On 26 May 1966, British Guiana became the independent state of Guyana. The UK Guyana Independence Act set that date as the point when Britain ceased responsibility for governing the territory, and Guyana’s Parliament records the first sitting of the National Assembly on the same day. Independence followed decades of labor organizing, mass politics and constitutional struggle. It ended formal British colonial rule, while leaving the new country to address inequalities and institutions inherited from slavery, plantation production, indenture and colonial administration.
On 17 June 1948, workers and mourners marched from Plantation Enmore toward Le Repentir cemetery in Georgetown with the funeral hearses of the five workers killed by police. The march transformed a...
On 27 April 1953, British Guiana held its first general election under universal adult suffrage, with 24 House of Assembly seats contested. The People’s Progressive Party (PPP), an anti-colonial...
On 9 October 1953, the British government suspended British Guiana’s recently introduced constitution, dismissed the elected ministers and sent troops to the colony. The action followed the PPP’s...
On 12 August 1957, British Guiana held elections under a revised constitutional order after four years of appointed interim government. The People’s Progressive Party faction led by Cheddi Jagan won...
On 21 August 1961, British Guiana held a general election under a new constitution that established a bicameral legislature, including an elected Legislative Assembly. The People’s Progressive Party...
👉 Guyana becomes independent
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26 May 1966
On 26 May 1966, British Guiana became the independent state of Guyana. The UK Guyana Independence Act set that date as the point when Britain ceased responsibility for governing the territory, and...
On 23 February 1970, Guyana became a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth. The date was selected to coincide with Mashramani and the anniversary of the 1763 Berbice uprising,...
On 23 May 1976, Guyana unveiled the 1763 Monument in Georgetown to commemorate the Berbice uprising against Dutch plantation slavery. The monument was designed by Guyanese artist Philip Moore and...
On 16 June 1977, Guyana unveiled the Enmore Martyrs’ Monument on the twenty-ninth anniversary of the police killings. Prime Minister Forbes Burnham unveiled the monument, designed by Guyanese artist...
On 17 December 1992, Afro-centric Guyanese founded the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) to nurture African culture and support a prosperous African community. ACDA’s work connects...
On 11 March 2014, CARICOM heads of government endorsed a ten-point plan for reparatory justice, later framed as the Caribbean Reparatory Justice Programme. The programme called for a full formal...
