history and dates

1913. Death of Tancrède Auguste:
President of Haiti on August 8, 1912, Tancrède Auguste was one of the few heads of state
Haitian to die in power. Of his immediate predecessors, one perished in
the explosion of his palace (Mr. Cincinnatus Leconte), the others fled
(Antoine Simon, Nord Alexis, Tirésias Simon Sam...). The National Assembly proceeded
to his replacement on the 4th of the same month and elected to the first magistracy of the State
Senator Michel-Oreste.

1844. Resignation of Rivière Hérard:
The first Haitian understudy head of state, Rivière Hérard, during his presidency,
preferred to leave the management of state affairs to his cousin Hérard Dumesle. He was
overthrown from power by the National Guard of Port-au-Prince who proclaimed the
General Guerrier President of Haiti.

1867. Sylvain Salnave gave himself the title of "Protector of the Republic":
The populace and the popular army assembling in front of the president’s house at
Port-au-Prince acclaimed him president. However, he refused to accept the presidency
in these circumstances and suggested instead the title of "Protector of the
Republic'.

1913. Election of Michel Oreste:
Elected by the National Assembly, following the death of Tancrède Auguste two days
Earlier, Michel Oreste, a lawyer with the Port-au-Prince bar and the first civilian to
to hold this office, will remain in power until his resignation on January 27, 1914.
It will be replaced first by a military-civil junta (See: Juntes and advice of
government) and then by Oreste Zamor, former military commander of the
department of Artibonite.

1961. Results of the April 30 elections:
President François Duvalier is declared re-elected.

1915. Rosalvo Bobo, at the head of an insurgent group, made a highly acclaimed entrance
in Cap-Haïtien:
Former Minister of the Interior and Police in the short-lived government of
Davilmar Théodore, Bobo took the lead of an insurrection after his departure.
Declaring himself head of the provisional government, he formed a few days more
later, a Council of Ministers composed of six personalities.

1794. Toussaint Louverture took possession of Gonaïves and sided with the French:
Attacked by the forces of Toussaint, the city of Gonaïves, then under the yoke of
Spaniards, was captured. A massacre ensued, which carried much of the
population to flee.
Toussaint, in letters addressed to the parish priest of the city and to certain notables
deplored the unfortunate consequences of the capture of the city due to the massacres committed without his knowledge.

1802. Submission of Toussaint Louverture to General Leclerc:
After the betrayals of those who had hitherto been faithful to him, Toussaint
Louverture decided to go to Leclerc, which allowed him to retire in his
lands in Ennery and to keep his military rank.
«At dawn on [this, May 6], he puts on his best uniform, his feathered tricorn, and his
thirty-five decorations. On a stage overlooking the Cape, he stops and has someone put
the four hundred men who accompanied him on horseback in two rows. He spoke to them
for the last time as a free man, in a gentle and calm voice disturbed by
emotion. After having kissed several officers for a long time, he confides the
detachment to Captain Morisset and ordered him to descend on the Cape and to
make available to Leclerc.'

1826. Signature by Jean-Pierre Boyer of the Code Rural d'Haïti:
This code, which served as a model for the codes later published, according to LouisJoseph Janvier, perpetuates slavery, but without the whip. The peasant, in fact, and every citizen
not holding a senior position in the army or the civil administration,
became exploited people on whom the country’s budget largely rests. The
section head then became a tax collector authorized to pay this
stain by any means.
It was repealed in 1843 and replaced in 1865 by the Geffrard Code, published on the 17th.
October 1864.

1867. General Sylvain Salnave became head of the provisional executive power:
The Constituent Assembly, which had become a National Assembly
constituent delegated proviso

1842. Earthquake in Cap-Haïtien:
This earthquake destroyed not only the city of Cap-Haïtien but also
Fort-Liberté. 

1855. Birth of Louis Joseph Janvier:
A doctor and graduate in law, Louis Joseph Janvier contributed in his time to the good
renown of Haiti by the intellectual probity transpired in his writings including:
Antinational; acts and principles.
The constitutions of Haiti (1801-1885).
Detractors of the black race and the republic of Haiti. Answers to Mr. Léo
Quesnel ...
The Republic of Haiti and its visitors (1840-1882): reply to Mr. Victor Cochinat
of the Petite presse and a few other writers.

1875. Death of Jean-François Acloque:
Jean-François Acloque was a deputy, president of the chamber, president of the court of
Cassation and Secretary of Justice and Worship in the first government of the
president Fabre Geffrard.

1911: Rebellion against Antoine Simon in the Northeast:
Following the Ouanaminthe insurrection, repressed by Antoine’s soldiers
Simon, a revolt breaks out in the village of Ferrier (Northeast department). The
General Cincinnatus Leconte, two months later, took the lead of the rebels and
led with his troops to Port-au-Prince where he was first proclaimed chief of the
revolution and, a few months later, president of Haiti (August 14, 1911), Antoine
Simon having in the meantime given up power on August 2.

1902. Landing of Anténor Firmin in Cap-Haitien:
Minister of Haiti (equivalent of Ambassador), Firmin will return to Cap-Haitien for
the burial of his daughter. Subsequently, he will abandon his position to carry himself
candidate.

1992. Agreement of the Host Villa:
Tripartite agreement signed by the government born of the coup d'état of September 30
1991 represented by Jean-Jacques Honorat, Prime Minister of this government,
the high command of the Armed Forces of Haiti represented by Lieutenant General Raoul Cédras, and the parliamentarians (Déjean Bélizaire, President of the Senate and
Dr. Alexandre Médard, president of the Chamber of Deputies) with a view to the
formation of a consensus government. This Agreement will be ratified by law on the 22nd
May 1992 and published in the Moniteur on the following 29 May.

1801. Toussaint receives a first copy of the Constitution:
Gathering six weeks earlier a group of men in charge of drafting the
the first constitution of the island, Toussaint receives today a first copy of the
charter which makes him a governor for life with the right to appoint his successor.
The final version will be enacted with great fanfare on the following July 8.

1843. Decree establishing the municipalities:
Article 1 of this decree proclaimed that "each municipality shall have a committee
municipal which will exercise civil authority there according to law and will administer the interests of
the community." The municipalities will be abolished under the government of
Hérard River (December 31, 1843 – May 3, 1844) and restored under the presidency of
Philippe Guerrier (May 8, 1844 – April 15, 1945). Elie Dubois later said that "the
commune is a daughter of the Revolution of 1843'

1950. Coup d'état against President Dumarsais Estimated:
President Estimé, after trying to revise the Constitution to ensure its
re-election, was forced to resign and replaced by a military junta
composed of General Frank Lavaud, Colonels Antoine Levelt and Paul Eugène
Magloire, who immediately got rid of the two legislative bodies.
Estimé will pass away in New York on July 20, 1953

1796. Arrival of the third civil commission arrived in Santo Domingo:
Composed of 5 members: Sonthonax, Julien Raymond a very well-known mulatto in
Saint Domingue, by Philippe Roume, a former member of the 1st commission
civil, by Pierre Leblanc, and Marc Antoine Giraud, experts in business
colonial, this Civil Commission formed by the Directory on January 23, 1796, was
accompanied by 1,200 soldiers commanded by General Donatien Rochambeau.
She was responsible for restoring the authority of France, which had been questioned by the
different components of colonial society. She landed in Cape Town in
context of crisis, especially after the attempted coup d'état in Villate on March 20.

1994. The military appoint Emile Jonassaint, provisional president of Haiti:
We are in the midst of a political crisis due to the coup d'état of the 30th
September 1991. The president in exile, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, recognized as the
Haiti’s only constitutional president by the vast majority of the community
international, is struggling in Washington where he took up residence to save his
Presidency and thus return to Haiti.
In Haiti, the military while saying they want to negotiate with this community
international represented by the UN, make and break governments. The
appointment of Jonassaint, a judge from the Court of Cassation only makes things worse
situation.

1902. Abdication of Tirésias Simon Sam:
"The shootings (of the day before)... have convinced him that his safety is no longer assured, and
that it is preferable for him to leave the country on the same day. Since Olinde Rodriguez, a
French steam is in the harbour (of Port-au-Prince), he requests that Mrs. Sam and
to be taken there under the effective protection of the diplomatic corps." His
departure was followed by a civil war between the partisans of General Nord Alexis and
those of Anténor Firmin.

1946.- Legislative elections:
37 deputies and 21 senators will be elected, and will be responsible for drafting a
new constitution and choose a new president. On this day, the country is then
led by a military junta that had taken power on January 11 and expelled the
President Elie Lescot.

1984. Death of Maurice Sixto, renowned Haitian storyteller and diseur
international:
Born in Gonaives on May 23, 1919, Maurice Sixto left us on this day afterwards
from a tragic fire.

1902. Formation of a provisional government:
To fill the presidential vacuum left by Sam, a provisional government
called "Committee of Public Safety" and made up of six members is constituted in Portau-Prince. It is chaired by Louis Boisrond Canal, younger brother of the former president Boisrond Canal.
That same day, Admiral Hammerton Killick, commander of the Haitian fleet,
revolted against the Provisional Government and left Port-au-Prince with the boats
constituting the fleet.
≡
See also: 30 June 1902

1915. The insurgents loyal to Rosalvo Bobo inflicted a crushing defeat on the
troops of President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam:
Government troops "retreated by giving up on the battlefield"
many dead and wounded, prisoners as well as weapons and ammunition
in considerable quantities.”

1885. A fire destroyed part of the city of Les Cayes:
The fire had broken out around noon in front of the presbytery and had spread on one side.
to the seaside, from the other to the market. The damage was assessed at
about 2,000,000 piastres.

 2006.- Beginning of the 2nd presidency of René Préval:
Elected on 7 February 2006 for a second, one-time mandate, Préval was sworn in
today, and as in 1995, the country is occupied by a multinational force, the
the issue of the army is on the agenda and domestic problems persist
with the same urgency.
To this, one must also add the reluctance of several sectors and even a
human rights organization close to the opposition during its first
mandate.

2011.- Inauguration of Michel Joseh Martelly:
Elected in the second round of the 2010-2011 elections, Martelly succeeded René Préval

1791. Decree giving political rights to men of colour:
This decree, much more explicit than that of March 8, 1790, granted to men
in the colors of Saint Domingue, a French colony, and who were born to fathers and mothers
free the same political rights as white settlers.
He encountered the same oppositions from them as the previous one.
decree.
On the following 28 September, another decree of the National Assembly declared that
In France, every man, of whatever colour he may be, enjoys all the rights of
citizen, if he has the qualities prescribed by the Constitution to exercise them' (Art. 2 of the
decree).

1874. Nissage Saget retired from power:
Having reached the end of his term, Nissage Saget, president of Haiti on March 19, 1870,
summoned the council of ministers and relinquished power to them, thus refusing access
to the requests of the senators who begged him to wait for the renewal of the
Chamber of Deputies before retiring.

1887. Lysius F. Salomon was sworn in for a second presidential term:
The swearing-in took place before the 18th legislature, which had entered into
office in April of the same year. The Constitution of December 18, 1879 limiting
the mandate of the president to one, article 101 was thus modified on October 7, 1885.

1930: Inauguration of Eugène Roy:
Chosen by the Council of State, which had ultimately opposed the regime of Louis Borno,
Eugène Roy took an oath on the altar of the fatherland, so that he could go to the
Cathedral for the traditional Te Deum. As President of the provision, his mission was
to organize legislative elections and those of his successor.

1941. Accession to the presidency of Elie Lescot:
Successor of Sténio Vincent in whose government he had collaborated on several
titles, Elie Lescot was elected on the previous April 15 by Parliament for a
5-year term. Three years later, he granted himself a seven-year term at the favor
the last amendments to the Constitution of 1935. It was

1812. As part of the fight against Christopher, Pétion ordered the recruitment
of peasants:
Alexandre Pétion, president of the Republic of Haiti (departments of the West and
from the South) "ordered Colonel Tahet, to form a detachment to send it to him
One hundred men recruited from the communes of Miragoâne, Saint Michel, and Anseà-Veau and chosen from among the farming inhabitants who have weapons and who have the most
of interest in supporting the Republic against Christopher.”

1836. Signature of the second draft concordat between the Haitian government and the
Holy See:
Signed by the Most Reverend John England, Bishop of Charleston and Legate to Pope Gregory XVI,
and Brigadier General Joseph Inginac Balthazar, Senators Noël Viallet and
Pierre André, and the citizens Seguy Villevaleix Ainé and Eugène Seguy Villevaleix
young, for the Haitian government, this second draft of the Concordat followed
certain complaints from the latter. Like the first draft, it was not ratified
before May 1, 1837, as stipulated in the document in its last article (art.
14).

1956. Protest movement of the students of Port-au-Prince against the
retention of Magloire in the presidency:
Magloire brought in the soldiers from the Dessalines barracks, who mistreated them
children. "The witnesses reported," writes Colbert Bonhomme, "that children of
12 years old shouted "à bas Magloire." They fell under the blows and stretched out on the ground,
they were receiving new blows; they kept shouting even louder.”

Flag Day  
One of the five national holidays recognized by the 1987 Constitution (art. 275.1).
Commemorative day for the creation of the flag in 1803, President Duvalier
also made her the day of the university.
≡
See: Symbols of Haiti – The Flag

1803. Congress of Arcahaie and adoption of the Haitian flag:
Four-day gathering (started on the 14th) held in Arcahaie and chaired by
Dessalines whose authority was recognized by the mulatto chiefs. During this congress the
blue and red flag was officially adopted.

1794. Port-au-Prince attacked by the English forces who dislodged the
commissioners Sonthonax and Polvérel:
The English, who had just received a reinforcement of nearly 2,000 men,
bolstered themselves and attacked Port-au-Prince, at the same time bombing the city of
their ships which crisscrossed the bay. The commissioners who were there were
forced to leave the city and take refuge in Jacmel where they set off on board
the French ship "L'Espérance" en route to France.

1803. Capture of some of the delegates to the Arcahaie Congress:
The day after the conference, Cangé, Lamarre and their companions
embarked to return to the plain of Léogâne. A French cruise
gives chase to the flotilla. A barge remained behind was going to be captured.
Laporte, a man of color, who commanded her at that moment takes a hi
strong resolution. He urges his companions to die rather than fall down
power of the French. We kick ass. Laporte burns his brains and his
Sailors are engulfed by the waves, shouting Long live Freedom, Long live
Independence.”

1920. Murder of Benoît Batraville:
This murder will put an end to the Cacos insurrection in the Department of
the Artibonite.

1746.- Birth of Toussaint Louverture:
He is said to have been born on the Breda habitation near Cape Town.

1805. Ratification of the first Constitution of Haiti:
This constitution confirms the title of Emperor that Dessalines had granted himself in

1804. Clauses relating to the abolition of slavery, the principle of non-interference
and to the ban on foreigners owning real estate in Haiti are there
included.
≡
See: Text of the 1805 Constitution

1950. Departure of the president Estimated for exile:
Victim of a coup d'état ten days earlier [see May 10], Estimé, taking with him
his wife and children, embarks for the United States where he will pass away three years
after.

1968. Landing in Cap-Haitien of opponents to the government of François
Duvalier:
This invasion, organized by Bernard Sansaricq, Raymond Monteuil and Raymond
Cassagnol and supported by the Haitian Coalition, a movement of opponents
regrougrant of famous exiles whose former president Paul Eugène Magloire was a
Major failure. The government forces killed several members of the
commando. Others were arrested, interrogated, and tortured. All of them were cowardly
abandoned by the heads of the operation, Sansaricq and Montreuil, at the last
moment.

1980. Death of Mgr. Jean-Baptiste Décoste:
First Ordinary of the Diocese of Hinche, Monsignor Jean-Baptiste Décoste was born on the 3rd
February 1925 in Saint Louis du Sud. Ordained priest on March 8, 1952, he was appointed
Auxiliary Bishop of Port-au-Prince on August 20, 1966. His episcopal consecration
took place on October 28, 1966. On April 20, 1972, he was transferred to the new diocese of
Hinche.

2011. A fire destroyed the communal market of the city of Gonaïves:
The violent incident, of suspicious origin, left considerable damage to a
city that was recovering from cyclones Jeanne (September 2004) and Hanna
(September 2008).

2000. First round of municipal and legislative elections in Haiti:
These elections, the outcome of which was aimed at renewing the Chamber of Deputies, the
one third of the Senate and all the local authorities, had taken place,
according to the initial reports from the observers, in a calm and orderly manner
Major. Later, OAS observers claimed to have observed
irregularities in the method of calculation. It took a short time for the opposition,
on the verge of losing his few achievements, he demanded the outright cancellation of this round.
A political crisis ensued, fueled by the community and the
international organizations which now equated irregularities with
massive and irreparable fraud.

1799. Toussaint signed a treaty with the United States and the Great Britain, respectively.
Brittany:
Then allied with the British and fighting on several fronts, Toussaint had a
urgent need for weapons and ammunition. A rapprochement with the Americans, in
assuring them that they "will find in the ports of Santo Domingo, protection and
safety and that their flag will be respected"

 the School will allow him to obtain them
directly or indirectly. The latter will quickly replace the
English  

1919. Birth of Maurice Sixto, renowned Haitian storyteller and diseur
international:
Born in Gonaives on 23 May 1919 to parents from the island of St. Thomas,
Maurice Sixto remains unquestionably the best-known and most famous storyteller
appreciated in Haiti. Painting the Haitian society with such a vivacity of color, his
Paintings challenge everyone, and we all recognize ourselves in them, no matter our
place in the social ladder. Maurice Sixto left us on May 12, 1984, following
from a tragic fire.

1877. Death of President Michel Domingue in Kingston, Jamaica:
Overthrown following an insurrection in April 1876, Domingue wounded, did not have the life
saved only thanks to the intervention of the consuls of France and Spain. He therefore won
Jamaica.

1957. Daniel Fignolé, founder of the MOP accepted the provisional presidency of Haiti:
Fignolé, the man with a caustic verb, was the darling of the population about whom he
had a certain ascendance. He could, if he wanted to, fill the streets of Portau-Prince with thousands of protesters dubbed "steamroller" who
would destroy in their path all that impeded it. He kept the post for
exactly nineteen days (June 16, 1957).

1964. Vote for a new constitution:
This constitution, passed by a single-chamber parliament, grants Duvalier the title
from "president for life."

1980. Marriage of Jean-Claude Duvalier and Michèle Bennett:
The marriage of the head of state with the daughter of one of the members of the business bourgeoisie
will nuance the political panorama of Haiti to the benefit of the latter.

1914. Blackmail and extortion of the British on the Haitian government:
An English gunboat came to demand from the Haitian government a strong indemnity at the
name of the Peters brothers, English citizens residing in Haiti, as compensation
for the damage suffered by them during previous insurrections.

2008. Official announcement of the appointment of Robert Manuel to the position of first
minister:
Second from President René Préval after the motion of censure against
Jacques-Edouard Alexis (12 April 2008), Robert Manuel, an architect by profession
and close advisor to the president, was also rejected by the Chamber of Deputies
on the following 12 June.

1493. Christopher Columbus named "Admiral of the Ocean":
After treading the new island he named Hispaniola. Christopher Columbus
returned to Spain where he was carried in triumph. The Catholic kings Ferdinand and
Isabella awarded him the title of "Admiral of the Ocean," viceroy, and governor of
all the lands he had trodden. 

1790. Promulgation by the French colonists of a constitution openly
independentist:
The members of the Assembly of Saint Marc constituted on April 14, 1790 and constituted
Creole plantation settlers did not cease, since the arrival of news from the
Revolution of 1789, to display their autonomist tendencies. They enacted in
today, an openly pro-independence constitution that did not yet have the effect
expected. 11 years later, Toussaint Louverture will have proclaimed his own
constitution which, in many respects, gave a certain autonomy to the
colony and abolished slavery.

1811. Constitution establishing the Northern Kingdom:
The Northern State led by Henri Christophe (see: 17 February 1807) became, following
from the promulgation of this Constitution, a Kingdom and Henri Christophe became the
King Henry I. 

1891. Coup attempt in Port-au-Prince:
It was Corpus Christi Day, when Florvil Hyppolite and members of his
government was attending the ceremony of this solemnity, General Sully
Guerrier tried to help by attacking the national penitentiary with a view to
to release the political prisoners. The government of Florvil Hyppolite surrendered
easily controlled the situation and later made several arrests and
summary executions.

2015. Official entry ceremony of Dany Laferrière at the Académie française:
Elected to the Académie française in December 2014, Dany Laferrière is the first
Haitian and Quebec writer to enter under the historical dome of this institution
founded in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu. The ceremony took place under the
Dome in preparation

2011. Second round of the Legislative Elections in the constituencies of FondVerrettes/Ganthier, la Vallée de Jacmel and Verrettes:
The elections of November 28, 2010, in these constituencies had been
cancelled. The first round took place on March 20.

1953. Consecration of Bishop Rémy Augustin:
First Haitian bishop and first black bishop born and residing outside the
African continent, Mgr. Rémy Augustin, auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince was appointed to this position by Pope Pius XII on 8 April 1953. Exiled in 1961 after
having been briefly the administrator of the Archbishopric of Port-au-Prince, he returned in
Haiti in 1966 and became titular bishop of Port-de-Paix, a post he held until
his resignation on 22 February 1982. He passed away on 29 March 1983.