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Chronology for Guam and Inarajan

Inarajan in 1947.

 

The following chronology is drawn from Micronesia: A Guide through the Centuries. This excellent resource, produced by the Close Up Foundation, contains detailed, multi-layer chronologies for all five U.S.-affiliated Micronesian entities. Here, we have abbreviated and adapted their information, and added data specific to Inarajan, to highlight events of importance to the discussions on this website.

 


 

1695

Last battle of the Spanish-Chamorro wars fought on the island of Aguijan.

1700

Influenza epidemic kills many Chamorros.

1769

The Spanish remove the Jesuits from the Mariana Islands. They are replaced by the Augustinians.

1799

Guam's population reaches a low of 2,989 people.

1819

French Explorer Luis de Freycinet visits Guam and produces a reliable chart of the Mariana Islands.

1824

Control of Guam shifts from Mexico to the Philippines, within the Spanish empire. Monetary support for Guam is reduced. Around this time, Guam becomes a stopping place for Pacific whalers, which became a world industry in the 1820s. Some Chamorro men join the whaling fleets, and learn "whalers' English."

1856

Smallpox is brought to Guam by the American schooner Frost, causing 3,463 deaths and leaving a population of 4,724.

1898

Spanish-American War: United States forces capture and remove Spanish military personnel from Guam. Spain sells remaining Mariana Islands to Germany, marking the political separation of the two entities. Captain Henry Glass takes Guam for the United States. Spain cedes Guam to the US in the Treaty of Paris, and U.S. President McKinley places Guam under the Department of the Navy.

1899

Captain Richard Leary begins term as first American governor of Guam. All Spanish Crown lands are claimed for the U.S. Government.

1900

Severe typhoon followed by a tsunami kills 28 people at Inarajan. Government instigates policies to promote use and literacy of the English language.

1914-1917

World War I: Japan seizes Saipan, and Northern Mariana Islands fall under Japanese control under a League of Nations mandate.

1918

Typhoon devastates Guam.

1920

Government enacts an "English only" policy, initiating the decline of the Chamorro language.

1933

About 2,000 Guamanian leaders sign a petition for U.S. citizenship and send it to U.S. President Roosevelt. The U.S. Navy rejects the petition, saying Chamorro citizenship is not in the American public's best interest.

1938

Father Jesus B. Dueñas is the first priest ordained on Guam.

1940

Strongest typhoon since 1918 strikes Guam.

1941

Japan attacks Guam and Pearl Harbor on the same day. Guam is incorporated into Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, and is renamed Omiya Jima (Great Shrine Island). Four years of Japanese occupation begin. Bowing to Japanese by Chamorros becomes mandatory. Father Dueñas and two other priests are the only ordained religious leaders allowed to remain on Guam.

1942

Japanese schools are established, and English is banned. Two Chamorros are publicly executed to show that the death penalty will be imposed for petty offenses.

1944

Chamorros are herded by the Japanese into concentration camps. Atrocities against Chamorros peak with massacres at Merizo, Yigo, and Hagåtña. Father Dueñas is executed. U.S. Fleet Admiral Nimitz conducts the recapture of Guam, and automatically becomes Governor of Guam and the Mariana Islands. July 21 becomes "Liberation Day." Land acquisition by the U.S. military begins with the buildup of U.S. forces on Guam, causing relocations of people and villages.

1946

U.S. Naval Government re-established on Guam. The former subsistence economy starts to give way to a new wage economy.

1947

Citizenship for Guamanians is supported by the Secretary of the Navy. Guam achieves limited home rule.

1949

Typhoon Alyn strikes Guam. By this time, the U.S. military either "owns" or occupies nearly 75% of Guam's usable land area. Guam Congress stages a walkout, and the transfer to a civilian government takes place.

1950

U.S. President Truman signs the Organic Act of Guam, establishing a civilian government and granting citizenship to all Guamanians.

1953

Typhoon Alice causes extensive damage on Guam.

1955

A 12-room elementary school is constructed in Inarajan.

1957

Typhoon Lola strikes Guam.

1962

Super Typhoon Karen hits with 255 mph winds, causing massive destruction. Many Inarajan residents begin to relocate up to Malojloj. U.S. Congress approves $45 million for rehabilitation. Also: lifting of security clearance on Guam begins tourism boom.

1967

NASA Apollo tracking station is dedicated, in the Dåndan region of Inarajan. Pan American islands begins service between Guam and Japan.

1968

University of Guam is named, formerly the College of Guam (1959) and before that, the Territorial College of Guam (1952).

1969

Though Northern Mariana voters seek reunification with Guam, Guam voters reject the proposal.

1972

Japanese Sergeant Yokoi, a WWII straggler, is captured by two Chamorro hunters. He had been living in a small cave on the Inarajan side of the Ugum river. Today his cave can be seen at Talofofo Falls Park.

1976

Super Typhoon Pamela strikes with winds of 190 mph, devastating the island and leaving 5,000 people homeless.

1977

A constitution for Guam's self-government is completed.

1990

Typhoon Russ strikes Guam around Christmas time.

1996

Master belembaotuyan player Jesus Meno Crisostomo from Inarajan passes away at the age of 81.

1997

Super Typhoon Paka hits Guam.

 

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