1855 Earthquake strikes Wairarapa

Wairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is named after its largest lake, Lake Wairarapa. The name means "Glistening Waters", and is said to have been applied by an early Māori explorer, Huanui, who saw the rivers and lake from the mountains to the west. In 1855 the region was hit by the strongest earthquake recorded in New Zealand, which reached Magnitude 8.2 on the Richter Scale. There were five deaths. Noted for having the largest movement of a strike-slip earthquake in history, at 17 meters.

1834 United Tribes of New Zealand

The United Tribes of New Zealand was a loose confederation of Māori tribes based in the north of the North Island. The confederation was convened in 1834 by British Resident James Busby, who was anxious to set up a framework for trade between Māori and Europeans. The United Tribes declared their independence in 1835 with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In 1836, the British Crown under King William IV recognized the United Tribes and its flag.

1814 The first Christian service on land

Samuel Marsden (1765 - 1838) was an English born Anglican cleric and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand. He conducted the first Christian service on New Zealand soil during Christmas Day 1814. The service from the Church of England Book of Common Prayer was read in English but it is likely that, having learnt the language from the Maori chief Ruatara, Marsden preached his sermon in the Māori language.

1806 First Pākehā women arrive in New Zealand

Pākehā is a Māori language term for non-Maori or for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". Recently, the word has been used to refer inclusively either to fair-skinned persons or any non-Māori New Zealander. Papa'a has a similar meaning in Cook Islands Māori. Māori also used other terms such as tupua ("supernatural", "object of fear, strange being"), kehua("ghosts"), and maitai ("metal" or referring to persons "foreign") to refer to some of the earliest visitors.

1792 Group of sealers landed in Dusky Sound

Dusky Sound is a fiord on the southwest corner of New Zealand, in Fiordland National Park. It is believed that Māori occasionally camped by the sound's waters while hunting moa in pre-European times. The inlet was first sighted by Europeans and Captain Cook noted its entrance during his first voyage to New Zealand. He named it Dusky Bay. On his second expedition he spent two months exploring the sound, and used it as a harbour, establishing workshops and an observatory. It is believed his crew brewed the first beer in New Zealand during his stay. The sound has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it is a breeding site for Fiordland penguins.

1769 James Cook first visit

Captain James Cook (1728 - 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation (means to travel all the way around the entire planet, or an island, or continent) of New Zealand.

1642 Abel Tasman sights the South Island

Initially he called it Staten Landt and changed it a year later to Nieuw Zeeland. Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603 - 1659) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company. The South Island or Te Waipounamu is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. The North Island population overtook the South in the early 20th century, with 56 percent of the population living in the North in 1911, and the drift north of people and businesses continued throughout the century.

1601 Formation of classic iwi

Iwi (Māori pronunciation: [ˈiwi]) are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. The Māori language word iwi means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or a confederation of tribes. In Māori, as well as in many other Polynesian languages, iwi literally means "bone". Māori may refer to returning home after travelling or living elsewhere as "going back to the bones".

1576 Juan Fernández vs. New Zealand

Early historians claim that Juan Fernández was the first European to reach New Zealand. Juan Fernández was known to be a brilliant navigator. In 1574 he discovered the much faster route between Peru and Chile and was since known as the brujo del Pacífico or "wizard of the Pacific". In 1575 the governor of Cuyo, Juan Jufré, organized an expedition to Terra Australis under the command of Juan Fernandez. In the spring of 1576 they arrived in an island described as "mountainous, fertile, with strong-flowing rivers, inhabited by white peoples, and with all the fruits necessary to live". 

1450 Extinction of the moa

The moa, the order Dinornithiformes, were nine species (in six genera) of flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about 3.6 m (12 ft) in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about 230 kg (510 lb). They were placed in the ratite group, but were the only wingless birds, lacking even the vestigial wings which all other ratites have. When Polynesians settled New Zealand around CE 1280, the moa population was about 58,000.

1400 Development of pā

The word pā can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hill forts - fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces - and also to fortified villages. Pā are mainly in the North Island of New Zealand. Pā are located in various defensible locations around the territory of an iwi (means "people" or "nation") to protect fertile plantation sites and food supplies. Variations similar to pā are found throughout central Polynesia, in the islands of Fiji, Tonga and the Marquesas Islands.

1280 Initial settlement

Earliest archaeological sites provide evidence that initial settlement of New Zealand occurred around 1280 CE. The Māori originated with settlers from eastern Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages. Over several centuries in isolation, the Polynesian settlers developed a unique culture that became known as the "Māori", with their own language, a rich mythology, distinctive crafts and performing arts. Early Māori formed tribal groups, based on eastern Polynesian social customs and organisation. Horticulture flourished using plants they introduced, and later a prominent warrior culture emerged.