Page 26 - French Polynesia
P. 26
Key Historical Dates and Events
300: Polynesians reach the Marquesas Islands First settlers arrive in Hawai’i from Polynesia, possibly the Mar-
quesas, navigating across the Pacific by the stars, sun, clouds, ocean swells and currents. They sought Havaiti, the
ancestral home in the sun.
800: Polynesians reach the Society Islands.
1521: Magellan sights the Pukapuka Atoll in the Tuamotus.
1595: The explorer Mendaña from Spain visits the Marquesas Islands.
1722: Dutch explorer Roggeveen sights Bora Bora.
1767: The English captain Samuel Wallis was the first European to discover Tahiti.
1768: French explorer Bougainville stops at Tahiti.
1769: Captain Cook arrives on Tahiti and observes the transit of Venus.
1774: Priests from Spain spend a year on Tahti.
1788: The HMS BOUNTY arrives on Tahiti.
1797: First Protestant missionaries arrive in Tahiti-Polynesia.
