1400 – 1700
- (1498) Christopher Columbus visited; named Trinidad island for three peaks at its southeast corner; the island of Tobago was named after local tobacco pipe
- (1532) Trinidad was colonized by Spain, the governor appointed to rule
- (1630s) Dutch settled on Tobago, planted sugar cane
- (1781) French seized Tobago from the Spanish, and transformed into sugar-producing colony
- (1797) Trinidad captured from Spain by a British naval expedition
1800s
- (1802) Under the Treaty of Amiens Spain ceded Trinidad to Britain
- (1814) France ceded Tobago to Britain
- (1834) Slavery abolished
- (1889) Trinidad and Tobago combined administratively as a single British colony
1900s
- (1945) Universal suffrage instituted
- (1956) People’s National Movement (PNM) founded by moderate nationalist, Eric Williams
- (1958-62) Trinidad and Tobago became members of the British-sponsored West Indies Federation
- (1959) Britain granted Trinidad and Tobago internal self-government; Eric Williams was named prime minister
- (1962) Trinidad and Tobago gained independence with Williams as prime minister
- (1967) Trinidad and Tobago joined the Organization of American States
- (1970) Government declared a state of emergency after violent protests by “Black Power” supporters
- (1972) State of emergency lifted
- (1975) Economy crippled by workers’ strike in oil, sugar, transport, and electricity sectors
- (1976) Trinidad and Tobago became a republic; Ellis Clarke, former governor-general, president; Eric Williams prime minister
- (1981) Williams died; George Chambers, agricultural minister, became prime minister
- (1986) Arthur Robinson (NAR) won the election as prime minister
- (1987) Noor Hassanali became president
- (1991) Patrick Manning (PNM) became prime minister
- (1995) UNC and NAR formed a coalition, with Basdeo Panday as prime minister
- (1999) Capital punishment restored
2000s
- (2000) Basdeo Panday won another term
- (2001) General elections ended in an unprecedented tie
- (2002) Prime Minister Patrick Manning PNM, declared victory, and months of political deadlock ended in the third general election
- (2003) President Maxwell Richards was elected; Caroni, a state-owned sugar company, shut down; more than 8,000 jobs lost
- (2005) Death March occurred, with over 10,000 protesting the soaring rate of violent crimes
- (2006) Former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday, was sentenced to two years in prison for failing to declare an overseas bank account while in office; the conviction annulled
- (2007) PNM party re-elected
- (2008) Basdeo Panday re-elected
- (2010) Kamia Persad-Bissessar, People’s Partnership coalition, became the country’s first female prime minister
