Barbados Timeline

A chronology of key historical events from 1536 to the present day.

COLONIZATION TO REVOLT
1536	Portuguese explorer Pedro a Campos visits the island.
1627	Captain Henry Powell lands a party of English settlers who establish a colony, which they then develop as a sugar plantation economy using slaves brought in from Africa.
1639	Barbados' first parliament, the House of Assembly, holds its first meeting.
1663	Barbados is made into a British crown possession.
1816	Slaves stage a revolt.
1834	Slavery abolished.
1876	British proposal for a confederation of Barbados and the Windward Islands triggers bloody riots in Barbados.
POLITICAL PARTIES FORMED
1937	Outbreak of riots in response to poor economic conditions; British Royal Commission sent in to investigate conditions; Barbados Labour Party (BLP) founded by Grantley Adams.
1951	Universal adult suffrage introduced; BLP wins general elections.
1954	Ministerial government set up with Grantley Adams as premier.
1955	Democratic Labour Party (DLP) formed out of a splinter of the BLP.
1958-1962	Barbados a member of the British-sponsored Federation of the West Indies, of which Grantley Adams became the first prime minister.
1961	Barbados granted full internal self-government with DLP leader Errol Barrow as premier.
INDEPENDENCE
1966	Barbados becomes independent with Barrow as first prime minister.
1967	Barbados joins the United Nations.
1972	Barbados establishes relations with Cuba.
1976	BLP, led by Tom Adams, the son of Grantley Adams, returns to power (in their first win in a general elections since 1961).
1983	Barbados supports and provides a base for the US invasion of Grenada.
1985	Adams dies and is replaced by Bernard St John (BLP) as prime minister.
1986	Errol Barrow becomes prime minister after his DLP wins the general elections.
1987	Erskine Lloyd Sandiford (DLP) becomes prime minister following the death of Barrow.
1994	Owen Arthur becomes prime minister after his BLP wins a decisive victory in the general elections, securing 19 of the 28 seats in the House of Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament.
1999	BLP wins a landslide in the general elections, capturing 26 of the 28 seats in the House of Assembly.
2002	Barbados is removed from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) list of countries deemed to be uncooperative tax havens. The country was put on the list in 2000.
2003	Elections called for May 21.

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1154227.stm