Philippines

archipelagic country in Southeast Asia

90 dated entries naming Philippines, drawn from 66 separate years between 900 CE and 2025 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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9th century

900April 21 – Namwaran and his children, Lady Angkatan and Bukah, are granted pardon by the Lakan (ruler) of Tondo, as represented by Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pila, which released them of all their debts as inscribed in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (Philippines).source

11th century

1001March 17 – The Buddhist ruler of Butuan, in the Philippines (P’u-tuan in the Sung Dynasty records), Sari Bata Shaja, makes the first tributary mission to China.source

12th century

1175The Namayan Kingdom formed by a confederation of barangays, reaches its peak on Luzon (modern Philippines).source

15th century

1405November 17 – The Sultanate of Sulu is established on the Sulu Archipelago, off the coast of Mindanao in the Philippines.source

16th century

1521April 27 – Battle of Mactan: Ferdinand Magellan is killed in the Philippines when he confronts Lapulapu, the chief of the island.source
1521March 16 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines, in eastern Samar.source
1565February 13 – Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi lands with his troops on the shores of Cebu Island in the Philippines.source
1571August 29 – Liliw, Laguna, Philippines is founded by Gat Tayaw, followers and residents as a municipality of Laguna.source
1571June 24 – On the island of Luzon in the Philippines, Miguel López de Legazpi of Spain establishes a Spanish fortress at Manila Bay and, after making a peace pact with the Crown Prince of Luzon, Rajah Sulayman declares Manila to be the administrative capital of the Spanish East Indies.source
1571June 3 – Following the Battle of Bangkusay Channel, the conquest of the Kingdom of Maynila is complete; Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi makes Manila a city, and the capital of the Philippines.source
1573The first Spanish galleon, laden with silver for the porcelain and silk trade with the Ming Dynasty of China, lands at Manila in the Philippines. This occasion marks the beginning of the Spanish silver trade to China, that will trump that of the Portuguese, the latter of whom acted as an intermediary between the silver mines of Japan, and the luxury items in China to be purchased with that silver. Most of the silver entering China comes from what is now Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru in the New World.source
1574June 10 – Manila, Philippines gains cityhood.source
1579The municipality of Boac in Marinduque, Philippines is founded.source
159712 million pesos of silver cross the Pacific. Although it is unknown just how much silver flowed from the Spanish base of Manila in the Philippines to the Ming Dynasty of China, it is known that the main port for the Mexican silver trade—Acapulco—shipped out 150,000 to 345,000 kg (4 to 9 million taels) of silver annually from this year to 1602.source

17th century

1607January 19 – San Agustin Church, Manila, is officially completed; by the 21st century it will be the oldest church in the Philippines.source
1609The municipality of Buenavista in Marinduque, Philippines is founded.source
1611April 28 – The Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario is established in Manila, the Philippines (later renamed Colegio de Santo Tomas, and later still the University of Santo Tomas).source
1615September 17 – Los Baños, Laguna, is founded by Spanish colonists on Luzon island in the Philippines.source
1616February 19 – The first recorded eruption of Mayon Volcano, the Philippines' most active volcano, takes place.source
1617April 14 – Second Battle of Playa Honda: The Spanish navy defeats a Dutch fleet in the Philippines.source
1624The Japanese shōgun expels the Spanish from Japan, and severs trade with the Philippines.source
1646March 15 – Start of the Battles of La Naval de Manila, a series of five naval battles fought between the Dutch Republic and Spain in the waters of the Philippines.source
1686May 4 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.source

18th century

1704November 27 – Annular solar eclipse is visible through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, eastern China, Myanmar and northern Philippines.source
1744January 24 – The Dagohoy rebellion in the Philippines begins, with the killing of Father Giuseppe Lamberti.source

19th century

1803November 30 – The Balmis Expedition starts in Spain, with the aim of vaccinating millions against smallpox in Spanish America and the Philippines.source
1844December 31 – This date is omitted from the calendar in the Philippines in order to align it with the calendar elsewhere in East Asia, essentially moving the International Date Line to the east of the archipelago.source
1845January 1 – The Philippines began reckoning Asian dates by hopping the International Date Line through skipping Tuesday, December 31, 1844. That time zone shift was a reform made by Governor–General Narciso Claveria on August 16, 1844, in order to align the local calendars in the country with the rest of Asia as trade interests with Imperial China, Dutch East Indies and neighboring countries increased, after Mexico became independent in 1821. The reform also applied to Caroline Islands, Guam, Marianas Islands, Marshall Islands, and Palau as part of the Captaincy General of the Philippines.source
1855September 29 – The Port of Iloilo in the Philippines is opened to international trade, by Queen Isabella II of Spain. This year also the ports of Sual (modern-day Pangasinan) and Zamboanga City are opened to international trade.source
1856May 1 – The province of Isabela is created in the Philippines, in honor of Queen Isabella II of Spain.source
1872February 17 – Filipino priests José Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora, collectively known as Gomburza, are executed in Bagumbayan Fields, Manila, Philippines by the authorities of New Spain, on charges of subversion arising from the 1872 Cavite mutiny.source
1898June 12 – Philippine Declaration of Independence: After 333 years of Spanish dominance, General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines' independence from Spain.source
1899April 11 – U.S. President William McKinley declares the Spanish–American War to be at an end as the Treaty of Paris between the U.S. and Spain goes into effect. Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam are ceded to the U.S. and Cuba becomes an American protectorate.source

20th century

1914July 27 – Felix Ysagun Manalo registers the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) with the government of the Philippines.source
1917March 10 – The Province of Batangas is formally founded, as one of the Philippines' first encomiendas.source
1933January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wishes of U.S. President Herbert Hoover.source
1934March 24 – The Tydings–McDuffie Act is passed, allowing the Philippines a greater degree of self-government from the United States.source
1942April 3 – WWII: Japanese forces begin the last phase of the Battle of Bataan, an all-out assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.source
1943October 14 – José P. Laurel takes the oath of office as President of the Philippines (Second Philippine Republic).source
1945The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined American and Filipino ground troops. The suburb of Intramuros is devastated.source
1945Raid at Cabanatuan: 121 American soldiers and 800 Filipino guerrillas free 813 American prisoners of war from the Japanese-held camp in the city of Cabanatuan, in the Philippines.source
1953October 23 – Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) in the Philippines makes the first television broadcast in southeast Asia, through DZAQ-TV. Alto Broadcasting System is the predecessor of what will later become ABS-CBN Corporation.source
1954May 8 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is formed in Manila, Philippines.source
1954September 6 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) treaty is signed in Manila, Philippines.source
1957March 17 – 1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash: Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others are killed in a plane crash.source
1965September 28 – Taal Volcano in Luzon, Philippines, erupts, killing hundreds.source
1973January 17 – Ferdinand Marcos becomes President for Life of the Philippines.source
1973October 15 – Typhoon Ruth crosses Luzon, Philippines, killing 27 people and causing $5 million in damage.source
1976August 17 – The 8.0 Moro Gulf earthquake hits off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines, triggering a destructive tsunami, killing between 5,000 and 8,000 people and leaving more than 90,000 homeless.source
1981February 17–22 – Pope John Paul II visits the Philippines.source
1983August 21 – Benigno Aquino Jr., Philippines opposition leader, is assassinated in Manila just as he returns from exile.source
1986February 22 – The People Power Revolution begins in the Philippines to remove President Ferdinand Marcos from office.source
1986February 25 – People Power Revolution: President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines is ousted from power and goes into exile in Hawaii after 20 years of dictatorial rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president and forms an interim government with Salvador Laurel becoming her Vice-president and Prime Minister.source
1987June 27 – A commercial HS 748 (Philippine Airlines Flight 206) crashes near Baguio, Philippines, killing 50.source
1987November 25 – Category 5 Typhoon Nina smashes the Philippines with 265 km/h mph winds and a devastating storm surge, causing destruction and 812 deaths.source
1989December 1 – A military coup attempt begins in the Philippines against the government of Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino. It is crushed by United States intervention ending by December 9.source
1990July 16 – 1990 Luzon earthquake: An earthquake measuring kills more than 2,400 in the Philippines.source
1990June 14 – 1990 Panay earthquake: An earthquake measuring struck Panay in the Philippines, killing 8 and injuring 41.source
1990May 13 – In the Philippines, gunmen kill two United States Air Force airmen near Clark Air Base on the eve of talks between the Philippines and the United States over the future of American military bases in the Philippines.source
1990October 4 – Moro conflict: Rebel forces seize two military posts on the island of Mindanao, Philippines before surrendering on October 6.source
1991November 5 – Tropical Storm Thelma causes flash floods in the Philippine city of Ormoc, killing more than 4,900 people.source
1993June 26–28 – Typhoon Koryn causes massive damage to the Philippines, China and Macau.source
1994November 15 – 1994 Mindoro earthquake A 7.1 earthquake hits the central Philippine island of Mindoro, killing 78 people, injuring 430 and triggering a tsunami up to 8.5 m ft high.source
1995November 7 – Typhoon Angela leaves the Philippines and Vietnam devastated, with 882 deaths and US$315 million in damage. The typhoon is the strongest to strike the Philippines in 25 years, with wind speeds of 130 mi/h km/h and gusts of 180 mi/h km/h.source
1996August 1 – Sarah Balabagan returns to the Philippines.source
1996February 14 – Violent clashes erupt between Filipino soldiers and Vietnamese boat people, as the Filipino government attempts to forcibly repatriate hundreds of Vietnamese asylum seekers.source
1996March 18 – The Ozone Disco Club fire in Quezon City, Philippines, kills 163 people.source
1996March 24 – The Marcopper mining disaster on the island of Marinduque, Philippines takes place.source
1998February 2 - Cebu Pacific Flight 387 crashes into a mountain, this crash marked deadliest aviation accident in Philippines until 2000.source
1998June 30 – Philippine Vice President Joseph Estrada is sworn in as the 13th President of the Philippines.source
2000April 19 – Air Philippines Flight 541, a Boeing 737-200, crashes during approach at Davao City, Philippines, killing 131 people, making it the deadliest air disaster in the Philippines.source
2000May 5 – After originating in the Philippines, the ILOVEYOU computer virus spreads quickly throughout the world.source

21st century

2009November 23 – In the Philippines, at least 58 people are abducted and killed in the province of Maguindanao, in what the Committee to Protect Journalists called the single deadliest attack on journalists in history.source
2011December 16 – Tropical Storm Washi causes 1,268 flash flood fatalities in the Philippines, with 85 people officially listed as missing.source
2012February 6 – A magnitude 6.7 earthquake strike in the central Philippines island of Negros, leaving 112 people dead.source
2013November 8 – Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, hits the Philippines and Vietnam, causing devastation with at least 6,241 people dead.source
2016July 12 – The Philippines wins the arbitration case they filed at the Permanent Court of Arbitration regarding the legality of China's "nine-dash line" claim over the South China Sea under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.source
2016November 18 – The remains of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos are buried in a private ceremony at the Libingan ng mga Bayani prompting protests throughout the Philippines.source
2018September 14–16 – Typhoon Mangkhut impacts the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, resulting in more than 60 fatalities.source
2019April 10 – Fossil fragments found in the Callao Cave in the Philippines reveal the existence of a new species of human, the Homo luzonensis. The species is named after Luzon, where the fossils were discovered.source
2019August 10 – 32 are killed and 1,000,000 evacuated as Typhoon Lekima makes landfall in Zhejiang, China. Earlier it had caused flooding in the Philippines.source
2019December 19 – A court in the Philippines convicts Andal Ampatuan Jr., his brother Zaldy Ampatuan and 31 others including three members of the Ampatuan clan, of 57 counts of murder and sentences them to life imprisonment without parole for their role in the Maguindanao massacre.source
2019December 2 – Typhoon Kammuri hits the Philippines, causing the evacuation of 200,000 people, but without reports of injuries or serious damage.source
2020January 12 – The Taal Volcano in the Philippines has had its first major eruption since 1977.source
2020Typhoon Vamco makes landfall in Vietnam, after crossing the Philippines and killing at least 69 people. The storm causes the worst floods in the region since Typhoon Ketsana in 2009.source
2022July 27 – A 7.0 earthquake strikes the island of Luzon in the Philippines killing 11 people and injuring over 600.source
2025March 11 – The former President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, is arrested in the Philippines after being served an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.source
2025November 21 – December 7 – The 2025 FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup is held in the Philippines, and is won by Brazil.source
2025November 4 – Typhoon Kalmaegi leaves more than 288 people dead in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand.source
2025September 12–28 – The 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship is held in Pasay and Quezon City, the Philippines, and is won by Italy.source