homeGibraltar measures about 2.5-sq. miles (6.5 Sq.
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.51) 26000BC
Experts in 2006 reported that charcoal evidence indicated that small
bands of Neanderthals took refuge in Gorhamís Cave in Gibraltar
about this time.
(SFC, 9/14/06, p.A9)
711 Jul 19, The Muslim troops
crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and defeated the Visigoth king
Rodrigo at the battle of Guadalete. Berbers under Tarik-ibn Ziyad
occupied Northern Spain. The Umayyads with the help of the Berbers
in North Africa moved across the Strait of Gibraltar and began the
conquest of Spain and Portugal. The word Gibraltar comes from the
term Jabal-al-Tarik, which means the hill of Tarik. Gebel-al-Tarik
means "Rock of Tarik."
9/29/96, Z1 p.2)
711-1309 The Moorish occupation of Gibraltar
covered this period, and then again from 1350 to 1462, a total of
1350 Mar 27, Alfonso XI of
Castile (38) died of the black death while besieging Gibraltar.
(HN, 3/27/99)(PCh, 1992, p.130)
1462 Aug 20, Castilian forces
captured Gibraltar (Eighth Siege of Gibraltar).
1704 Aug 4, In the War of
Spanish Succession, an Anglo-Dutch fleet captured Gibraltar.
1713 Apr 11, Spain ceded
Gibraltar in perpetuity to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht.
(WSJ, 11/29/99, p.A29)
1779 Jul 24, The Siege of
Gibraltar by the Spanish and French was begun. British Gen. George
Eliott led the 5,000 man Gibraltar garrison. The siege was finally
lifted on Feb 7, 1783. In 1965 T.H. McGuffie authored ďThe Siege of
(HN, 2/7/99)(ON, 7/01, p.8)
1782 Sep 13, The British
fortress at Gibraltar, under siege by French and Spanish forces
since 1789, held off a heavy attack of battering ships.
(HN, 9/13/98)(ON, 7/01, p.9)
1783 Feb 7, The Siege of
Gibraltar, pursued by the Spanish and the French since July 24,
1779, was finally lifted. [see Sep 13, 1782]
(HN, 2/7/99)(ON, 7/01, p.10)
1828 Feb 18, More than 100
vessels were destroyed in a storm at Gibraltar.
1942 Nov 2, Lt. General Dwight
D. Eisenhower arrived in Gibraltar to set up an American command
post for the invasion of North Africa.
1943 Jul 4, A Liberator II
aircraft carrying Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski, Polandís prime minister
and chief army commander, crashed into the sea just 16 seconds after
taking off from Gibraltar. In 2008 Poland began an investigation
into the crash.
1954 Gen. Franco closed the
Spanish consulate on Gibraltar in a fit of rage over a visit by
Queen Elizabeth II.
1967 Sep 10, Gibraltar voted
12,138 to 44 to remain British and not Spanish.
1968 May 6, Spain closed the
border to Gibraltar, except to Spaniards.
1969 Mar 20, John Lennon
married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.
(AP, 3/20/97)(HN, 3/20/98)
1969 Jun 6, Gen. Franco closed
the Gibraltar border with Spain. It stayed closed for 16 years. This
effectively starved Gibraltar of workers while depriving some 9,000
former workers of much-needed jobs and of a right to claim pensions.
The frontier was not fully reopened until 1985.
1988 Mar 6, British SAS
officers killed 3 IRA suspects in Gibraltar.
1996 May 17, Conservative
Social Democrats were sworn in as the British colonyís new
government. The new chief minister is Peter Caruana.
(SFC, 5/18/96, p.A-10)
1999 Nov, It was reported that
Gibraltar wished to seek status as a self-governing territory under
the British crown, but the move was opposed by Spain.
(WSJ, 11/29/99, p.A29)
2002 Jul 25, The Spanish
government welcomed a British proposal to turn its military base in
Gibraltar into a NATO facility, a move that would open it to all
alliance members including Spain. Spain and Britain came up with the
idea of sharing sovereignty over the Rock. This was rejected
resoundingly in a nonbinding referendum in Gibraltar.
(AP, 7/25/02)(AP, 9/19/06)
2002 Nov 7, Nearly 99 percent
of voters on Gibraltar rejected the idea of Britain sharing its
colony with Spain in a stinging rebuff to any plans for joint
2002 Gibraltarís 2.5-sq. mile
area was home to some 23,000 people.
(WSJ, 4/8/02, p.A8)
2004 Apr, Spain's Socialist PM
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero agreed to a three-way format with
regards to Gibraltar when he came to power.
2006 Sep 18, Britain and Spain
reached a historic deal to resolve side issues stemming from their
300-year-old dispute over Gibraltar, but sidestepped the main one,
their claims to the Rock's sovereignty.
2007 Sep 7, The government of
Gibraltar called a general election and dissolved the British
colony's parliament. Chief Minister Peter Caruana set the elections
for Oct. 11.
2008 Apr 17, A renegade group
of Gibraltar's Barbary apes has annoyed residents so much that
authorities announced plans to kill them.
2009 Jul 21, Spainís foreign
minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, drove across the border to
Gibraltar to meet with British foreign secretary, David Miliband,
and Gibraltar chief minister, Pater Caruana. This was the first time
in over 300 years that a Spanish government minister had visited the
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.51)
2009 Dec 12, In South Africa
drums and traditional dancers kicked off the Miss World pageant in
Johannesburg. The glitzy night began in the shadow of reports that
one contestant was linked to a religious cult. Kaiane Aldorino from
Gibraltar was named the new Miss World.
(AFP, 12/12/09)(AP, 12/13/09)
2010 Jun 3, The European
Commission announced it has sent a final warning to Britain over its
failure to comply with EU air quality rules, due to the levels of
dangerous airborne particles in London and Gibraltar.
2010 Aug 21, Laura Dekker, a
14-year-old Dutch sailor, departed in secrecy from Gibraltar on her
quest to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world,
avoiding the media because her manager said she didn't want the
2011 Nov 15, Europe's top court
barred Britain from enacting a corporate tax reform in its tiny
territory of Gibraltar, ruling the scheme would amount to illegal
state aid for offshore companies.
2013 Jun 15, Britain clinched a
deal with its major offshore tax havens on Saturday that will see 10
British overseas territories and crown dependencies sign up to
international protocols on information sharing. Those included were
Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar,
Anguilla, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and
the Isle of Man.
2013 Aug 16, British PM David
Cameron asked European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to
"urgently" send monitors to Gibraltar's border with Spain where
tightened security checks are fuelling a row between the two
2013 Aug 18, Spanish fishermen
in some 60 fishing boats protested the building of an artificial
reef near the disputed British territory of Gibraltar.
2013 Nov 15, The EU executive
said it had found no proof of British claims that Spain had violated
European Union rules on border and customs checks at Gibraltar's