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Christopher Columbus visits the islands, naming Trinidad after the three peaks at its south-east corner and Tobago after a local type of tobacco pipe.
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Spain colonizes Trinidad and appoints a governor to rule over the island.
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The French capture Tboago from the Spanish and transform Tobago into a sugar-producing colony.
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A British naval expedition captures Trinidad from Spain during the Invasion of Trinidad in 1797.
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Ends the Invasion of Trinidad as Spain cedes Trinidad to Great Britain under the Treaty of Amiens.
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Following the French and Indian War, France cedes Tobago to Great Britain in the Treaty of Paris. Great Britain did not arrive to Tobago until 1814, despite getting Tobago in 1763.
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Trinidad and Tobago are administratively combined as a single British colony.
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Great Britain gives Trinidad and Tobago internal self-government with Eric Williams as prime minister, also known as ‘The Father of The Nation’, who is a moderate nationalist. Eric Williams also founded the People's National Movement (PNM) in 1956.
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Trinidad and Tobago leaves the British-sponsored West Indies Federation that they joined in 1958. Trinidad and Tobago also becomes independent with Eric Williams as prime minister.
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Trinidad and Tobago becomes a republic with the former governor-general, Ellis Clarke, as president and Eric Williams as prime minister, with George Chambers replacing Eric Williams as prime minister following Williams’s death on March 29, 1981.
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Noor Hassanali becomes the second president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
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Patrick Manning first becomes prime minister after his People’s National Movement party wins general election. Manning would later be prime minister a second time in December 2001, after three general elections in three years to end months of political deadlock, and beating Basdeo Panday’s United National Congress twenty seats to sixteen seats. Patrick Manning would win the election to be prime minister a third time on November 4, 2007.
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In 2005, at least 10,000 people took part in a protest - named the Death March - against a soaring rate of violent crime.
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People's Partnership coalition wins snap elections as Kamla Persad-Bissessar becomes Triniad and Tobago's first female prime minister.
