{"slug": "jamaica", "label": "Jamaica", "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica", "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q766", "qid": "Q766", "description": "island state in the Caribbean Sea", "entries": 40, "years": 34, "span": [650, 2025], "span_label": ["650 CE", "2025 CE"], "topics": [{"title": "Conflict & Security", "count": 12}, {"title": "Exploration & Expansion", "count": 6}, {"title": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "count": 5}, {"title": "Climate & Environment", "count": 5}, {"title": "Crime & Justice", "count": 4}, {"title": "Culture & Society", "count": 4}, {"title": "Science & Discovery", "count": 1}, {"title": "Disasters & Accidents", "count": 1}, {"title": "Technology & Infrastructure", "count": 1}, {"title": "Health & Medicine", "count": 1}], "also_known_as": [], "related": [{"slug": "spain", "label": "Spain", "shared": 4}, {"slug": "anglo-spanish-war-16541660", "label": "Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660)", "shared": 3}, {"slug": "christopher-columbus", "label": "Christopher Columbus", "shared": 3}, {"slug": "england", "label": "England", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "pope-alexander-vi", "label": "Pope Alexander VI", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "london", "label": "London", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "united-states", "label": "United States", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "cuba", "label": "Cuba", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "haiti", "label": "Haiti", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "central-america", "label": "Central America", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "the-bahamas", "label": "The Bahamas", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "nova-scotia", "label": "Nova Scotia", "shared": 1}], "items": [{"year": 650, "year_label": "650 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "Jamaica is settled by the Ostinoid people, ancestors of the Taíno. They were farmers, potters, and villagers with socially complex societies. These people lived near the coast and extensively hunted turtles and fish.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1340804422#Americas", "title": "650", "revid": 1340804422, "section": "Events › By place › Americas"}}, {"year": 1494, "year_label": "1494 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "May 5", "text": "May 5 – Christopher Columbus first sights Jamaica.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1353371082#April–June", "title": "1494", "revid": 1353371082, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1503, "year_label": "1503 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "June 25", "text": "June 25 – After his ships are damaged in a storm, Christopher Columbus and his 230 men are forced to beach at the island of Jamaica (at modern-day Saint Ann Parish) and remain stranded there for the next six months.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366510845#April–June", "title": "1503", "revid": 1366510845, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1504, "year_label": "1504 CE", "section": "Science & Discovery", "date": "February 29", "text": "February 29 – Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse this night, to convince the indigenous Jamaican people to provide him with supplies (in Europe, the eclipse is in the early morning of March 1).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365936803#January–March", "title": "1504", "revid": 1365936803, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1603, "year_label": "1603 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "January 24", "text": "January 24 – Anglo-Spanish War: English Admiral Christopher Newport leads an unsuccessful attempt to take the Spanish-controlled Caribbean island of Jamaica, where he was attempting to pillage the area to obtain supplies. The Spanish defenders repel the fleet, and Newport leads the attackers to the coast of Central America.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366656830#January–March", "title": "1603", "revid": 1366656830, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1655, "year_label": "1655 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "10–27 May – Anglo-Spanish War: Invasion of Jamaica – Forces led by William Penn and Robert Venables capture the island of Jamaica from Spain.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1353737279#Events", "title": "1655 in England", "revid": 1353737279, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1655, "year_label": "1655 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "May 10", "text": "May 10–27 – Anglo-Spanish War: Invasion of Jamaica – Forces of the English Protectorate led by William Penn and Robert Venables capture the island of Jamaica from Spain.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365983750#April–June", "title": "1655", "revid": 1365983750, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1658, "year_label": "1658 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "June 25", "text": "June 25–27 – In the Battle of Rio Nuevo, part of the Anglo-Spanish War, a Spanish invasion force fails to recapture Jamaica from the English.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365986033#April–June", "title": "1658", "revid": 1365986033, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1670, "year_label": "1670 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "July 8", "text": "8 July O.S. – by the Treaty of Madrid (Godolphin treaty), Spain recognises Jamaica and the Cayman Islands as English possessions.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1353737399#Events", "title": "1670 in England", "revid": 1353737399, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1670, "year_label": "1670 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "July 18", "text": "July 18 (July 8, O.S.) – The Treaty of Madrid, also known as the Godolphin Treaty, is signed between England and Spain to formally end hostilities left over from the Anglo-Spanish War, in the Caribbean, that ended ten years earlier. For the first time, Spain acknowledges that it is not entitled to all territory in the Americas west of Brazil, as provided by the 1493 line of demarcation decreed by Pope Alexander VI, and by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal. Spain acknowledges that Jamaica and the Cayman Islands are English possessions.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368809725#July–September", "title": "1670", "revid": 1368809725, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1671, "year_label": "1671 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "August 15", "text": "August 15 – Jamaica's Governor Thomas Lynch offers a general pardon to pirates who are willing to come under Jamaican jurisdiction.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365991065#July–September", "title": "1671", "revid": 1365991065, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1692, "year_label": "1692 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": "June 7", "text": "June 7 – Jamaica earthquake: An earthquake and related tsunami destroy Port Royal, capital of Jamaica, and submerge a major part of it; an estimated 2,000 are immediately killed, 2,300 injured, and a probable additional 2,000 die from the diseases which ravage the island in the following months.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365636017#April–June", "title": "1692", "revid": 1365636017, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1703, "year_label": "1703 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "January 9", "text": "January 9 – The Jamaican town of Port Royal, a center of trade in the Western Hemisphere and at this time the largest city in the Caribbean, is destroyed by a fire. British ships in the harbor are able to rescue much of the merchandise that has been unloaded on the docks, but the inventory in market-places in town is destroyed.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369923832#January–March", "title": "1703", "revid": 1369923832, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1720, "year_label": "1720 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": "November 16", "text": "November 16 – Pirate John Rackham (captured on October 22) is brought to trial at Spanish Town in Jamaica; he is hanged at Port Royal two days later. Most of his crew is also hanged but female pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny are spared.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1358044251#October–December", "title": "1720", "revid": 1358044251, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1720, "year_label": "1720 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": "November 16", "text": "16 November – Pirate captain John Rackham (captured on 22 October) is brought to trial at Spanish Town in Jamaica; he is hanged at Port Royal two days later. Most of his crew is also hanged but female pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny are spared.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1320245214#Events", "title": "1720 in Great Britain", "revid": 1320245214, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1726, "year_label": "1726 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": "August 7", "text": "August 7 – English-born pirate Nicholas Brown is captured near Xtabi, Jamaica.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372345509#July–September", "title": "1726", "revid": 1372345509, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1734, "year_label": "1734 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "October 23", "text": "October 23 – Jamaica's Governor John Ayscough declares martial law to fight the slave rebellion that began in 1733, then drafts 600 men into the colonial army to march into the Blue Mountains. (→ First Maroon War)", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1363450203#October–December", "title": "1734", "revid": 1363450203, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1745, "year_label": "1745 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "February 22", "text": "February 22 – The ruling white colonial government on the island of Jamaica foils a conspiracy by about 900 black slaves, who had been plotting to seize control and to massacre the white residents.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1353016128#January–March", "title": "1745", "revid": 1353016128, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1750, "year_label": "1750 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "December 29", "text": "December 29 – Two physicians in Jamaica, Dr. John Williams and Dr. Parker Bennet, fight a duel \"with swords and pistols\" after having had an argument the day before about the treatment of bilious fever. Both are mortally wounded during the fight.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1349828876#October–December", "title": "1750", "revid": 1349828876, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1760, "year_label": "1760 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "December 18", "text": "December 18 – In the wake of Tacky's War by African-born rebels, the Assembly of the British colony of Jamaica outlaws the African religious practice of obeah, with penalties ranging from banishment from the colony to execution. The legislation specifically bans use of contraband associated with obeah, including \"animal blood, feathers, parrots' beaks, dogs' teeth, alligators' teeth, broken bottles, grave dirt, rum, and eggshells\".", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1358844484#October–December", "title": "1760", "revid": 1358844484, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1786, "year_label": "1786 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "July 31", "text": "31 July – Robert Burns' Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect is published by John Wilson in Kilmarnock (the text having been submitted to him on 13 July). The volume proves so popular that Burns abandons his plans to emigrate to Jamaica on 1 September for a post as a bookkeeper on a slave plantation and on 27–28 November journeys on a borrowed pony from Mossgiel Farm for his first visit to Edinburgh. Two weeks later he extemporises his \"Address to a Haggis\" which is first published on 19 December in the Caledonian Mercury.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1353738931#The_arts", "title": "1786 in Scotland", "revid": 1353738931, "section": "The arts"}}, {"year": 1796, "year_label": "1796 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": null, "text": "About 600 Jamaican Maroons are deported from Jamaica to Nova Scotia. They helped rebuild the Halifax Citadel. In 1800, most petition to be sent to Sierra Leone, Africa.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1349955478#Events", "title": "1796 in Canada", "revid": 1349955478, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1831, "year_label": "1831 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "December 27", "text": "December 27 – The Baptist War (Christmas Rebellion) begins in Jamaica, with the setting afire of the Kensington House in St James Parish, inspiring thousands of black slaves to revolt against their British masters. At its peak, more than 20,000 people will be involved, and more than 500 killed.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360358594#October–December", "title": "1831", "revid": 1360358594, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1832, "year_label": "1832 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "January 13", "text": "January 13 – The Christmas Rebellion of slaves is brought to an end in Jamaica, after the island's white planters organize militias and the British Army sends companies of the 84th regiment to enforce martial law. More than 300 of the slave rebels will be publicly hanged for their part in the destruction.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370617764#January–March", "title": "1832", "revid": 1370617764, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1834, "year_label": "1834 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "September 13", "text": "September 13 – The Gleaner newspaper is first published in Jamaica.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360367111#July–September", "title": "1834", "revid": 1360367111, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1843, "year_label": "1843 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "April 16", "text": "April 16 or 17 – A group of 24 West Indian Moravians from Jamaica and Antigua, recruited by the Danish minister and Basel missionary, Andreas Riis, arrive in Christiansborg (Osu), Gold Coast, now Ghana, to set up schools and Presbyterian churches in the country.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366016136#April–June", "title": "1843", "revid": 1366016136, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1850, "year_label": "1850 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "From this year until 1880, 144,000 East Indian laborers go to Trinidad and 39,000 to Jamaica.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365770371#Date_unknown", "title": "1850", "revid": 1365770371, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1854, "year_label": "1854 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": null, "text": "the first Chinese laborers arrive in Jamaica", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1300213211#Events", "title": "1854 in China", "revid": 1300213211, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1865, "year_label": "1865 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "October 11", "text": "October 11 – Morant Bay rebellion: Paul Bogle leads hundreds of black men and women in a march in Jamaica; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the British governor Edward John Eyre with 400 executed.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1361545898#October", "title": "1865", "revid": 1361545898, "section": "Events › October"}}, {"year": 1914, "year_label": "1914 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "August 1", "text": "August 1 – Marcus Garvey founds the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373518346#August", "title": "1914", "revid": 1373518346, "section": "Events › August"}}, {"year": 1966, "year_label": "1966 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "April 21", "text": "April 21 – Haile Selassie visits Jamaica for the first time, meeting with Rasta leaders.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370246126#April", "title": "1966", "revid": 1370246126, "section": "Events › April"}}, {"year": 1967, "year_label": "1967 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "February 22", "text": "February 22 – Donald Sangster becomes the new prime minister of Jamaica, succeeding Alexander Bustamante.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370160888#February", "title": "1967", "revid": 1370160888, "section": "Events › February"}}, {"year": 1988, "year_label": "1988 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": "September 12", "text": "September 12 – Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica; it turns towards Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula 2 days later, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373532411#September", "title": "1988", "revid": 1373532411, "section": "Events › September"}}, {"year": 1994, "year_label": "1994 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": "November 8", "text": "November 8 – Hurricane Gordon hits Central America, Jamaica, Cuba, the Bahamas, Haiti and the Southeastern United States, causing $594 million in damages and 1,152 fatalities.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369917016#November", "title": "1994", "revid": 1369917016, "section": "Events › November"}}, {"year": 2012, "year_label": "2012 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": "June 8", "text": "8 June – Jamaican \"drug lord\" Christopher \"Dudus\" Coke is sentenced to 23 years in a U.S. prison.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371318046#Events", "title": "2012 in Jamaica", "revid": 1371318046, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 2012, "year_label": "2012 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "August 5", "text": "5 August – At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, In athletics, sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica wins the 100 metres final.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371318046#Events", "title": "2012 in Jamaica", "revid": 1371318046, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 2012, "year_label": "2012 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": "October 25", "text": "25 October – Hurricane Sandy affects Jamaica.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371318046#Events", "title": "2012 in Jamaica", "revid": 1371318046, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 2016, "year_label": "2016 CE", "section": "Health & Medicine", "date": "January 30", "text": "30 January – Jamaican health officials confirm the country's first case of the Zika virus in a 4-year-old child who recently returned from a trip to Texas.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373448216#Events", "title": "2016 in Jamaica", "revid": 1373448216, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 2016, "year_label": "2016 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "February 25", "text": "25 February – Voters in Jamaica go to the polls for a general election, with the Jamaican Labour Party, led by Andrew Holness, winning a narrow victory.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373448216#Events", "title": "2016 in Jamaica", "revid": 1373448216, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 2025, "year_label": "2025 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": "October 28", "text": "October 28 – Hurricane Melissa makes a catastrophic landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane, with sustained wind speeds up to 160 kn, becoming the strongest hurricane to strike the country in recorded history.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372865033#October", "title": "2025", "revid": 1372865033, "section": "Events › October"}}]}