Short answers, pulled from the story.
Solomon Islands gained independence on the 7th of July 1978 under the Solomon Islands Act 1978. The first prime minister was Sir Peter Kenilorea of the Solomon Islands United Party, and Elizabeth II became Queen of Solomon Islands at that time.
Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendana de Neira was the first European to visit the Solomon Islands, landing on Santa Isabel on the 7th of February 1568. He did not name the archipelago; the name 'Solomon Islands' was applied by others who later received reports of his voyage and linked the islands to biblical stories of King Solomon's wealth.
The Solomon Islands Campaign ran from 1942 to 1945, involving fierce fighting between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan. The campaign cost the Allies approximately 7,100 men, 29 ships, and 615 aircraft; the Japanese lost 31,000 men, 38 ships, and 683 aircraft. The Battle of Guadalcanal was a turning point in the Pacific War.
The Tensions was a civil conflict that ran from 1998 to 2003, characterised by fighting between the Isatabu Freedom Movement and the Malaita Eagle Force over migration and land rights on Guadalcanal. About 200 people were killed before the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) arrived in July 2003 with 2,200 police and troops, ending the violence.
Solomon Islands switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People's Republic of China in September 2019 under Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. In April 2022, the two countries signed a security cooperation agreement; a leaked draft verified by Australia indicated it could allow China to deploy forces to the islands to assist in maintaining social order.
Archaeological evidence from Kilu Cave on Buka Island places the first human settlement of the Solomons between 30,000 and 28,800 BC. Those early settlers came from the Bismarck Islands and New Guinea during the Pleistocene era, when lower sea levels joined Buka and Bougainville to the southern islands in a single landmass.