Taiwan

country in East Asia

41 dated entries naming Taiwan, drawn from 31 separate years between 239 CE and 2024 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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3rd century

239A Chinese expeditionary force from the Eastern Wu state discovers the island of Taiwan.source

16th century

1544Portuguese explorers encounter the island of Taiwan, and call it Ilha Formosa ("Beautiful Island").source

17th century

1624August 4 – The Dutch East India Company agrees to Chinese demands to withdraw its operations from the Penghu islands, and relocates its trading post to Fort Zeelandia and the Dutch-controlled island of Formosa, now Tainan on Taiwan.source
1629Fort Santo Domingo is built in Formosa by the Spanish East Indies.source
1642August 3 – A Dutch Navy fleet of 14 warships, led by Hendric Harouse, begins a campaign to drive Spaniards from the island of Formosa (modern-day Taiwan) off of the coast of mainland China. After disembarking at Tamsui, the Dutch begin a siege of Fort Domingo, which falls on Saint Bartolomeo Day (August 24).source
1652September 11 – The Guo Huaiyi Rebellion, a peasant revolt on the island of Taiwan against colonial rule in Dutch Formosa, is suppressed after four days.source
1661April 7 – The siege of Fort Zeelandia, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) headquarters on the Chinese island of Taiwan (near modern Taoyuan City) is started by Koxinga and his invading force from China.source
1661June 14 – General Zheng Chenggong of China takes control of most of the island of Taiwan from the Dutch East India Company and proclaims the Kingdom of Tungning, with himself as the ruler.source
1661March 23 – General Zheng Chenggong of China, known as "Koxinga" leads an invasion of the island of Taiwan, at the time under the control of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), bringing 25,000 soldiers and sailors on hundreds of boats to claim the territory.source
1662February 1 – Chinese general Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) captures the Dutch East India Company's settlement at Fort Zeelandia (now Tainan) on the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege, ending the company's rule on the island, then establishes the Kingdom of Tungning. In response, the Kangxi Emperor of the mainland Qing dynasty relocates all residents along the southern coast, by 50 miles.source
1662June 23 – Koxinga, who had founded the Kingdom of Tungning on the island of Taiwan a year earlier, names his successor while on his deathbed. He appoints his son, Zheng Jing, whom he had earlier ordered unsuccessfully to be executed, as the new King.source
1671September 6 – The Court of King Charles II of England dispatches a letter to the "King of Formosa" (Zheng Jing, ruler of the Kingdom of Tungning) confirming that English ships will be welcome to trade at the "City of Tywan", referring to Taipei on the island of Taiwan.source
1683July 8 – Admiral Shi Lang of Qing dynasty China leads 300 ships with 20,000 troops out of Tongshan, Fujian, and sails towards the Kingdom of Tungning, in modern-day Taiwan and Penghu, in order to quell the kingdom in the name of the Qing.source
1683October 3 – Shi Lang reaches Taiwan and occupies modern-day Kaohsiung.source

18th century

1705Taichung City, Taiwan is founded as the village of Dadun.source

19th century

1895March 4 – Japanese troops capture Liaoyang and land in Taiwan.source
1895May 24 – Anti-Japanese officials, led by Tang Jingsong in Taiwan, declare independence from the Qing dynasty, forming the short-lived Republic of Formosa.source

20th century

1947February 28 – In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down, with large loss of civilian lives.source
1948November 1 – A boiler and ammunition explosion aboard merchant ship Xuan Huai evacuating troops of the Republic of China Army from Yingkou, China for Taiwan causes thousands of deaths.source
1949May 20 – The Kuomintang regime declares martial law in Taiwan, which lasts until 1987.source
1949October 27 – Battle of Kuningtou: Chinese communist troops fail to take Quemoy; their advance towards Taiwan is halted.source
1952April 11 – Battle of Nanri Island: The Republic of China seizes the island from the People's Republic of China.source
1955April 11 – The Taiwanese Kuomintang put a bomb on the airplane Kashmir Princess, killing 16 but failing to assassinate the People's Republic of China leader, Zhou Enlai.source
1955February 10 – The United States Seventh Fleet helps the Republic of China evacuate the Chinese Nationalist army and residents from the Tachen Islands to Taiwan.source
1959August 8 – A flood in Taiwan kills 2,000.source
1972April 13 – The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.source
1979November 6 – At Montevideo, Uruguay, the International Olympic Committee adopts a resolution, whereby Taiwan Olympic and sports teams will participate with the name Chinese Taipei in future Olympic Games and international sports tournaments and championships.source
1995July 21–26 – Third Taiwan Strait Crisis: The Chinese People's Liberation Army fires missiles into the waters north of Taiwan.source
1996March 8 – Third Taiwan Strait Crisis: China begins surface-to-surface missile testing and military exercises off Taiwanese coastal areas. The United States government condemns the act as provocation, and the Taiwanese government warns of retaliation.source

21st century

2005March 14 – China ratifies an anti-secession law, aimed at preventing Taiwan from declaring independence.source
2009August 7 – Typhoon Morakot hits Taiwan, killing 673 and stranding more than 1,000 via the worst flooding on the island in half a century.source
2016February 6 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 strikes southern Taiwan, killing 117 people.source
2016May 20 – Tsai Ing-wen is sworn in as the first female President of the Republic of China (Taiwan).source
2018September 14–16 – Typhoon Mangkhut impacts the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, resulting in more than 60 fatalities.source
2019March 31 – Taiwan scrambles its fighter aircraft after two Chinese jets crossed the maritime border between the two nations. Just the day before, Japan had similarly scrambled its jets after Chinese jets flew between Miyako and Okinawa.source
2019October 1 – The Nanfang'ao Bridge, the only steel single-arch bridge in Taiwan, collapses, killing six people and injuring more than twenty others.source
2020August 5 – U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar travels to Taiwan, the highest U.S. official visit to the country in 40 years. The PRC condemns the visit.source
2020January 11 – Presidential and legislative elections are held in Taiwan. Incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen is reelected, and the Democratic Progressive Party wins a majority of 67 out of 113 seats in the Legislative Yuan.source
2021April 2 – 2021 Hualien train derailment: In Taiwan, a Taroko Express train collided with a truck that rolled down a slope and derailed, resulting in 49 deaths and 202 injuries.source
2023March 26 – Honduras switches its formal diplomatic recognition of "China" from the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China.source
2024April 3 – A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 strikes off the eastern coast of Taiwan, with small tsunamis reaching heights of 20 – 30 hitting Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.source