30,000yrs ago: Paleolithic Taiwanese likely settled the Ryukyu Islands - these peoples were similar to the Negrito peoples of the Philippines
11,500-9,500yrs BP: pre-sinitic peoples with foxtail millet cultivation from north-east China migrated south to become the “pre-Austronesians”
13,500-8,2600yrs BP: “pre-Austronesians” of east China domesticate rice
10,000yrs ago: Taiwan becomes an island as sea levels rose and the connection to the Asian mainland was submerged
7,900-7,500trs BP: early Austronesians in south-east China Fuzhou culture and Lingdao man enter Taiwan c 6000yrs ago
6,000-4000yrs ago: settled by “pre‑Austronesian” Fuzhou and later farmers of the Dapenkeng culture from what is now southeast China - these are the ancestors of modern Taiwanese Indigenous peoples and the originators of the Austronesian language family which spread to northern Philippines by 4200-4100 BP
2ndC BCE: southward expansion of the Han dynasty
1368-1644: Ming Dynasty in China
1624: the Dutch East India Company (VOC) established Fort Zeelandia on the coastal islet of Tayouan (in modern Tainan)
1626 the Spanish Empire occupied northern Taiwan as a trading base, first at Keelung and in 1628 building Fort San Domingo at Tamsui
early 17thC: Hakka people migrate from southern and northern Guangdong to Taiwan to form the Hakka Taiwanese
1642: Dutch forces conquer the Spanish establishments
1668: the Dutch leave Taiwan due to indigenous resistance
17th century, large-scale Han Chinese immigration began under a Dutch colony and continued under the Kingdom of Tungning, the first predominantly Han Chinese state in Taiwanese history.
1683: annexed by the Manchu Qing dynasty of China which was considered tyrannical and foreign to the Han majority and this resulted in the formation of secret Hung Society formed with intent to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, and would later become the origin of the Triad crime organizations which would later be enlisted by the KMT to assassinate political opponents and attack political enemies, and after 1949, would move to Hong Kong, Taiwan, SE Asia and USA and to avoid Mao's suppression of them.
1895: ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895
1945: Republic of China, which had overthrown the Qing in 1911, took control following the surrender of Japan
1949: resumption of the Chinese Civil War resulted in the loss of the Chinese mainland to Communist forces, who established the People's Republic of China, and the flight of the ROC central government to Taiwan where
Martial Law was introduced (until 1987)
1952: Japan renounced sovereignty over Taiwan
early 1960s: Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization called the “Taiwan Miracle”.
late 1980s and early 1990s, the ROC transitioned from a one-party state under martial law to a multi-party democracy
1991: ROC ceased to regard the CCP as a rebellious group and recognized its control over mainland China - had maintained its claim of being the sole legitimate representative of China
1996: democratically elected presidents replaces the one party state
the People's Republic of China still maintains Taiwan belongs to China and achieving this remains one of its highest priorities however Taiwan is main producer of semiconductor chips and is under the protection of the US