Heritage · c. 4000 BC
Hispaniola's first settlers came 6,000 years ago.
Did you know that people first reached Hispaniola roughly 6,000 years ago, when Archaic stone-tool makers, probably paddling from Central America or northern South America, settled the island thousands of years before the Taíno arrived.
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Culture · c. AD 1000
Haiti's kasav bread is a Taíno recipe.
Did you know that kasav, the flat round cassava bread still sold in Haitian markets today, descends directly from the casabe that Taíno farmers baked from grated, squeezed manioc root on clay griddles long before 1492.
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Society · late 15th century
Five Taíno chiefdoms shared the island.
Did you know that when Columbus arrived, Hispaniola was divided among five Taíno chiefdoms, with Marién in the northwest under Guacanagaríx and Xaragua in the southwest under Bohechío and his sister Anacaona.
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Firsts · 1492
A shipwreck built America's first European fort.
Did you know that the first European settlement in the Americas, La Navidad, was built near present-day Cap-Haïtien from the timbers of Columbus's flagship Santa María after it ran aground on Christmas Day 1492.
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Heritage · 1503
Haiti's poet-queen was executed in 1503.
Did you know that Anacaona, the Taíno queen of Xaragua famed as a composer of areíto songs and poems, was hanged by the Spanish in 1503 after Governor Ovando massacred her chiefs at a feast near Léogâne.
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Heritage · 1605–1606
Spain emptied the coast it later lost.
Did you know that in 1605 and 1606 the Spanish governor forcibly emptied Hispaniola's northern and western coasts to stop smuggling with Dutch traders, unintentionally leaving the land open for buccaneers and later French Saint-Domingue.
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Language · 1630s
Buccaneers were named after a barbecue rack.
Did you know that the word buccaneer comes from the boucan, a Taíno-style wooden frame for smoking meat used by the wild-cattle hunters of northern Hispaniola and Tortuga before they turned to piracy.
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Heritage · 1640
Tortuga's rock fort repelled a Spanish attack.
Did you know that the French built the Fort de Rocher overlooking the harbour of Tortuga in 1640, and soon after it was finished its guns sank a Spanish ship and helped beat off an invasion force from Santo Domingo.
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Heritage · c. 1670
Cap-Haïtien was once the Paris of the Antilles.
Did you know that Cap-Français, today's Cap-Haïtien, was settled by the French around 1670 and grew so wealthy and cultured that it was nicknamed the Paris of the Antilles.
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Heritage · 1749
Port-au-Prince's first earthquake came in 1770.
Did you know that Port-au-Prince was founded only in 1749, became the capital of Saint-Domingue in 1770, and was flattened that same year by an earthquake that destroyed almost every building.
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Myth or fact · 1758
Mackandal's legend outlived his execution.
Did you know that the maroon leader François Mackandal was accused of plotting to poison the colony's slaveholders and burned at the stake in January 1758, yet many enslaved onlookers believed he transformed and flew out of the flames.
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Heritage · 1779
Haitians fought for American independence.
Did you know that more than 500 free men of colour from Saint-Domingue, the Chasseurs-Volontaires, fought for American independence at the 1779 Siege of Savannah, among them, reportedly, a 12-year-old drummer named Henri Christophe.
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Economy · 1780s
One colony supplied most of Europe's coffee.
Did you know that on the eve of revolution Saint-Domingue produced around 40 percent of the sugar and 60 percent of the coffee consumed in Europe, making it France's most valuable colony.
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Heritage · August 1791
A Vodou ceremony launched the revolution.
Did you know that the Haitian Revolution is traditionally said to have begun with a Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman in August 1791, led by Dutty Boukman and the priestess Cécile Fatiman.
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Science · 1802
Yellow fever defeated Napoleon's army too.
Did you know that Napoleon's brother-in-law General Charles Leclerc, sent with a huge army to restore French control in 1802, died of yellow fever on Tortuga that November, like thousands of his soldiers.
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Society · 1802–1803
Polish soldiers switched sides in Haiti.
Did you know that about 500 of the roughly 5,200 Polish soldiers Napoleon sent to Saint-Domingue switched sides to join the rebels, and descendants of those who settled still live in the village of Cazale.
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Myth or fact · 18 May 1803
Dessalines ripped the white from the tricolour.
Did you know that Haiti's blue and red flag was created at Arcahaie on 18 May 1803 when Dessalines tore the white out of the French tricolour, and tradition says his goddaughter Catherine Flon sewed it.
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Myth or fact · 18 November 1803
The French saluted Capois-La-Mort's courage.
Did you know that at the Battle of Vertières in November 1803 the Haitian officer Capois-La-Mort charged on even after his horse was shot from under him, and the French reportedly paused firing to salute his bravery.
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Firsts · 1 January 1804
The only nation born of a slave revolt.
Did you know that Haiti, declared independent at Gonaïves on 1 January 1804, is the only nation ever founded by a successful slave revolt and was the first independent Black-led republic.
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Firsts · October 1804
Haiti's emperor was crowned before Napoleon.
Did you know that Jean-Jacques Dessalines was crowned Emperor Jacques I of Haiti in October 1804, roughly two months before Napoleon crowned himself emperor in Paris.
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Society · 1805
Haiti's first constitution made every citizen 'Black'.
Did you know that Haiti's 1805 constitution declared all citizens to be called Black regardless of skin colour, a status that explicitly included naturalised Germans and the Polish soldiers who had joined the revolution.
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Records · 1805–1820
One of the Americas' largest fortresses.
Did you know that the Citadelle Laferrière, built from 1805 to 1820 by tens of thousands of former slaves on a 900-metre mountaintop to repel any French return, is one of the largest fortresses in the Americas.
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Society · 1811
Haiti once had a Duke of Marmelade.
Did you know that King Henri I of northern Haiti created a full nobility after 1811, complete with titles such as Duke of Marmelade and Count of Limonade, named after real Haitian towns.
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Heritage · 1815–1816
Haiti armed Bolívar for South American freedom.
Did you know that Haitian President Alexandre Pétion gave Simón Bolívar refuge, ships, weapons and money in 1815 and 1816 on condition that Bolívar free the enslaved in the lands he liberated.
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Economy · 1825
Haiti paid France for its own freedom.
Did you know that France demanded 150 million francs from Haiti in 1825 in exchange for recognising its independence, a payment backed by warships off Port-au-Prince to compensate former slaveholders.
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Heritage · 1844
The Dominican Republic became independent from Haiti.
Did you know that the Dominican Republic celebrates its Independence Day on 27 February, marking its 1844 break from Haiti rather than from Spain, the original colonial power.
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Geography · 1857
Haiti still claims a US-held island.
Did you know that the United States has administered tiny Navassa Island since claiming it in 1857 under the Guano Islands Act, yet Haiti still claims the uninhabited island as its own.
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Heritage · 1862
Washington ignored Haiti until 1862.
Did you know that the United States refused to recognise Haiti for nearly six decades, finally doing so only in 1862, when Abraham Lincoln signed Senator Charles Sumner's recognition bill during the Civil War.
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Economy · 1862
Haiti's famous rum uses cognac methods.
Did you know that Rhum Barbancourt was founded in 1862 by Dupré Barbancourt, a Frenchman from the Charente region who distilled Haitian sugarcane juice using methods borrowed from cognac making.
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Heritage · 1889–1891
Frederick Douglass was America's man in Haiti.
Did you know that the abolitionist Frederick Douglass served as US Minister Resident to Haiti from 1889 to 1891 and was then chosen by Haiti as co-commissioner of its pavilion at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition.
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Economy · 1914
US Marines took Haiti's gold in 1914.
Did you know that in December 1914 US Marines carried $500,000 in gold out of Haiti's national bank and shipped it to New York for safekeeping at National City Bank, months before the occupation began.
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Heritage · 1915–1934
The US occupation lasted 19 years.
Did you know that the US occupation of Haiti, which began in July 1915 after a mob killed President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, lasted 19 years until the last Marines left in August 1934.
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Myth or fact · 1918
FDR claimed he wrote Haiti's constitution.
Did you know that Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, boasted in 1920 that he had personally written Haiti's 1918 constitution, which for the first time let foreigners own Haitian land.
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Heritage · 1919
A Marine photo made Péralte a martyr.
Did you know that after rebel leader Charlemagne Péralte was killed in 1919, US Marines photographed his body tied to a door, and the crucifixion-like image turned him into a lasting symbol of resistance.
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Culture · 1928
One book helped spark Négritude.
Did you know that Jean Price-Mars's 1928 book Ainsi parla l'oncle urged Haitians to value their African heritage, Vodou and peasant folklore, inspiring the indigenist and later Négritude movements.
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Heritage · 1937
A word for parsley became a death test.
Did you know that during the 1937 Parsley Massacre, Dominican soldiers reportedly asked people to pronounce perejil, the Spanish word for parsley, to identify Haitians, thousands of whom were then killed.
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Economy · 1947
Haiti paid for independence until 1947.
Did you know that, according to a 2022 New York Times analysis, Haiti only finished paying off the loans tied to its independence indemnity to France in 1947, more than 120 years after the debt was imposed.
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Sport · 1950
A Haitian scored America's most famous goal.
Did you know that Haitian-born Joe Gaetjens scored the only goal when the United States stunned England 1-0 at the 1950 World Cup in Belo Horizonte, one of football's greatest upsets.
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Myth or fact · 1959
Duvalier's militia was named after a bogeyman.
Did you know that François Duvalier's feared militia was nicknamed the Tonton Macoutes after Tonton Makout, a bogeyman of Haitian folklore who snatches unruly children and carries them off in his gunny sack, or makout.
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Records · 1971
Baby Doc took power at 19.
Did you know that Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier became president for life in 1971 at just 19, making him the youngest president in the world.
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Sport · 1974
Haiti broke Dino Zoff's record streak.
Did you know that Haitian striker Emmanuel Sanon's goal against Italy at the 1974 World Cup in Munich was the first conceded by goalkeeper Dino Zoff in a record 1,142 minutes of international football.
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Heritage · 1986
A US plane carried Baby Doc into exile.
Did you know that Jean-Claude Duvalier and his wife fled Haiti on 7 February 1986 aboard a US Air Force plane to France, ending nearly 29 years of Duvalier family rule.
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Language · 1987
Creole became official only in 1987.
Did you know that Haiti's 1987 constitution made Haitian Creole an official language alongside French for the first time, although almost every Haitian speaks Creole and only a minority is fluent in French.
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Society · 1995
Haiti went 22 years without an army.
Did you know that after US-led forces restored President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1994, he disbanded the Haitian army in 1995, and the country had no army until it was revived in 2017.
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Sport · 2004
Ronaldo and Ronaldinho played in Port-au-Prince.
Did you know that when Brazil's world champions, including Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, beat Haiti 6-0 in Port-au-Prince's 'Game of Peace' in August 2004, some tickets were exchanged for surrendered weapons.
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Nature · 2010
Death toll estimates for 2010 vary threefold.
Did you know that the magnitude 7.0 earthquake of 12 January 2010, centred near Léogâne about 25 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince, killed somewhere between about 100,000 and 316,000 people.
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Science · 2016
The UN apologised for Haiti's cholera.
Did you know that the cholera epidemic that killed nearly 10,000 Haitians after 2010 was traced to UN peacekeepers from Nepal, and the UN Secretary-General formally apologised for the organisation's role in 2016.
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Heritage · 2021
Colombian ex-soldiers killed Haiti's president.
Did you know that President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his home in the Pèlerin district of Pétion-Ville on 7 July 2021 by a commando of 28 foreign mercenaries, 26 of them Colombians, most of them former soldiers.
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Culture · 2021
Independence soup is UNESCO heritage.
Did you know that soup joumou, the squash soup Haitians eat every 1 January to celebrate independence from a vegetable enslaved people grew but were forbidden to eat, became Haiti's first entry on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in December 2021.
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Society · 2025
A Mongolian general now leads Haiti's anti-gang force.
Did you know that the UN Security Council voted on 30 September 2025 to turn the Kenyan-led mission into a 5,500-strong Gang Suppression Force, which by April 2026 had a Mongolian general as commander.
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Society · 2026
One prime minister held all executive power.
Did you know that when Haiti's nine-member Transitional Presidential Council stood down on 7 February 2026 without an elected successor, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé was left holding all executive power alone.
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Sport · 2026
Haiti's coach had never been to Haiti.
Did you know that Haiti's coach Sébastien Migné led the team to the 2026 World Cup, its first since 1974, without ever setting foot in the country because of the security crisis.
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Sport · June 2026
Haiti ended a 52-year World Cup goal drought.
Did you know that Haiti's two goals in a 4-2 defeat to Morocco in Atlanta on 24 June 2026, an own goal by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and a strike by Wilson Isidor, were its first at a World Cup since Emmanuel Sanon scored in 1974, a 52-year wait.
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Society · October 2026
Haiti's first presidential vote in ten years was postponed again.
Did you know that Haiti's electoral council had set 13 December 2026 for the country's first presidential vote in a decade, but on 6 October 2026 it postponed the campaign indefinitely because of gang violence, leaving the elections without a date.
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Language ·
Ayiti means land of high mountains.
Did you know that Haiti's name comes from Ayiti, the Taíno name for the island, usually translated as 'land of high mountains', which Dessalines restored at independence in place of Saint-Domingue.
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Language ·
Hurricane and hammock are Taíno words.
Did you know that the English words hurricane, hammock, barbecue and canoe all come from the Taíno language spoken on Hispaniola, borrowed first into Spanish by the early colonists.
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Language ·
The world's most-spoken creole language.
Did you know that Haitian Creole, spoken by more than 13 million people in Haiti and abroad, is considered the most widely spoken creole language in the world.
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Myth or fact ·
Zombies were born in Haitian folklore.
Did you know that the English word zombie comes from the Haitian Creole zonbi, a figure of Haitian folklore believed to be a person raised from death and controlled by a sorcerer, or bokor.
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Culture ·
Ti Malice always outsmarts Bouki.
Did you know that in Haiti's best-loved folktales the clever trickster Ti Malice constantly outwits his hardworking but greedy Uncle Bouki, characters often described as Haitian descendants of the West African Anansi stories.
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Culture ·
Tap-taps are named after a knock.
Did you know that Haiti's brightly painted shared buses and pickup trucks are called tap-taps because passengers tap on the vehicle's side to tell the driver they want to get off.
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Geography ·
Pic la Selle is Haiti's roof.
Did you know that Pic la Selle, at about 2,680 metres in the Massif de la Selle near the Dominican border, is the highest point in Haiti, rising above pine forests that are protected in La Visite National Park.
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Nature ·
Haiti's largest lake is salty and has crocodiles.
Did you know that Haiti's largest lake, Étang Saumâtre or Lake Azuei, is a brackish lake near the Dominican border that shelters American crocodiles and more than a hundred species of waterbirds.
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Nature ·
A mountain range full of endangered frogs.
Did you know that Haiti's Massif de la Hotte is considered one of the world's most urgent conservation areas because it holds 13 of Hispaniola's most critically endangered species, all of them frogs.
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Myth or fact ·
Haiti's '2 percent forest' figure needs context.
Did you know that the oft-repeated claim that Haiti has only 2 percent forest left is a matter of definition, since primary forest is below 1 percent while satellite tree-cover estimates reach about 30 percent.
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Geography ·
Hispaniola is a divided island.
Did you know that Haiti shares Hispaniola, the second-largest island in the Caribbean, with the Dominican Republic, making it one of only two Caribbean islands divided between two countries, along with Saint Martin.
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Nature ·
Haiti has a venomous mammal.
Did you know that the Hispaniolan solenodon, a shrew-like mammal found in Haiti's mountains, is one of the very few mammals with a venomous bite, delivered through grooves in its lower teeth.
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