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Hong Kong - History Overview
700BC | Aboriginal fisherpeople establish floating communities. |
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50 BC | China absorbs entire region. |
960 - 1500s | Clans settle area. Pirates roam the territory; clans construct walled villages to protect themselves. |
1514 | Portuguese traders make base in Tuen Mun. |
Early 1800s | British merchants trade opium for China's silk, silver, spices and tea. |
1840 - 1842 | Opium Wars result in China ceding Hong Kong Island in perpetuity to Britain; Crown Colony of Hong Kong established. |
1860 | Kowloon Peninsula, Stonecutters Island ceded to Britain. |
1898 | New Territories leased to Britain for 99 years; colony now an important trading port. |
1910 | Kowloon Canton Railway to border with China is completed. |
1911 | Overthrow of Manchu Empire (Qing Dynesty) in China sends flood of people to Hong Kong. |
1949 | 500,000 refugees arrive fleeing war in China. |
1941-45 | Japanese occupation during World War II. |
1950-1970s | Immigrants from China create booming textile and light manufacturing industries; "Made in Hong Kong" goods exported all over the world. |
1972 | Cross-Harbour Tunnel opens. |
1979 | Mass Transit Railway opens |
1980s | Hong Kong becomes international financial centre and joins the world's top 10 economies. |
1984 | China and Britain sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong after June 30, 1997, when the lease on the new Territories expires. |
1991 | Hogn Kong Park, Hong Kong Science Museum and Museum of Art open. |
1996 | Windsurfer Lee Lai Shan wins Hong Kong's first Olympic gold medal. |
1997 May 22 | Tsing Ma Bridge, the world's longest road/rail span suspension bridge, opens. |
1997 July 1 | Hong Kong becomes a Special Administrative Region (SAR) within the People's Republic of China. |
1998 July 6 | The Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok opens. |
1999 March | The Hong Kong International Airport is named one of the Top Ten Construction Achievements in the 20th Century. |
2000 May | Discovery Bay Tunnel Link Opens. |
2001 August | Hong Kong Museum of History Opens. |
2002 August | MTR Tseung Kwan O Line Commences. |
2003 December 20 | KCR West Rail opens |
2004 October 24 | KCR Tsim Sha Tsui extension opens. |
2004 December 21 | KCR Ma On Shan Rail opens. |
2005 September 12 | Hong Kong Disneyland opens. |