This is a timeline of the
history of New Zealand that includes only events deemed to be of principal importance – for less important events click the year heading or refer to
List of years in New Zealand.
Prehistory (to 1000 CE)
85
mya: Around this time New Zealand splits from the supercontinent
Gondwana.[1]
5 mya: New Zealand's climate cools as Australia drifts north. Animals that have adapted to warm temperate and subtropical conditions become extinct.
18,000 BP: New Zealand's North and South islands are connected by a land bridge during the last ice age. Glaciers spread from the Southern Alps carving valleys and making fiords in the South Island. The land bridge is submerged around 9,700 BCE.[citation needed]
1400~1500: Development of the Classic Māori Material Culture including expansion of Māori settlement from coastal to inland areas, increase in horticulture and development of
pā (hillforts)[citation needed]
~1400~1450: Most likely extinction of the
moa.[6][7]
1576: Speculation exists[8][9] that around this time Spanish explorer
Juan Fernández visited New Zealand[10] although this is not generally accepted by most reputable authorities.[11]
17th century
1601 onwards
Expansion and migration of Māori groups and formation of classic
iwi. (many still existing today)
1642
13 December:
DutchexplorerAbel Tasman sights the
South Island. He called it Staten Landt but the Dutch East India Company cartographer Joan Blaeu subsequently changed it to Nieuw Zeeland.[12]
19 December: Four of Tasman's crew are killed at Wharewharangi (Murderers) Bay by a
Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri war party. Tasman's ships are approached by 11
waka as he leaves and his ships fire on them, hitting a Māori standing in one of the waka.[14] Tasman's ships depart without landing. The Dutch chart the west of the
North Island.
Ngāpuhi fight Ngāti Whātua, Te-Uri-o-Hau and Te Roroa
iwi at the
battle of Moremonui on the west coast of Northland, the first battle in which Maori used muskets.
Ngati Uru attack and burn the ship Boyd, killing all but four of its crew and passengers.
Whalers wrongly blame
Te Puna chief
Te Pahi and in a revenge attack kill 60 of his followers.
22 December: British
missionarySamuel Marsden, of the (Anglican) Church Missionary Society, arrives at
Rangihoua at Oihi Bay in the
Bay of Islands to establish the country's first mission station. Sheep, cattle, horses and poultry are introduced.
Christmas Day: Rev Samuel Marsden holds the first
Christian service on land, at Rangihoua.
17 August: the country's second mission station is established, at
Kerikeri, when Rev Marsden, John Butler, Francis Hall and William Hall mark out the site which was previously visited by Marsden in 1815.
25 September: Rev Marsden plants 100 vines, the first grapes grown in New Zealand.
4 November: Chiefs
Hongi Hika and
Rewa sell 13,000 acres (5260 hectares) at Kerikeri to the Church Missionary Society for 48 felling axes.
19 November: The brig Lord Raglan carrying 500 Māori from
Ngati Tama and
Ngati Mutunga armed with guns, clubs and axes, arrives on the
Chatham Islands. It is followed by another ship with 400 more Māori on 5 December. Those
Moriori that are not killed are enslaved.[24]
Captain William Hobson sent by New South Wales Governor to report on New Zealand. He suggested a treaty with the Māori and imposition of British Law.
New Zealand Association formed in London, becoming the New Zealand Colonisation Society in 1838 and the
New Zealand Company in 1839, under the inspiration of
Edward Gibbon Wakefield.
Government launches the first of what would become 3,000,000 acres of land-confiscations from Māori in Waikato, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, and Hawke's Bay.
Mary C. Leavitt, World Missionary for the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, toured New Zealand setting up local branches; appointed
Anne Ward of
Wellington as the first national president to continue recruiting and organizing departments to advocate for women's political and socio-economic rights.
12 August: Reefton becomes first town in the Southern Hemisphere to have a public supply of electricity after the commissioning of the
Reefton Power Station.
Fears of a Japanese Invasion prompts precautions such as air raid drills. Membership of the
Home Guard became compulsory for men aged between 35 and 50. The threat is eased after the
Battle of the Coral Sea.
US Vice President
Spiro Agnew Visits New Zealand to prop up the NZ Governments support for the
Vietnam War and is met by an anti-war protest in Auckland which turns violent.
Natural gas network commissioned, supplying gas from
Kapuni to Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Whanganui, Palmerston North and Wellington.
December: New Zealand ends its role in the
Vietnam War when Troops are withdrawn under the new Labour Government and
Compulsory Military Training is Abolished.
13 October: Māori land march reaches Parliament building in Wellington,
Whina Cooper presents a Memorial of Rights to the Prime Minister
Bill Rowling and Māori Affairs Minister
Matiu Rata.
Constitutional crisis follows general election; outgoing Prime Minister Robert Muldoon refuses to implement advice of Prime Minister elect David Lange.
Government devalues New Zealand dollar by 20 percent.
Compulsory superannuation is rejected by a margin of more than nine to one in New Zealand's first postal referendum.
Jim Bolger resigns as prime minister after losing the support of the National Party caucus and is replaced by New Zealand's first woman prime minister,
Jenny Shipley.
27 November: (28 November NZ Time.)
XL Airways Germany A320 Flight 888T, an aeroplane owned by
Air New Zealand crashes in the Mediterranean Sea off the south coast of France, killing all seven on board, 5 of whom are New Zealanders.[55]
December 2019:
Whakaari / White Island eruption. 47 people were on the island at the time. Twenty-two people died, either in the explosion or from injuries sustained, including two whose bodies were never found and were later declared dead. A further 25 people suffered injuries, with the majority needing intensive care for severe burns.
17 October: Originally scheduled for 19 September and delayed due to a second COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 general election is held.
6 November: Official election results give Labour 65 seats, enough for a
majority government, the first time a single party wins enough seats to govern alone since the
mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) system was introduced in 1996.
^The
Vallard Atlas, produced in early 17th century by the French and held in a Los Angeles library vault contains the coast of the North Island
^Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand; Vol 27, 1894. p. 617 "A statement exists that, as far back as 1576, Juan Fernandez., a Spanish pilot, sailed W.S.W. from Chili for the space of a month, and that then he came upon a fertile and pleasant land, inhabited by light-complexioned people, who wore woven cloth, and who were exceedingly hospitable. From the course steered and the time occupied on the voyage it has been concluded that this fertile land was New Zealand."
This is a timeline of the
history of New Zealand that includes only events deemed to be of principal importance – for less important events click the year heading or refer to
List of years in New Zealand.
Prehistory (to 1000 CE)
85
mya: Around this time New Zealand splits from the supercontinent
Gondwana.[1]
5 mya: New Zealand's climate cools as Australia drifts north. Animals that have adapted to warm temperate and subtropical conditions become extinct.
18,000 BP: New Zealand's North and South islands are connected by a land bridge during the last ice age. Glaciers spread from the Southern Alps carving valleys and making fiords in the South Island. The land bridge is submerged around 9,700 BCE.[citation needed]
1400~1500: Development of the Classic Māori Material Culture including expansion of Māori settlement from coastal to inland areas, increase in horticulture and development of
pā (hillforts)[citation needed]
~1400~1450: Most likely extinction of the
moa.[6][7]
1576: Speculation exists[8][9] that around this time Spanish explorer
Juan Fernández visited New Zealand[10] although this is not generally accepted by most reputable authorities.[11]
17th century
1601 onwards
Expansion and migration of Māori groups and formation of classic
iwi. (many still existing today)
1642
13 December:
DutchexplorerAbel Tasman sights the
South Island. He called it Staten Landt but the Dutch East India Company cartographer Joan Blaeu subsequently changed it to Nieuw Zeeland.[12]
19 December: Four of Tasman's crew are killed at Wharewharangi (Murderers) Bay by a
Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri war party. Tasman's ships are approached by 11
waka as he leaves and his ships fire on them, hitting a Māori standing in one of the waka.[14] Tasman's ships depart without landing. The Dutch chart the west of the
North Island.
Ngāpuhi fight Ngāti Whātua, Te-Uri-o-Hau and Te Roroa
iwi at the
battle of Moremonui on the west coast of Northland, the first battle in which Maori used muskets.
Ngati Uru attack and burn the ship Boyd, killing all but four of its crew and passengers.
Whalers wrongly blame
Te Puna chief
Te Pahi and in a revenge attack kill 60 of his followers.
22 December: British
missionarySamuel Marsden, of the (Anglican) Church Missionary Society, arrives at
Rangihoua at Oihi Bay in the
Bay of Islands to establish the country's first mission station. Sheep, cattle, horses and poultry are introduced.
Christmas Day: Rev Samuel Marsden holds the first
Christian service on land, at Rangihoua.
17 August: the country's second mission station is established, at
Kerikeri, when Rev Marsden, John Butler, Francis Hall and William Hall mark out the site which was previously visited by Marsden in 1815.
25 September: Rev Marsden plants 100 vines, the first grapes grown in New Zealand.
4 November: Chiefs
Hongi Hika and
Rewa sell 13,000 acres (5260 hectares) at Kerikeri to the Church Missionary Society for 48 felling axes.
19 November: The brig Lord Raglan carrying 500 Māori from
Ngati Tama and
Ngati Mutunga armed with guns, clubs and axes, arrives on the
Chatham Islands. It is followed by another ship with 400 more Māori on 5 December. Those
Moriori that are not killed are enslaved.[24]
Captain William Hobson sent by New South Wales Governor to report on New Zealand. He suggested a treaty with the Māori and imposition of British Law.
New Zealand Association formed in London, becoming the New Zealand Colonisation Society in 1838 and the
New Zealand Company in 1839, under the inspiration of
Edward Gibbon Wakefield.
Government launches the first of what would become 3,000,000 acres of land-confiscations from Māori in Waikato, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, and Hawke's Bay.
Mary C. Leavitt, World Missionary for the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, toured New Zealand setting up local branches; appointed
Anne Ward of
Wellington as the first national president to continue recruiting and organizing departments to advocate for women's political and socio-economic rights.
12 August: Reefton becomes first town in the Southern Hemisphere to have a public supply of electricity after the commissioning of the
Reefton Power Station.
Fears of a Japanese Invasion prompts precautions such as air raid drills. Membership of the
Home Guard became compulsory for men aged between 35 and 50. The threat is eased after the
Battle of the Coral Sea.
US Vice President
Spiro Agnew Visits New Zealand to prop up the NZ Governments support for the
Vietnam War and is met by an anti-war protest in Auckland which turns violent.
Natural gas network commissioned, supplying gas from
Kapuni to Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Whanganui, Palmerston North and Wellington.
December: New Zealand ends its role in the
Vietnam War when Troops are withdrawn under the new Labour Government and
Compulsory Military Training is Abolished.
13 October: Māori land march reaches Parliament building in Wellington,
Whina Cooper presents a Memorial of Rights to the Prime Minister
Bill Rowling and Māori Affairs Minister
Matiu Rata.
Constitutional crisis follows general election; outgoing Prime Minister Robert Muldoon refuses to implement advice of Prime Minister elect David Lange.
Government devalues New Zealand dollar by 20 percent.
Compulsory superannuation is rejected by a margin of more than nine to one in New Zealand's first postal referendum.
Jim Bolger resigns as prime minister after losing the support of the National Party caucus and is replaced by New Zealand's first woman prime minister,
Jenny Shipley.
27 November: (28 November NZ Time.)
XL Airways Germany A320 Flight 888T, an aeroplane owned by
Air New Zealand crashes in the Mediterranean Sea off the south coast of France, killing all seven on board, 5 of whom are New Zealanders.[55]
December 2019:
Whakaari / White Island eruption. 47 people were on the island at the time. Twenty-two people died, either in the explosion or from injuries sustained, including two whose bodies were never found and were later declared dead. A further 25 people suffered injuries, with the majority needing intensive care for severe burns.
17 October: Originally scheduled for 19 September and delayed due to a second COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 general election is held.
6 November: Official election results give Labour 65 seats, enough for a
majority government, the first time a single party wins enough seats to govern alone since the
mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) system was introduced in 1996.
^The
Vallard Atlas, produced in early 17th century by the French and held in a Los Angeles library vault contains the coast of the North Island
^Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand; Vol 27, 1894. p. 617 "A statement exists that, as far back as 1576, Juan Fernandez., a Spanish pilot, sailed W.S.W. from Chili for the space of a month, and that then he came upon a fertile and pleasant land, inhabited by light-complexioned people, who wore woven cloth, and who were exceedingly hospitable. From the course steered and the time occupied on the voyage it has been concluded that this fertile land was New Zealand."