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James Cook Founds New Zealand
Englishman, James Cook sailed into Poverty Bay, Gisborne, for the first time on his ship, Endeavour. He had first sighted NZ two days earlier and had to sail through dangerous waters including unknown seas. Captain Cook made accurate maps of the new land with many details. Abel Tasman did discover New Zealand back in 1642 but did not go ashore after he fought with Maori in Golden Bay. -
First Pākehā (European) Women Arrive.
Kathleen Hagerty and Charlotte Edgar arrived in New Zealand in 1806. Charlotte Badger is credited with being one of the first two European women to settle in New Zealand. They came because they managed to escape from New South wales. Now that they found New Zealand we can be here today! -
NZ's Fist Flag Chosen
The first New Zealand flag was chosen on the 20th of March 1834. The idea of a flag was to represent a country for example New Zealand. The preferred design of the current NZ flag got 12 votes with the other two options receiving 10 votes. Busby declared the chosen flag. That is the flag that New Zealand have today! -
Treaty Of Waitangi Signed
The Treaty Of Waitangi was an agreement between the Maoris and Europeans. It was first signed in Russel. More than 500 cheifs signed the treaty. However the European and Maori had different understanding of the treatys, when it got translated the two treaty's ended up being very different. -
New Zealand War Breaks Out
There were a series of wars between Maori tribes and the Crown. The events were over land and attacks on each of the tribes and people. They fought in Waikato, Taranaki, Northland, Whanganui and more. There were over 8 different wars based in NZ. -
New Zealand Enters The First World War
The war took approximately 100,000 New Zealanders overseas, many for the first time. Many of the soldiers expected a great time but the reality was not quite the same. Being so far from home made these New Zealanders very aware of their indentity. In battle, they were able to compare themselves with men from other nations. -
Hawkes Bay Earthquake Strikes
The Hawkes Bay earthquake hit as a magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale and 256 people lost their lives in the devastating natural disaster. It remains New Zealand's deadliest natural disaster. Centred 15 km north of Napier, it lasted for two and a half deadly minutes. There were 525 total aftershocks recorded in the following 2 weeks. It quoted the 1931 principal of Napier Girls' High School in saying "Napier today is a far lovelier city than it was before". -
All Blacks Win The First World Cup
After establishing rugby as an icon in NZ, the All Blacks won their final to France with the total score was 29-9 at Eden Park, Auckland. David Kirk became the first captain to lift the Webb Ellis Cup. The 2011 final was a repeat of 1987, France vs New Zealand. This time it was a nearly taken away from us as the All Blacks hung on till the very end to win 8-7. -
Cyclone Bola Strikes
Cyclone Bola was a category four cyclone. It flooded and swapped many building for ruins. It killed 3 people and hundreds were evacuated. On March 4 Cyclone Bola transitioned into an tropical storm, passing to the north of the North Island of New Zealand on March 8. -
Pike River Mine Explosion
The Pike River Mine blew up killing 29 people. Almost 5 years later, scientists have not figured out what caused the explosion. They thought that it might have been a methane explosion although it is still not 100%. The accident happened 46 kilometres northeast of Greymouth, in the West Coast Region of New Zealand's South Island.
