The beginnings of Singapore are steeped in local Malay legend. The island is said to have received its name from a visiting Sumatran prince in the 14th century, who saw a fearsome creature - later identified to him as a lion - on his arrival.
Taking this as a good omen, the prince founded a new city on the spot, changing the name of the island from Temasek to Singapura. In Sanskrit, "singa" means lion and "pura" means city. Thus Lion City was born, and today the symbol of the merlion - a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish - is a reminder of Singapore's early connections to this legend and the seas.

In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore , landed on the north bank of the Singapore River , the only firm patch of ground at the river mouth then. As a man with great foresight, he immediately realized that Singapore enjoyed a strategic location at the nexus of trading routes on the Archipelago, making it an ideal place for merchant ships to stop by. Furthermore, it had a deep harbour, sheltered from storms and tropical gales.
Raffles sprang into action and signed a treaty with the local rulers, the Temenggong and Sultan Hussain of Johore-Riau on 30 January 1819 to establish a British trading port in Singapore . As the first free port in the region, Singapore attracted many trading ships from all around the world to stop by to trade. Singapore was henceforth transformed from a humble fishing village to a busy port of call.
Later, Raffles initiated a town plan for central Singapore. The plan included levelling one hill to set up a commercial centre (today's Shenton Way) and constructing government buildings around Fort Canning. Raffles, and the first Resident of Singapore, William Farquhar, gradually moulded Singapore from a jungle-ridden backwater with poor sanitation and little modern infrastructure to a successful entreport and colonial outpost. Hospitals, schools and a water supply system were built. Soon, boatloads of immigrants from India and China were coming to Singapore, in search of prosperity and a better life

The peace and prosperity ended when Japanese aircraft bombed the sleeping city in the early hours of 8 December. Singapore fell to the Japanese on 15 February 1942 and was renamed Syonan (Light of the South). It remained under Japanese occupation for three-and-a-half years.

During that time, Japanese police was also known as the kempetai. Commoners were made to bow to them as they passed, if not, they would be hit or kicked as a form of punishment. For instance, the Sook Ching Massacre claimed between 25,000 and 50,000 lives in Malaya and Singapore. The local people lived in fear as they did not know who worked for the Japanese and who did not as the Japanese had many secret informers all over the island. The Japanese were also extremely cruel at that time. They torture their prisoners, even using them as their bull eyes for their practice. Some of the captured ones were never seen by their families again. Life was hard then, many people suffered and died during the Japanese Occupation.
On 6th & 9th of August 1945, the US dropped two atomic bombs at Japan's two cities.
Eventually, the Japanese surrendered on 15th August 1945, and the Japanese Occupation came to an end.

The British forces returned in September 1945 and Singapore came under the British Military Administration. When the period of military administration ended in March 1946, the Straits Settlements was dissolved. On 1 April 1946, Singapore became a Crown Colony.
Postwar Singapore was a contrast to the prewar country of transient immigrants. The people, especially the merchant class, clamored for a say in the government. Constitutional powers were initially vested in the Governor who had an advisory council of officials and nominated non-officials. This evolved into the separate Executive and Legislative Councils in July 1947. The Governor retained firm control over the colony but there was provision for the election of six members to the Legislative Council by popular vote. Hence, Singapore's first election was held on 20 March 1948.
Following next, Singapore practiced partial internal self government in 1955 until 1959 where she was granted for full internal self government for 4 years. On 16 September 1963, Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak were formally merged and Malaysia was formed. The PAP Government felt that Singapore's survival as a nation would be difficult. They lacked natural resources and faced a declining entrepot trade and a growing population which required jobs. Therefore, Singapore felt that the merger was thought to benefit the economy by creating a common free market, eliminating trade tariffs, solving unemployment woes and to support new industries.
However due to rising racial tension, Singapore was separated from Malaysia on 09 August 1965  and became the Republic of Singapore where Yusof Bin Ishak was appointed the first President