AD 1525

Spanish mapmaker Diego Ribeiro makes first scientific charts covering the Pacific

AD 1525

Portuguese probably visit Caroline Islands, northeast of New Guinea, and nearby Palau Islands

AD 1550

Around this time Maoris of New Zealand build fortified enclosures

AD 1595

Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendana visits Marquesas Islands and then Nderic (Santa Cruz)

AD 1596

Alvaro de Mendana is the first European to sight the Cook Islands

AD 1600

Tupa, stone towers with inner chambers, built on Easter Island

AD 1600

Tu'i Konokupolu dynasty take power in Tonga

AD 1616

Dutch explorers are the first Europeans to visit Tonga

AD 1642

Dutch explorer Abel Tasman visits New Zealand

AD 1643

Dutch explorer Abel Tasman is the first European to visit Fiji

AD 1680

Statue building ends on Easter Island; resources and population decline

AD 1700

Tahitians and Europeans meet for the first time, on Moorea Island

AD 1722

Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen is the first European to explore Samoa

AD 1767

British Captain Samuel Wallis is the first European to reach Tahiti

AD 1767

Wallis annexes Tahiti for Britain

AD 1768

Bouganville annexes Tahiti for France

AD 1769

British navigator James Cook anchors in Matavai Bay, Tahiti, to observe the transit of Venus

AD 1769

Cook takes formal possession of New Zealand for Britain

AD 1769

Cook, Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander land on New Zealand

AD 1770

South Cape, New Zealand, first sighted by James Cook

AD 1770

Cook completes circumnavigation of South Island, New Zealand

AD 1770

Spanish sailors reach Easter Island

AD 1772

Crozet, unaware of Cook's claim, claims New Zealand for France calling it Austral-France

AD 1773

Cook and Furneaux cross the Antarctic Circle for first time

AD 1773

Cook makes first contact with a Maori family, in Indian Cove, Dusky Sound

AD 1773

Cook discovers Hervey Islands, later named the Cook Islands

AD 1774

Cook lands on and names Norfolk 'Isle'

AD 1774

Cook lands on Easter Island and trades goods for food

AD 1774

Cook arrives at Marquesas Islands

AD 1777

Cook discovers Mangaia in the Cook Islands

AD 1777

Cook discovers Atiu and Takutea in the Cook Islands

AD 1777

Cook annexes Tahiti for Britain

AD 1779

Cook killed at Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii

AD 1794

Ruler of Hawaii agrees 'cessation' of the islands to Britain

AD 1799

Major civil war in Tonga