New Zealand Timeline

Travel through our timeline of major events in New Zealand's history.

600 A.D. -1300 A.D.:
The first inhabitants of New Zealand, the Maori, arrive from eastern Polynesia.

1642:
Dutch sailor Abel Janszoon Tasman becomes the first European to reach New Zealand.

1769:
English explorer Captain James Cook makes the first of his three voyages to the islands. His journals inspire other Europeans to explore New Zealand.

1840:
The Maori sign the Treaty of Waitangi giving control to the British in exchange for protection and guaranteed Maori possession of their lands.

1860:
A decade of land wars begins between the Maoris and European settlers.

1861:
Gold is discovered in Tuapeka. This leads to a gold rush.

1893:
New Zealand becomes the first country to give women the right to vote.

1907:
The country becomes a dominion, or self-governing community, within the British empire.

1947:
New Zealand gains independence from Great Britain.

1953:
New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary becomes the first person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.

1985:
New Zealand no longer allows U.S. nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships to enter its ports. French secret service agents blow up a Greenpeace ship called Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbor.

1987:
New Zealand hosts and wins the inaugural Rugby World Cup.

1997:
Jennifer Shipley becomes the country's first female prime minister.

2005:
Prime Minister Helen Clark wins her third election.