history and dates

1803. Capitulation of the French troops at Môle Saint Nicolas.
Irony of history. Colonization, which began at the Môle Saint Nicolas, with the
landing of the Spaniards on December 6, 1492, came to an end, with this
capitulation, in the same place.

1908. North Alexis gave up power.
Faced with protests, especially from Antoine Simon, who took up arms against
the regime on November 10, Nord Alexis resigned and left for Jamaica.

2006. Municipal and local elections.
The few voters, who made the trip that day, had to choose to elect a
total of 1,420 candidates for the Administrative Councils of the Communal Sections
(CASEC), Assemblies of Communal Sections (ASEC), Town Halls and Delegations of
city. 

1792. Triumph of the freedmen over the white settlers.
The freedmen of Cape Town who had entrenched themselves in Upper Cape after a fight
delivered to them the little whites of the city, returned to Cape Town with the help of slaves
Blacks became insurgents. Sonthonax and Rochambeau came to meet them.

1803. The last French contingents left Santo Domingo.
Haiti’s independence is achieved. 201 years later, in March 2004, French soldiers
once again set foot on the soil of Haiti under the title of "international forces"
temporary workers".

1945. André Bréton arrives in Port-au-Prince.
French poet and founder of the surrealist movement, he arrives in the capital, invited
by the French Institute of Haiti to give a series of lectures on his
movement, but a revolutionary atmosphere reigns there.
"His lectures inflame the youth" which is at the forefront of this
revolutionary and in the front rows of his audiences. 'Without wanting to, he participates
to the events that will lead to the fall of Lescot." (Paul Laraque. André
Bréton en Haiti Nouvelle Optique de Montréal, May 1971. )

1956. The protest movement against the government of Paul Eugène
Magloire reaches a point of no return.
Initiated in the month of May 1956, considered by many as the month of the end of the
As president of the general-president, this movement of protests plunged the country
in a spiral of violence. It escalated today, with explosions including the one
from the Bolosse water reservoir, gunfights everywhere. The ensuing strike
led the president to tender his resignation.

1492. Discovery of Haiti.
After a long journey that began on August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus and
the crew of his three caravels saw the north-west coasts of Haiti. They there
landed the next day.

1990. Bombing during the election campaign
At the end of an election rally held in Pétion-Ville with the presence of
candidate Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the participants who were about to leave the venue
were the victims of a bomb attack. Five people lost their lives and 53
others were injured. The candidate, who had just been acclaimed by several thousand,
Some sympathizers had already left the gathering place.
Following this attack, the provisional government of Ertha Pascal-Trouillot, in a
concern for safety, prohibits any public demonstration.

1794. Rigaud attacks the English at Port-au-Prince.
Encouraged by the victory of his troops at Léogâne two years earlier, Rigaud attacked the
English refugees in Port-au-Prince with a force of two thousand men. He withdrew
a stinging defeat and had to retreat. On December 26, he attacked and annihilated
almost the English garrison of Tiburon.

 1811. Joseph Rouanez dies.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Christophe, Duc de Morin and Grand Marshal
from Haiti, Joseph Rouanez succumbed, says Madiou, "to excessive work"
(Madiou, Thomas . History of Haiti. Volume V: 1811-1818. Port-au-Prince: Editions
Henri Deschamps, 1988; p. 54). He was replaced as head of the Ministry of Affairs.
Étrangères by Prévost. 

1897. The dignity of Haiti bruised by the Germans.
A German resident in Haiti, Emile Luders, convicted of violence against
the person of a gendarme appealed to the government of his country, which sent to
Port-au-Prince two warships: the Charlotte and the Stem, to demand from
Haitian government reparation through an indemnity of $20,000
accompanied by a letter of apology to the Emperor and a 21-gun salute
to the German flag. Haiti had to give up and pay. Five years later, the Germans
will return to the charge, and at the request of the Haitian government itself,
will blow up the Haitian ship "La Crête à Pierrot" with Admiral Killick on board.

1908. Coup d'état against the Committee of Public Safety:
This committee formed following the departure of Nord Alexis on December 2 (See: Juntas and
executive councils) was dismissed by Antoine’s friends and supporters
Simon who, from Les Cayes, where he had been the government delegate, went to Portau-Prince where he was received the day before by "the cheers of the population whose joy
bordering on delirium"

1929. Massacre of demonstrators by American marines in Les Cayes:
In 1929, when the American occupation had lasted for nearly 14 years
years, demonstrations were organized almost everywhere, often attended or
preceded by general strikes. During one of these demonstrations in the
third city of the country, the American marines opened fire on the demonstrators
killing 12 people and injuring dozens more. This massacre was condemned
internationally, which pushed the American president, Herbert

1908. Antoine Simon became provisional president of Haiti.
Former military delegate of the government in the South Department, Antoine
Simon who took up arms against President Nord Alexis and forced the resignation of this
last (See: 2 December 1908), was acclaimed by his troops upon entering Portau-Prince. The National Assembly only approved this choice as it had
previously done for the predecessor.” 

2010. Proclamation of the preliminary results of the elections of 28 November 2010.
Mirlande Manigat, former senator of the republic and former first lady,
General Secretary of the RDNP and Jude Célestin of INITÉ, the party in power came
in the lead with 31% and 22% respectively. The singer Michel Martelly obtained 21%
voices. The very next day, a series of demonstrations paralyzed, during
more than four days, the country.

  1908. General Antoine Simon, who has just been appointed president. provisional
of Haiti, forms the Council of Executive Power.
This council is composed of the following personalities:
Renaud Hyppolite: advisor to the Department of the Interior and the Police;
Luders Chapoteau: advisor to Finance and Commerce;
Charles Roland: advisor on war and advisor to the Navy;
J.J.F. Magny: advisor on public education and external relations;
Murat Claude: advisor to the Public Works and Agriculture.
The majority of these advisors will be part of the president’s first cabinet.
Antoine.

1949. Opening ceremony of the Bicentennial Exhibition of the foundation of
Port-au-Prince.
The Exhibition opened in two parts: first, an opening ceremony
marked above all by a solemn Mass celebrated by the dean of the Episcopate of Haiti,
Mgr. Jean-Maire Jan followed by the blessing of Pope Pius XII through Vatican Radio;
and an official inauguration ceremony.

2010. Violent protests throughout the country.
The protesters, most of whom are supporters of the singer Michel Martelly, have
invaded several urban centers in the country, halting all activities
for nearly four days. They were protesting, they said, the preliminary results
proclaimed the day before and manipulated by the Provisional Electoral Council

1844. Birth in Italy of Bishop Giulio Tonti.
Mgr. Tonti was first the apostolic delegate of the Holy See in Haiti (August 10, 1892)
in order to become first the administrator (February 1893) and then Archbishop of
Port-au-Prince from October 1, 1894 to September 12, 1902. It subsequently became
Apostolic Nuncio to Brazil and Portugal. Elevated to the rank of cardinal on December 6
1915, he directed until his death (December 11, 1918) the Congregation of Religious.
≡
Reported by Le Nouvelliste:
Today (13 Sept 1902), by the French transatlantic, we passed away
definitely Archbishop Tonti, apostolic delegate, archbishop of Port-au-Prince.
Last night, his Grandeur bid farewell to the Cathedral, to a crowd of faithful; the
The day before, she had attended a banquet given in her honor at Ste Rose de Lima.
Bishop Tonti goes to Rome, then will take up his new position in Brazil, as
Nuncio to H.S.

1883. Birth of Elie Lescot.
President of Haiti from 15 May 1941 to 11 January 1946, Elie was for a long time
Minister of Haiti Washington. After being overthrown, he left for exile and returned
in Haiti only a few three before his death on October 20, 1974.

1941. Haiti declares war on Germany and Japan.
«The waning of the fighting is reduced to verbal attacks and measures...
against nationals of enemy countries, for most traders whose
the assets are being sequestered and business activities suspended.”

1914. Second attempt by the United States to impose a convention on Haiti.
A draft convention that had been presented to the government on July 2
by Oreste Zamor, was again presented to the government of Davilmar Theodore.
Again, this project was rejected. It will finally be imposed in 1915, after the
landing of the marines

1860. Law empowering the president of Haiti to dismiss judges:
A law published by Geffrard declaring that judges can be dismissed for
legal reasons, crimes and lies, and giving the president the power to
suspend any judge for two years for reasons deemed valid.

 1937. Coup attempt against President Sténio Vincent:
Some officers of the Guard, the armed force set up during the occupation
American, disenchanted by Vincent’s capitulation after the massacre of
Haitians in the Dominican Republic decided to finish with the president. Their
plan included, first and foremost, the incapacitation of high-ranking officers who
supported Vincent, including two in particular: Major Durcé Armand and the
Captain Arnaud Merceron.
On Sunday, December 12, when the last ones were in a café at the
Fields of March, occupants of a moving car fired several shots
Fire in their direction. They were slightly hit.
There then followed arrests, death sentences, degradations
military and long sentences of hard labor. But the instigator of the coup, the
Colonel Demosthenes Pétrus Calixte, head of the Guard of Haiti, was able to escape. Tried and
condemned by custom, he was pardoned by Elie Lescot in 1941.
≡
See also: 7 March 1938

1956. Resignation of President Paul Eugène Magloire:
Second resignation in a week.
To comply with the opposition leaders who, interpreting Article 81 of the
constitution of 1950, considered December 6 as the expiration date of its
Presidency, General Paul Eugène Magloire, the strongman of Haiti since nearly
ten years, had briefly retired on December 6, only to return for a few hours
Later, he was called up by the army with the approval of the judges of the court of
cassation.

Dissatisfied and feeling fooled, the population then followed the leaders who
called for or supported a general strike, as a sign of peaceful resistance.
Magloire, on December 12, finally bowed down by handing power back to the president
of the Court of Cassation, Master Joseph Nemours Pierre-Louis.

1956. The chief of police, Colonel Marcaise Prosper, tried to take the lead of
the army:
A close friend of General Paul Eugène Magloire, the president who had handed over his
resigned the day before, Colonel Marcaisse Prosper, then commander of the
Port-au-Prince police department, failed in its attempt to take the
head of the army for Magloire’s benefit. He immediately had to take refuge in
an embassy before flying to Jamaica, which welcomed him as
political refugee.
Other supporters of the deposed government, including the prefect of Port-au-Prince,
sought refuge in embassies.

1956. Departure for exile of Paul Eugène Magloire:
President Paul Eugène Magloire, who had just resigned for a second
times resigned himself to leave for exile. He first stayed in Jamaica, went
then in France before settling in the United States where he remained until his return in
after the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier.

 1801. Departure of the French expedition:
Part of several ports in France, the expedition led by General Leclerc, brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, arrived at Saint Domingue at the beginning of the month
from February of the year 1802.

2021. Tragedy in Cap-Haïti: Explosion of a tanker truck carrying
fuel:
The tank truck driver allegedly tried to avoid a collision with a taxi, thereby losing control of his vehicle, which overturned. Of the inhabitants
then reportedly rushed towards the truck, despite the warnings of the
driver, to collect the fuel that had been missing for already a few months and
whose raise at the pump had been announced a week earlier. And it was
the two-part explosion.
The toll was heavy: 75 dead, 47 badly burned and 12 lightly burned and houses
Nearby, severely damaged. Not long ago, the death toll increased further.
with the death of about ten people seriously injured during the end of
week
As a reminder: Powerful armed bands had prevented the supply
fuel for weeks.

 2004. The house of Jean-Bertrand Aristide stormed by former soldiers:
A group of demobilized soldiers invaded the residence of the former Haitian president
Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The latter, facing an insurrection, was forced to
to resign ten months earlier in order to return to the path of exile. The leader of the
group, Remissainthe Ravix, fell victim to a shooting in an area
industrial of Port-au-Prince, four months later (April 9, 2005).

 1824. A fire ravaged the shopping center of Port-au-Prince:
This fire, which broke out in a pharmacy belonging to a Frenchman at the time
absent from the country, spread quickly and destroyed more than 200 houses serving
stores and warehouses.

1888. Constitution promulgated by President François Dénys Legitimate:
Constitution promulgated by President François Dénys Legitimate to the authority
from which the Northern state led by Florvil Hyppolite is subtracted.

1960. Decree changing the name of the University of Haiti.
Created by the law of August 5, 1920, the decree of December 16 renamed it University
of Haiti.

1990. General Elections in Haiti:
For the first time in its history, the Haitian people had been able, after a
long struggle, choose its leaders during elections closely followed by the
international community. The Lavalas movement, which symbolized the hope of a
people in search of peace and justice saw their leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
triumph with 67% of the votes, and thus become the first president
democratically elected from Haiti.

 1908. Antoine Simon proclaimed president of the National Assembly:
Triumphantly entered Port-au-Prince after taking up arms against the
president Nord Alexis, Antoine Simon first granted himself the title of president
Provisional of Haiti. By the choice made today, the National Assembly took note of
the usurpation and ratified it by this constitutional act. The mandate of Antoine Simon,
elected for seven years should expire on May 15, 1915. He abandoned power on August 2.
1911, before the triumph of the taking of arms started in Ouanaminthe.
 

1914. Armed robbery at the Bank of Haiti by the American Navy:
An American cruiser lands a detachment of sixty-five Marines
(Americans) armed with batons and revolvers. They head towards the bank, s
enter 500,000 dollars in gold values, transfer them to the cruiser. This
last one sails for New York. [Diederich, p.

2001. Attempted coup d'état against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide:
On Monday, the 17th of December, at dawn, armed men, 24 according to the latest figures,
had attacked the National Palace. President Aristide was not there at that
Late hour. The attackers had kept control of the premises for seven
Hours, before the police took over the controls. Following this event,
Lavalas activists set fire to the premises of certain parties and organizations
policies.

 1757. Birth at Petite Rivière (Nord) of Philippe Guerrier.
President Phillipe Guerrier will be the sixth Haitian head of state (8 May 1844 – 15
April 1945).
1806. Beginning of the work of the Constituent Assembly which will give birth to the
the first republican constitution of Haiti on December 27 of the same year.
[See: 27 December 1806; 28 December 1806]

1869. The city of Port-au-Prince is attacked by insurgents.
We are under the presidency of Sylvain Salnave. "From three o'clock in the morning to noon, the
the city of Port-au-Prince was surprised, attacked and half conquered by the troops
northern and southern insurgents, under the command of Generals Brice,
Boisrond Canal, and Saint-Elia-Cauvin. The attackers had captured in the roadstead the
ship The Terror.” 

1879. Constitution Promulgated under the presidency of Lysius Salomon.
Adopted nearly two months after the election of Lysius Solomon by an assembly
newly elected, the text replaced the 1867 charter. The president is now
elected for a period of 7 years, non-renewable; but a revision of Article 102
allowed Solomon in June 1886 to run for a second term.
Well before that date, the Assembly had revised here and there articles of the Constitution
and on seven occasions.
≡
Full text of the 1879 Constitution

1902. Nord Alexis, who had just returned to Port-au-Prince, proclaimed himself head of the
for executive.
By a proclamation published on that date, Nord Alexis, then minister of war and
of the navy of the Provisional Government led by Boisrond Canal, and which had
triumphed over Anténor Firmin during the civil war, proclaimed himself head of power
executive.
I did not aspire to power, but I belong to my country, and when he
imposes on me the duty to put an end to anarchy, to restore order, to
to raise credit, to reorganize labor, trade, and agriculture, to
to provide in a word for the inner well-being and to safeguard security
interior, that so many d

1957. Constitution promulgated by François Duvalier.
«The 1957 Constitution is based on the model of 1946, ... but it feeds on copiously
of 1950, whose achievements it retains, reproduces the liberal provisions and the
extends into the new clauses to create new rights that characterize
the Duvalierian constitutional statement.”

1869. Explosion and destruction of the national palace.
Insurgents from the north and south attacked Port-au-Prince, the capital,
captured a Haitian gunner, La Terreur, and used his guns to
bombard the national palace. Hit, the latter which housed powder deposits
explode... President Sylvain Salnave, who was trying to win over the neighboring republic
was repulsed and delivered to his opponents who shot him a few weeks later
after a trial that lasted only three hours.

1914. Inauguration of the new Cathedral of Port-au-Prince.
Dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, this new place of worship replaced
the old cathedral, which itself was inaugurated on June 8, 1771. Real
historical monument, the old cathedral was unfortunately destroyed by a
populace after Roger Lafontant’s coup attempt on January 7, 1991.

1902. Nord Alexis became president of Haiti.
«Sitting at the National Assembly. Vote. Counting of the ballot box. Of
Military commands burst out. Brouhaha. Panic among the assistants. The
continuous counting: a hundred votes out of one hundred and fifteen in favor of the proclaimed (See: 17
December 1902). Cannon fire outside. Complete silence in the enclosure of the
parliament. Appointment of a delegation to greet the new master of the palace
national.”

2022. Signing of a so-called "National Consensus for a Transition" agreement
Inclusive and transparent elections"
The signing of this agreement took place in a context of total dysfunction.
state institutions, with a de facto prime minister decried for his
incompetence and his bad faith, recognized by the CORE Group as the only head
of the executive branch, in a country caught in the criminal gang cycle.
This agreement, the text of which was published in the official journal (Le Moniteur, 178è
Year, Special No. 1, Tuesday, January 3, 2021), provides for the management of the coming months
based, it is said, on transparency and accountability to lead to elections.
A body called the "High Transitional Council" (HCT) in close collaboration with
the de facto government would have been responsible for this so-called management.
Several leaders of political parties refused to sign the document.

1858. An insurrection against the imperial regime of Faustin I broke out at the
Gonaives.
Faustin I launched an army of 3,000 soldiers against the insurgents, which he commanded
personally. His troops stopped at the gates of the city and had some
skirmishes with the rebels. But he had dysentery and could not stop the
the flow of desertions in his camp, he decided to return to the capital. A few days
Later, he was forced to relinquish power.

1944. Decree-law of President Elie Lescot reorganizing the University of Haiti.
This decree was published in the Moniteur of Monday, January 1, 1945. The University was
created through the law of August 4, 1920. 

See also: 6 December 1960
1946. Publication of the Constitution of 1946.
This constitution, published under the presidency of Dumarsais Estimé, was recognized
certain achievements of the Haitian people in terms of rights. It did not, however,
no major responsibility to the parliamentarians and members of the corps
judicial in the conduct of the country’s affairs.

1492. Sinking of the Santa Maria off Cape Town.
One of the three caravels leaving the port of Palos on August 3, 1492 for the adventure of the
New-world, the Santa collapsed on Christmas Eve. The Indians participated
actively involved in the rescue operation and helped the Spanish to build with the
debris of the caravel a fort named "La Nativité".

1902. Swearing-in of President Nord Alexis.
[See: 21 December 1902]
1990. Announcement by the CEP of Aristide’s victory in the elections of December 16.
However, the official results were not published until 14 January 1991, showing
a victory for Aristide with 67.2% of the vote. Bazin, who obtained second place, did not
collected only 14.2% of the 63% of the electorate.

2024. Tragedy at the Haiti State University Hospital, better known as the General Hospital.
As we were preparing to reopen the General Hospital, closed for nearly 10 months
because of insecurity, armed gangs who opposed the initiative have not
only disrupts the ceremony, but opened fire on the guests and the
journalists present. Two journalists, Markenzy Nathou and Jimmy Jean, as well as to
a policeman, Daniel Renaud, were killed.

1901. Death in Paris of Démesvar Délorme at the age of 70.
professor, journalist, politician, minister, writer, he was several times
MP for Cape Town and was in charge of several diplomatic missions in
Europe of 1891 and 1893. He left to posterity several writings, including The Theorists
in power. Historical talks. (Paris: H. Plon, 1870. [Reprinted in 1979 by the
Fardin edition]).

1997. Death of Mrs. Simone Ovide Duvalier.
Wife of François Duvalier and mother of Jean-Claude Duvalier, Simone Ovide
Duvalier, who had been living in France since leaving Haiti on February 7, 1986, reported
the soul in Paris. The causes of his death have not been revealed

1806. Constitution of 1806.
A constituent assembly meeting in Port-au-Prince adopted a constitution. It created the three branches of government with executive power delegated to a
Magistrate known as the President of Haiti, a legislative power residing in a Senate
of 24 members and a judicial branch composed of permanent judges, to
the exception for justices of the peace. It was under this constitution that Henri was elected
Christophe.

1806. Election of Henri Christophe as president of Haiti.
Under the aegis of the Constitution passed the day before, Henri Christophe was elected president by
the Constituent Assembly. Distrusting the people of the West and the constitution, he
refused to take his seat in Port-au-Prince. A civil war between the North and the West broke out
and led to the division of the country.

1944. Exchange of notes constituting a cooperation agreement between Haiti and the
United States for research on plantation rubber in Haiti.
Today’s note comes from the American Chargé d'Affaires ad interim and is addressed to
Secretary of State for Agriculture in the government of Élie Lescot, Edouard Volel.
Gérard Lescot, son of the president and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs accused
receipt of this note on January 8, 1845.

1843. Promulgation of the Constitution of 1843.
A Constitution that will hardly ever be applied.
≡
See also: 29 November, 1844

1883. Final dispersal of the insurgents led by Jean Pierre Boyer Bazelais:
Disembarked at Miragoâne, 92 in number, with the aim of overthrowing the
government of President Lysius Salomon, they had to face the attacks
repeated by government troops and even lost their leader there. Their
the epic is said to have lasted nine months and also led to men’s graves
Valorous than patriotic with, of course, a burning thirst for power.

1878. Death at Kingston, Jamaica of Nicolas Geffrard.
Born in Anse-à-Veau on September 23, 1803. Geffrard was president of Haiti from the 18th
January 1859 to March 13, 1867, when he took, with his family, the path of exile.

1913. Taking up arms in Thomazeau.
This taking of arms against President Michel Oreste was put to rest the next day. But
it inspired others, especially in the North, who rebelled against the
Government of Port-au-Prince.