Christopher Columbus lands on a Caribbean island that the Indigenous Tainos called Quisqueya. The Spanish enslave the Tainos and rename it Isla Espanola, shortened to Hispaniola.

1697 — Spain cedes the western third of the island to France.

Jan. 1, 1804 — Following a lengthy slave revolt and war of independence, the former French colony officially becomes Haiti — the world's pgslot first Black-led republic and the second independent republic in the Americas after the U.S.

April 17, 1825 — France finally recognizes Haiti's independence — but demands 90 million gold francs in compensation. The United States recognizes Haiti only in 1862.

July 28, 1915 — The assassination of Haiti's president prompts U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to send U.S. Marines to Haiti; the occupation ends in August 1934.

Oct. 22, 1957 — Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier is inaugurated as president. A medical doctor turned dictator, he promoted “Noirisme,” a movement that sought to highlight Haiti’s African roots over its European ones while uniting the black majority against the mulatto elite in a country divided by class and color.