New Zealand History Timeline
| 1350 | Supposed year of the 'Great Migration' in which a large fleet of Maori arrived in NZ from Hawaiki. |
| 1642 | Naming it Staten Landt, Abel Tasman discovers and claims New Zealand for Holland. |
| 1769 | Captain James Cook lands at Gisborne and claims New Zealand for Britain and King George III. |
| 1769 | French explorer, Jean-François-Marie de Surville casts anchor at Spirit's Bay, on 17th December. |
| 1772 | Marion du Fresne lands in the Bay of Islands and, yet again, claims the country for France, calling it France Australe (South France) |
| 1791 | First known visit of a whaling ship to Doubtless Bay : the "William and Ann". |
| 1806 | First European women arrive in New Zealand. |
| 1814 | Samuel Marsden, British Missionary, makes his first visit to New Zealand. The Anglican mission is established at the Bay of Islands. |
| 1815 | Thomas Holloway King becomes the first pakeha (European) child born in New Zealand. |
| 1820 | Ngapuhi chief Hongi Hika visits England, meets with King George IV, and is able to obtain muskets on the return trip. |
| 1821 | Hongi Hika and Te Morenga commence Musket Wars against southern tribes. |
| 1822 | Te Rauparaha leads the migration of the Ngati Toa south, to the Cook Strait region. |
| 1823 | Wesleyan Missionary Society established. |
| 1824 | French explorer Isidore Duperrey visits the Bay of Islands. Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville is second-in-command of the expedition. |
| 1827 | Dumont d'Urville leads his own expedition and charts large sections of New Zealand's coastline in detail for the first time. |
| 1833 | James Busby arrives at the Bay of Islands, in his capacity as Official British Resident. |
| 1834 | Around 25 northern Maori chiefs adopt the United Tribes flag, on Busby's initiative. |
| 1835 | Declaration of Independence by the United Tribes of New Zealand, signed by 34 northern Chiefs. |
| 1837 | The New Zealand Association is formed. It becomes the The New Zealand Company in 1839.The colonization of New Zealand Begins. |
| 1838 | Bishop John Baptiste Francis Pompallier, from France, founds the first Marist mission at Hokianga. |
| 1839 | William Hobson is instructed to establish British rule in New Zealand, which initially becomes a dependency of New South Wales. |
| 1840 | The Treaty of Waitangi is signed on February 6th. The first New Zealand Company settlers arrive at Port Nicholson.Dumont d'Urville visits New Zealand for the third and last time and charts additional large sections of the coastline. |
| 1840's | The Maori rebel against the British, lead by Hone Heke. |
| 1841 | New Zealand officially declared a crown colony. Auckland becomes the capital from the Bay of Islands. |
| 1842 | Settlement at Nelson formed. Auckland proclaimed capital city. |
| 1843 | The "Wairau Affair". Violent confrontation between Europeans and the Maori. Robert Fitzroy becomes Governor. |
| 1845 | Hone Heke and Te Kawiti commence the northern wars.George Grey becomes Governor. |
| 1846 | The country is divided into two provinces. The wars in the north end with the taking of Ruapekapeka. |
| 1850 | Christchurch settled and port of Lyttleton formed nearby. |
| 1857 | Potatau I becomes the first Maori King. |
| 1858 | New provinces Act passed. |
| 1859 | Gold discovered in Buller. |
| 1860 | Second of the Maori wars fought at Waireki resulting from the Waitara dispute |
| 1861 | Truce arranged with Taranaki Maori. Gold discovered at Gabriel's Gully - the Otago gold rushes commence. |
| 1864 | The Waikato war ends. Land in Waikato, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty and Hawke's Bay is confiscated. |
| 1868 | New Zealand becomes first country in the world to let its native people vote. |
| 1870 | The last of the British Imperial Forces leave New Zealand. |
| 1872 | Te Kooti retreats into the King Country. Maori armed resistance ceases. |
| 1876 | Provinces abolished. |
| 1883 | Te Kooti officially pardoned. |
| 1884 | King Tawhiao visits England with a petition for the Queen, appealing to the Treaty. He is refused access. |
| 1886 | The eruption of Mount Tarawera. |
| 1893 | NZ becomes first country in the world to give women the vote. |
| 1898 | Old age pensions act |
| 1899 | NZ is the first country to give the elderly the pension. |
| 1907 | New Zealand constituted as a Dominion. |
| 1914 | WWI - New Zealand troops land at Anzac Cove in Turkey to try and knock the Turkish out of the war. |
| 1931 | Napier earthquake hits, killing 255 people. |
| 1950 | British Empire Games held in Auckland. |
| 1951 | ANZUS Pact established between NZ, Australia and the US. |
| 1951 | The watersiders' strike, where union workers went on strike for 151 days. Over 1000 workers attacked a group of police who were trying to disperse them. |
| 1953 | Sherpa Tenzing and New Zealander Edmund Hilary conquer Mt Everest. |
| 1974 | Xth Commonwealth Games held in Christchurch. |
1981 |
The South African rugby tour goes ahead, despite much protest. Riots break out all over the country, and the nation is divided. Described as the worst 56 days in New Zealand's history. |
| 1985 | The world watches NZ as it refuses port entry to a US Nuclear Warship, breaking the ANZUS Pact, and establishing itself as the world's first Anti-Nuclear country. |
| 1985 | Greenpeace vessel, the Rainbow Warrior is sunk by French agents at Auckland, leaving New Zealanders forever sour at the French. |
| 1990 | XIVth Commonwealth Games held in Auckland. |
| 1995 | New Zealand and the Black Magic boat, beat the USA to win the America's Cup (Yachting), the world's oldest sporting trophy. |
| 1999 | A female protester dies of brain injuries after being run over in the picket line at Lyttelton Harbour. |
| 2000 | New Zealand successfully defends the Amercica's Cup, making NZ the only country to do so outside of the US. |