2015 The All Blacks win the Rugby World Cup

Rugby union - almost universally referred to as rugby in New Zealand - was introduced to New Zealand by Charles Monro in 1870. The first recorded game in New Zealand took place in May 1870 in Nelson between the Nelson club and Nelson College. The first provincial union, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, was formed in 1879, and in 1882 New Zealand's first internationals were played when New South Wales toured the country. The team entered the 2015 Rugby World Cup and they defeated France 62-13 in the Quarter-Final, South Africa 20-18 in the Semi-Final and Australia 34-17 in the Final to become the first nation to retain their World Champion title and the first to win the Rugby World Cup three times (the only team to ever win the tournament twice in a row).

2011 Christchurch earthquakes

On Saturday 4 September 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Christchurch. It caused widespread damage to the city and minor injuries, but no direct fatalities. Nearly six months later on Tuesday 22 February 2011, a second earthquake measuring magnitude 6.3 struck the city. The intensity and violence of the ground shaking was measured to be among the strongest ever recorded globally in an urban area and in total 185 people were killed. On 13 June 2011 Christchurch was hit by two more large aftershocks. A magnitude 5.6 quake followed by another quake at magnitude 6.3. There were no fatalities though it resulted in further liquefaction and building damage. Christchurch was again rattled awake on 2 January 2012. 4,558 earthquakes were recorded in the Canterbury region above a magnitude 3.0, from 4 September 2010 to 3 September 2014.

2010 Pike River mine explosion

The Pike River Mine disaster was a coal mining accident that began on 19 November 2010 in the Pike River Mine, 46 kilometres (29 mi) northeast of Greymouth, in the West Coast Region of New Zealand's South Island. At the time of the explosion 31 miners and contractors were present in the mine. Two miners managed to walk from the mine, the remaining 16 miners and 13 contractors, were believed to be at least 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) from the mine's entrance. The Pike River Mine incident ranks as New Zealand's worst mining disaster since 1914, when 43 men died at Ralph's Mine in Huntly. 

2009 First confirmed case in the 2009 swine flu outbreak

The 2009 flu pandemic or swine flu was an influenza pandemic, and the second of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus (the first of them being the 1918 flu pandemic), albeit in a new version. First described in April 2009, the virus appeared to be a new strain of H1N1 which resulted when a previous triple reassortment of bird, swine and human flu viruses further combined with a Eurasian pig flu virus, leading to the term "swine flu".

2002 The population of Canterbury reaches half a million

Canterbury is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of 44,508 square kilometres (17,185 sq mi), and is home to a population of 586,500 (June 2015 estimate). Christchurch, the South Island's largest city and the country's third-largest urban area, is the seat of the region and home to 65 percent of the region's population. Canterbury is served by 292 primary and secondary schools educating around 94,000 students from ages 5 to 18. Canterbury has two universities: the University of Canterbury located in western Christchurch, and Lincoln University located in Lincoln.

1997 Auckland's Sky Tower is opened

The Sky Tower is an observation and telecommunications tower located at the corner of Victoria and Federal Streets in Auckland City, New Zealand. It is 328 metres (1,076 ft) tall, as measured from ground level to the top of the mast, making it the tallest man-made structure in the Southern Hemisphere and the 25th tallest tower in the world. The tower is designed to withstand wind in excess of 200 km/h (120 mph) and designed to sway up to 1 metre (39 in) in excessively high winds. The Sky Tower is built to withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake located within a 20-kilometre (12 mi) radius.

1995 Team New Zealand wins America's Cup

The America's Cup, affectionately known as the "Auld Mug", is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two sailing yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging for the cup. In 1995, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron syndicate Team New Zealand, skippered by Russell Coutts, first won the challenger series in NZL 32, dubbed "Black Magic" because of her black hull and uncanny speed. The America's Cup is the oldest international sporting trophy.