Page 29 - French Polynesia
P. 29
Key Historical Dates and Events
1958: France changes the status from colony to overseas territory.
1961: The international airport at Faa’a opens.
1962: France discontinues nuclear testing in Algeria, North Africa.
1963: France moves its nuclear testing facility to the Tuamotus Islands.
1966: The first atmospheric nuclear test explosion occurs.
1970 Cheyenne Brando, daughter of Marlon, was born in Papeete, Tahiti.
1972 David McTaggart, one of the founders of Greenpeace Int’l., sailed his small boat into the French nuclear-
testing site at Mururoa atoll in the South Pacific.
1974: France discontinues atmospheric testing and moves testing underground.
1976: Kawika Kapahulehua, leading a 15-man crew on a double-hulled canoe with sails, departed Hawaii to
Tahiti. Organizer and anthropologist Ben Finney wanted to prove the trip was possible. They reached Tahiti after 34
days. Micronesian master navigator, steered the boat by the stars, the feel of the wind and the look of the sea.
