This is a timeline of Taiwanese History.

Pre-Historic Times

• It is pre-supposed that the Chinese first discover the island in the third century, BC. This claim cannot be proven using current evidence.

16th Century

• 1544: Taiwan named Ilha Formosa, or "Beautiful Island," by sailors from Portugal.
• 1593: Hideyoshi Toyotomi sent his delegate, 原田孫七郎, from Japan to Formosa.

17th Century

• 1604: Dutch traders forced out of the Pescadores Islands (or Penghu) by the Ming.
• 1623: Ming Dynasty prohibited the naval transport between Formsa and the Mainland China.
• 1624: Dutch East India Company (VOC) occupies Tayuan (大員) (now Anping) and builds Fort Zeelandia; immigration of Han Chinese from mainland China increases significantly.
• 1626: The Spanish Navy builds Fort San Salvador in Santissima Trinidad (now Keelung harbor).
• 1626-1636: Trade dispute between VOC and Japan.(濱田彌兵衛事件)
• 1627: Dutch Rev. Georgius Candidius, the first Protestant missionary to Taiwan, arrives in Sinckan (now Sinshih).
• 1629: Spanish Navy builds Fort San Domingo in Castillo (now Tamsui), later renamed Hong-Mao Cheng (紅毛城, literally, the Fortress of the Red Haired Barbarians).
• 1642: Fort San Domingo captured by the Dutch; the Spaniards are ousted.
• 1647: Dutch authority introduced 121 Indian Oxens to the aborigines for agricuture purpose.
• 1652: Guo Huai-yi (郭懷一) incident.
• 1653: The capital of the Dutch colonial government moved to Fort Provintia (now Tainan City).
• 1661: Koxinga, a pirate and Ming loyalist, invades Taiwan.
• 1662: Koxinga captures Fort Zeelandia and ousts the Dutch; dies shortly afterwards.
• 1683: The Qing (or Ching) attacks Taiwan; Koxinga's successor surrenders and is expelled.
• 1684: Southwestern Taiwan becomes part of Qing territory as a prefecture of Fujian province; policy of immigration restriction enacted.

18th Century

• 1721: Jhu Yi-guei (朱一貴) incident.
• 1723: Changhua and Tamsui counties established.
• 1786: Lin Shuang-wun (林爽文) incident.
• 1796: Wu Sha (吳沙) settles in Kavalan (now Yilan County).

19th Century

• 1810: Kavalan become the territory of Qing.
• 1845: Tsunami attacked Yunlin County leading to 10,000 deaths.[1]
• 1854: Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry anchored off of Keelung for ten days.
• 1862: Dai Chao-chun (戴潮春) incident.
• 1863: Treaty of T'ientsin; Keelung, Tamsui, Anping (now Tainan), and Táⁿ-káu (打狗, now Kaohsiung) ports opened to foreigners.
• 1867: An earthquake at 7.0 scale causing a tsunami attacking Keelung on Dec 18 was recorded in Formosa by Alvarez. Death toll reached 50 thousands.
• 1871: Canadian missionary George Leslie Mackay arrives in Tamsui.
• 1874: Okinawa vessel incident; Japan launches bloody retribution compaign against the Paiwan aborigine group in Mutan She.
• 1875: Taipei Prefecture (north) divided from Taiwan Prefecture (south).
• 1874: Mudan Village (牡丹社) Incident.
• 1884: Franco-Chinese War; blockade of the Keelung and Tamsui harbors by the French.
• 1887: Taiwan established as a province separate from Fujian.
• 1891: Railway between Keelung and Dadaocheng (now part of Taipei City) completed.
• 1894: First Sino-Japanese War.
• 1895: Treaty of Shimonoseki; Taiwan and the Pescadores ceded to Japanese, becoming a Japanese colony.
• 1895: The short-lived Republic of Taiwan.
• 1895: Taipei Hospital established.

20th Century

1901-1910

• 1901: The railroad between Keelung and Hsinchu rebuilt.
• 1904: Taiwan bank notes issued.
• 1905: Earthquake in Chiayi.
• 1905: First population census. (First Provisional Taiwan Household Registration Survey)
• 1908: North-South (Western Line) Railway completed.

1911-1920

• 1913: Miaoli Incident .
• 1915: Tapani Incident , largest revolt in Taiwanese history; over 10,000 protesters killed by Japanese authorities.

1921-1930

• 1921: Taiwanese Culture Association founded.
• 1921: "Petition to Establish a Taiwan Parliament" movement begins.
• 1923: Emperor Hirohito of Japan visits Taiwan.
• 1924: Yilan Line Railroad completed.
• 1926: Hwatung Line Railroad completed.
• 1927: Taiwanese People's Party, Taiwan's first political party, founded.
• 1928: Taihoku Imperial University (now National Taiwan University) founded.
• 1930: Jianan (or Chianan) Canal (嘉南大圳) completed.
• 1930: Wushe Incident; Japan forcefully crushes rebellion by the Atayal aborigine group.

1931-1940

• 1935: Earthquake in Miaoli.
• 1935: Exposition to Commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Beginning of Administration in Taiwan.
• 1937: Four national parks planned.
• 1937: Sun Moon Lake Hydroelectric Power Plant completed.
• 1939: Industrial production surpasses agricultural production.

1941-1950

• 1941: Taiwan Revolutionary League formed to coordinate anti-Japan resistance.
• 1941: Segregation of primary schools between Japanese and Taiwanese children ends.
• 1941: Pingtung Line Railroad completed
• 1943: Compulsory primary education begins.
• 1945: Popular Legislature Election Law enacted.
• 1945: Japan defeated in World War II, Kuomintang (or Chinese Nationalist Party) military rule under Chief Executive Chen Yi begins.
• 1947: 228 Incident; "White Terror" begins.
• 1947: US consulate in Taipei proposed "status of Taiwan is undetermined" and "Taiwan Under UN trustee" program in March.
• 1947: Chen Yi recalled and Taiwan Provincial Government established.
• 1949: April 6 Incident.
• 1949: The New Taiwan dollar is issued, exchanged at 1:40,000 old Taiwan dollars.
• 1949: Kuomintang army defeated in the Chinese Civil War, retreats to Taiwan with 2 million refugees.
• 1949: The capital of the Republic of China (ROC) relocated from Nanjing to Taipei.

1951-1960

• 1951: Treaty of San Francisco; Japan officially renounces claims to Taiwan.
• 1958: 823 Artillery War.
• 1959: August 7 Flood: serious flooding in central Taiwan.
• 1960: Free China Incident.

1961-1970

• 1964: Shihmen Reservoir completed.
• 1964: Peng Ming-min arrested for the draft of A Declaration of Formosan Self-salvation.

1971-1980

• 1971: ROC is expelled from the UN.
• 1975: President Chiang Kai-Shek dies.
• 1978: The first north-south freeway (No. 1) completed.
• 1979: The United States switched diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of China; Taiwan Relations Act passed by the United States Congress.
• 1979: Kaohsiung Incident.
• 1979: Western Line Railroad fully electrified; North-Link Line completed.
• 1980: Lin Family Murders on the anniversary of the 228 Incident.
• 1980: Hsinchu Science Park founded.

1981-1990

• 1981: Chen Wun-cheng (陳文成) Incident.
• 1984: Labor Standards Law enacted.
• 1986: Typhoon Wayne makes landfall in the west coast of central Taiwan.
• 1986: Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the first oppositional political party after World War II, formed illegally from the Tangwai movement.
• 1986: Yuan T. Lee wins the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
• 1987: Martial law lifted.
• 1988: President Chiang Ching-kuo dies; Lee Teng-hui assumes the presidency.
• 1988: Bans on publishing newspapers lifted.
• 1989: Bans on establishing new commercial banks lifted.
• 1990: Taiwan Wild Lily Student Movement in Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

1991-2000

• 1991: Opposition parties legalized.
• 1991: South-Link Line Railroad completed.
• 1992: Fair Trade Law enacted.
• 1992: The first democratic election of the Legislative Yuan.
• 1994: National Health Insurance begins.
• 1995: Third Taiwan Strait Crisis.
• 1995: 228 Incident monument erected; President Lee Teng-hui publicly apologizes on behalf of the KMT.
• 1996: Muzha Line of the Taipei Rapid Transit System completed.
• 1996: The first direct presidential election; Lee Teng-hui elected.
• 1997: Danshui Line of the Taipei Rapid Transit System completed.
• 1997: Private cellular phone companies begin services.
• 1999: Chi-Chi earthquake.
• 2000: Chen Shui-bian, the opposition candidate from the DPP, elected president; first peaceful transfer of power.
• 2000: Yilan Line Railroad electrified.

21st Century

2001-2010

• 2001: Three mini-links between Kinmen, Matsu and the mainland of Fujian begins.
• 2001: Private fixed-line telephone companies begin services.
• 2001: Serious flooding caused by Typhoon Nari.
• 2002: Entry into the World Trade Organization.
• 2002: Penetration rate of cellular phones exceeds 100%.
• 2003: SARS outbreaks.
• 2003: North-Link Line railroad electrified.
• 2004: Second north-south freeway completed.
• 2004: 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally.
• 2004: Chen Shui-bian re-elected after being shot the day before.
• 2004: Taipei 101 becomes World's Tallest Building.
• 2005: The first direct commercial airplane flights from Beijing to Tapei for the lunar New Year.
• 2005: The PRC passes "anti-secession law" authorizing force against Taiwan.
• 2005: 1.6 million people marched in Taipei against China's "anti-secession law". Similar marches occur across the world by Taiwanese nationalists. Protests against the PRC were held worldwide, including, but not limited to: Chicago, New York City, Washington DC, Paris, and Sydney.
• 2005: The KMT visits the Mainland for the first time since 1949.
• 2005: President Chen is invited and attends the funeral of Pope John Paul II. He is the first Taiwanese president to visit the Vatican.