Dating Your Globe

 

Do you collect antique or vintage terrestrial/celestial globes? Perhaps you like to see how older world globes show the political boundaries of their specific era. It is mind boggling to see how countries and cities have changed their names over the years, and the results of wars that have moved boundaries. Some people collect globes because they often show the tracks and routes that explorers took as more and more of our planet was being discovered. Others collect world globes because they are stunning pieces of art.

Whatever your reasons for collecting or restoring older globes, you may wonder "How old is my globe?" and need help determining how old your globe is.

The following dates will help you "date your globe" and determine how old your globe could be.

1800    1800 Onwards

• 1817 - New Holland becomes Australia

• 1819 - Florida ceded by Spain to US

• 1831-33 - discovery of Endrby's Land in antarctic

• 1846 - Van Dieman's Land becomes Tasmania (so. of Australia)

• 1856 - Burton and Speke discover Lake Tanganyika

• 1857 - John Speke discovers Lake Victoria

• 1867 - Alaska sold by Russia to US

• 1868 - Austro-Hungarian Empire established

• 1869 - Suez Canal complete

• 1878 - Serbia, Montenegro and Romania independent

• 1878 - Cyprus became British

• 1885 - Congo Free State (Congo State); Britain established Bechuanaland Protectorate in what is now Botswana. Southern part of Bechuanaland was called British Bechuanaland, a colony that later became part of the Cape Colony and later S. Africa.

• 1891 - North and South Dakota divided and Indian Territory in Oklahoma

• 1895 - "Rhodesia" name on Ndebele territory of Zimbabwe

 

1900    1900 Onwards

• 1900 - Cook Islands annexed by New Zealand

• 1902 - Boer War ends - Eng. acquires So. African states

• 1902 - Cuba independence

• 1903 - Panama independence

• 1905 - End of the Swedish-Norwegian Union (Norway independent); Sakhalin Island divided between Japan and Russia; Alberta and Saskatchewan become provinces in Canada

• 1907 - Eastern Oklahoma was called Indian Territory until 1907.

• 1908 - Bulgaria becomes independent kingdom; Belgium takes over Congo Free State

• 1909 - Canberra becomes capital of Australia.

• 1910 - Union of South Africa (Confirm this)

• 1910-1945 - Korea was called Chosen by Japan

• 1910 the four main republics in the region united as the Union of South Africa.

• 1911 Rhodesia was divided into Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia, the latter becoming a self-governing British colony in 1922.

• 1912 - Albania independent

• 1913 - Turkey loses most of European lands, Coup D'etat in Turkey

• 1914 - opening of the Panama Canal (another source said 1913). Egypt becomes British Protectorate.

• 1914-18 - World War I
  pre1914 St. Petersburg, Russia

• 1914-24 St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd (1914-1924), thereafter Leningrad, until its original name (St. Petersburg) was restored in 1991.

• 1917 - Finland independence. Russian revolution.

• 1918 - 1940 - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania were independent. Annexed by Soviet Union 1940.
   

• 1918 - Yugoslavia created. "Russia" and "Austro-Hungarian Empire" disappear.

• 1918 - Austria, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia independence

• 1919 - Treaty of Versaille; League of Nations formed; flu epidemic.

• 1920-33 - Prohibition in U.S.

• 1920 - Mahatma Gandhi becomes leader of Congress. British East Africa becomes Kenya. Palestine becomes British mandate.

• 1921-24 - Irish Civil War

• 1922 - Russia changes to Soviet Union. Egyptian independence.

• 1923 - Turkey independent

• 1924 - Christiana, Norway renamed Oslo

• 1924 - Leningrad appears

• 1928 - Peiping changed to Peking1927 - Stalin comes to power. Lindbergh flies Atlantic.

• 1929 - Yugoslavia name change -- learn more about this

• 1930 - Constantinople becomes Istanbul

• 1931 - Japan invades Manchuria and renames it Manchukuo

• 1931 South Africa became a fully sovereign and self-governing dominion under the British crown. In 1961 it became a republic.

• 1932 - Saudi Arabia independent. Iraq independent from Britian.

• 1932-45 - Japan seizes Manchuria; renamed Manchuokuo

• 1933 - Nazis come to power in Germany

• 1934 - Italian East Africa merged Somaliland, Eritrea and Ethiopia

• 1936-41 - Ethiopia occupied by Italy, renamed Italian East Africa

• 1935 - Persia becomes Iran

• 1937 - Burma separates from India

• 1937-45 Japan invasion of China

• 1938 - Germany annexes Austria

• 1938 - Bolivia loses Gran Chaco to Paraguay

• 1939-45 - World War II

• 1939 - Bohemia (currently Czech Republic) occupied by Germany; Slovakia independent

• 1939 - France returns Hatay to Turkey

• 1940 - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania are annexed by Soviet Union

• 1941 - Slovenia divided between Italy and Germany; Croatia independent

• 1942 - Ecuador loses Oriente to Peru

• 1944 - Lebanon independent

• 1946 - Philippines independent from United States

• 1947 - India independent; East and West Pakistan created

• 1948 - Israel created (before 1948, maps say "Palestine"); Republic of Ireland independent. Ceylon and Burma become independent.

• 1949 - Newfoundland and Labrador join Canada.

• 1953 - Korea divided into North and South; Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

• In 1953 the two parts of Rhodesia were reunited, and combined with Nyasaland, modern day Malawi in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and after its dissolution in 1963 the whites demanded independence from Southern Rhodesia (Rhodesia from 1964).

• 1953-63 - Central African Federation
• 1954 - "French Indo-China" ceased to be. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia independent; Sudan independent. Formally was "Anglo-Egyptian Sudan"
• 1956 - Morocco, Tunisia independent. "Anglo Egypt Sudan" becomes Sudan. Sudan independent of UK.
• 1957 - Gold Coast becomes Ghana. Malay states become independent.
• 1958-61 - Egypt and Syria united as United Arab Republic
• 1960 - French West Africa divides into independent countries and ceases to exist; Congo and Somalia independent. Major break-up of colonial Africa: French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa, Belgian Congo, and other territories
  end, creating over 15 independent countries, including Niger, Chad, Somalia, Congo, Nigeria. Zaire -- independent in 1960. Formally Belgian Congo.
• 1961 - Sierra Leone, Tanzania (Tanganyika) independent. Kuwait independent.
• 1961 South Africa became a republic. British Somaliland became independent.
• 1962 - Uganda, Algeria, Jamaica independent. Also Trinidad and Tobago, and Western Samoa.
• 1963 - Kenya independent. Malaysia independence. Zanibar independence.
• 1963 the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland dissolves. The whites demanded independence from Southern Rhodesia (Rhodesia from 1964).
• 1964 - Malawi and Zambia independent from UK; Zambia was Northern Rhodesia. Rhodesia divided. Nyasaland becomes Malawi. Malta becomes independent.
• Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form new country: Tanzania
• 1965 - Southern Rhodesia independent (later became Zimbabwe in 1979 or 1980). Singapore independence
• 1966 - Botswana, Gambia, and Lesotho independent. Guyana independent
• 1967 - French Somaliland changes to Afars & Issas (Fr.)
• 1968 - Equatorial Guinea independence. Mauritius and Swaziland (from UK) gain independence.
• 1970 - Muscat and Oman changes to Oman. Fiji and Tongan Independence.
• 1971 - Bahrain independent. Congo changes to Zaire. Bangladesh independence
• 1972 - Ceylon changes to Sri Lanka
• 1973 - Bahamas independence
• 1974 - Guinea-Bissau independence. Grenada independence.
• 1975 - Angola (formally Portuguese West Africa) and Mozambique independent. Suriname independence. Papua New Guinea gains independence.
• 1976 - Vietnam unifies. Indonesia annexes Portuguese Timor. Seychelles Independent.
• 1977 - Djibouti independence
• 1978 - Dominica independence
• 1979 - St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines independence. USSR invades Afganistan.
• 1979/1980 - Zimbabwe gains independence from United Kingdom. It was called Southern Rhodesia. Name changed to Zimbabwe in 1979.
• 1981 - Belize gains independence from United Kingdom/Guatemala. Antigua and Barbuda become independent state in British Common-Wealth of Nations
• 1984 - Upper Volta changes name to Burkina Faso
• 1986 - Ivory Coast changes name to Côte d'Ivoire
• 1989 - Burma changes name to Myanmar
• 1990 - West and East Germany merge into one country, Germany.
• North and South Yemen merge into one country, Yemen
  Namibia gains independence
• 1991 - Soviet Union dissolves into 15 new countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
• 1992 - Yugoslavia dissolves into 5 new countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Yugoslavia
• 1993 - Czechoslovakia divides into Czech Republic and Slovakia
• 1993 - Eritrea was part of Ethiopia but seceded and gained independence
• 1994 - Palau was part of the Trust Territory of Pacific Islands (administered by the United States) and gained independence as a former colony.
• 1994 - South Africa territory Walvis Bay becomes part of Namibia
• 1997 - Zaire changes name to Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Hong Kong possession transfers from United Kingdom to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
  Western Samoa changes name to Samoa
• 1998 - Nunavut Territory created from part of Northwest Territories (Canada)
• 1999 - Macao transferred from Portugal to China

2000    2000 Onwards

• 2002 - East Timor gains independence from Indonesia (declared independence from Portugal in 1975 but did not became independent from Indonesia until 2002.)
• 2003 - Yugoslavia divides into Serbia and Montenegro
• 2006 - Montenegro was part of Serbia and Montenegro (also known as Yugoslavia) but gained independence after a referendum. (June 3)
• 2006 - Serbia was part of Serbia and Montenegro (also known as Yugoslavia) became its own entity after Montenegro split. Kosovo may also gain independence from Serbia in the future.

Cranville world of globes - globe retailers since 1992