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Dateline
950 Estimated date of first New Zealand landfall by Maori.
Mid-1300s First major influx of Maori settlers.
1642 Abel Tasman of the Dutch East India Company becomes first European to sight the South Island.
1769 Capt. James Cook begins 6-month mapping of North and South Islands.
1773 Cook's second visit to New Zealand.
1777 Cook's third and final visit to New Zealand.
1792 First sealers and whalers arrive in New Zealand waters.
1814 First Christian missionary, Rev. Samuel Marsden, arrives in Bay of Islands.
1833 James Busby is named as "British Resident" under jurisdiction of New South Wales.
1839-43 New Zealand Company sends 57 ships out of England carrying 19,000 settlers.
1840 Treaty of Waitangi with Maori chiefs is signed in Bay of Islands.
1844 Maori Chief Hone Heke chops down British flagpole in Bay of Islands, beginning a 20-year revolt centered on land rights.
1852 New Zealand Constitution Act is passed by British Parliament.
1860s Discovery of gold on South Island's west coast and North Island's east coast, creating several boomtowns.
1860-81 Second Maori War over land rights.
1882 Refrigeration is introduced; first shipment of lamb to England.
1893 Voting rights are extended to women.
1914-18 100,000 New Zealanders join Australia-New Zealand Army Corps to fight in World War I; New Zealand loses more soldiers per capita than any other nation.
1939 New Zealand enters World War II.
1947 Statute of Westminster is adopted by government; New Zealand gains full independence from Britain.
1951 New Zealand ratifies Australia-New Zealand-United States (ANZUS) mutual security pact.
1960s New Zealand begins monitoring radioactivity in region as France accelerates nuclear testing in its Polynesian possessions.
1965 New Zealand troops are sent to Vietnam.
1973 Britain joins European Economic Community (Common Market), with subsequent disastrous reduction in imports from New Zealand.
1981 A tour by the South African rugby team causes violent protest in New Zealand.
1982 As a move against deep economic recession, New Zealand signs Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement with Australia.
1984 Labour Government begins comprehensive reform and deregulation of New Zealand's economy.
1985 All nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered vessels are banned from New Zealand ports; Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior is sunk by French intelligence agents in Auckland harbor, killing a crew member.
1986 New Zealand competes in the America's Cup races for the first time.
1987 The New Zealand yacht KZ7 wins the World Championship in Sardinia; at home, the Sharemarket crashes.
1990 New Zealand hosts the Commonwealth Games, and the visit of Elizabeth II adds to the festivities commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of Waitangi.
1991 Relations between the United States and New Zealand, strained by the 1985 antinuclear ban, begin to thaw.
1993 New Zealand celebrates 100 years of female suffrage.
1994 The decade of belt-tightening starts to pay off, and New Zealand's economy is declared one of the world's most competitive; South African rugby team tours New Zealand without protest.
1995 Team New Zealand wins the America's Cup; Mount Ruapehu erupts for the first time in 8 years; New Zealand's population reaches 3.5 million; economic growth continues.
1996 Mount Ruapehu erupts again. Ash clouds disrupt air travel throughout much of the country.
1997 Maoris demand return of Crown lands; racial tensions increase. Maori activist damages the America's Cup.
1998 The first coalition government formed in 1996 between the National Party and New Zealand dissolves, but National maintains the balance of power.
1999 New Zealand hosts the first stages of the America's Cup Challenge and makes lavish preparations to celebrate the dawning of the new millennium on January 1, 2000. Parliamentary elections are held.
2000 Gisborne is the first city in the world to see the rising sun of the new millennium. The final challenge of the America's Cup is held in Auckland; New Zealand wins again and the city goes on to host the World Power Boat Championships.
2001 The New Zealand Government gives the go-ahead for strictly controlled genetic modification research. Legendary sailor and environmentalist Peter Blake, who led New Zealand to the America's Cup championship in 1995 and 2000, is killed aboard his ship by pirates in the Amazon.
2002 Auckland once again hosts the America's Cup Challenge.
2003 Homage is paid to Sir Edmund Hillary on the 50th anniversary of his ascent of Mount Everest.
* 2004 New Zealand film director Peter Jackson wins big at the Oscars for the third film of his trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
2005 New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell wins the U.S. Open Golf Championship.
2006 New Zealand's population passes the 4 million mark.
2007 The Emirates New Zealand yachting team loses race against Swiss team Alinghi in the finals of the 2007 America's Cup Challenge in Valencia.
2008 New Zealand hero Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mount Everest, dies. Hillary, who climbed the world's highest mountain in 1953 with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, was considered by many to be the most famous New Zealander ever. Hillary later founded a charity that built schools, hospitals, and provided educational assistance to the people of Nepal.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
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