SOME KEY DATES IN HISTORY 1494    Arrival of Columbus on island Arawak Indians called `Xaymaca’ (meaning land of wood and water) 1509    Occupation by Spain 1655    Captured by Britain 1692    Famous buccaneer town, Port Royal, destroyed by earthquake 1907    Capital, Kingston, severely damaged by another earthquake 1930    Framework for modern political system laid 1958    Joined the West Indies Federation 1962    Independence achieved. Rt Excellent Sir William Alexander Bustamante, first Prime Minister