establish huge coconut plantations

1873

First Samoan constitution proclaimed

1879

municipal government created in Apia

1887

Germans install a puppet Samoan government

1889

Britain, US, and Germany sign treaty

1894

Death of Robert Louis Stevenson

1899

Germany and the U.S. partition Samoa

1900

Samoa becomes a full German colony

1909

Descending Samoan chiefs exiled

1914

German governor surrenders to New Zealand

1918

influenza epidemic kills 22% of population

1920

League of Nations mandate given to NZ

1929

New Zealand crushes Mau nationalists

1936

Mau recognized as a political party

1947

Legislative assembly created

1960

Samoan constitution adopted

1962

Samoa reestablishes its independence

1976

Samoa joins the United Nations

1979

Sano Malifa founds the Samoa Observer

1991

First election with universal suffrage

1994

15% value-added tax (VAGST) imposed

1997

Western Samoa officially changes its name to Samoa

2003

Lake Lanoto'o on Upolu declared a national park

2004

Hurricane Heta strikes Samoa

2005

Aggie Grey's Beach Resort opens near Faleolo Airport

2005

Polynesian Airlines replaced by Polynesian Blue

2007

Death of His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II

2009

Samoa switches to driving on the left

2009

Tsunami strikes southeastern Samoa on September 29

2012

Samoa moved west of the International Dateline