1928

February 11

Opening of St Georges private hospital.

March 17

Civic Theatre opens in Manchester Street. The theatre was built in the burned out shell of the old Alexandra Hall; part of the Canterbury Exhibition Hall. See 1900 and 1917.

June 20

Canterbury Aero Club formed. The first pilot trained by the club was a woman, Aroha Clifford. She may have been New Zealand’s first woman pilot.

September 11

Kingsford-Smith and his crew (Ulm, Litchfield and McWilliams) land at Wigram in "Southern Cross" after the first trans-Tasman flight. A crowd of 30,000, alerted by all-night radio broadcasts, had gathered at the airfield.

November 15

First performance by Canterbury Repertory Theatre Society, a production of "Milestones".

(no date)

First New Zealand speedway at English Park. The city has since produced 3 world champion riders - Ronnie Moore [1954,1959], Barry Briggs [1957,1958,1964,1966], and Ivan Mauger [1968,1969,1970,1972].

Mecca petrol station (possibly the country’s first) opens in Bealey Avenue outside the Carlton Hotel. It is now the Carlton Florist Shop.

Related

• Year by Year List
• Firsts, bests, worsts and lasts
• Sources
• About the Christchurch Chronology.