Christchurch: A Chronology to 1989

A timeline of some Christchurch events in chronological order from 1700s to 1989.

Go to a year between 1700 & 1989

May 6, 1939: New Municipal Electricity Department building opens.
May 7, 1917: Canterbury Aviation Company makes first flights from Sockburn Aerodrome, New Zealand’s first airport.
May 8, 1885: Strike in boot factories.
May 8, 1945: V.E. (Victory in Europe) day celebrations.
May 8, 1975: New Zealand’s first mini roundabout in operation at the corner of Riccarton Road and Deans Avenue.
May 8, 1981: Go-ahead given for National Sports Training Centre at Q.E.II Park.
May 8, 1987: Sir Neil Isaac, founder of Peacock Springs Conservation Park dies.
May 9, 1915: Christchurch tennis star (4 times Wimbledon champion) Captain A. F. Wilding killed in action in Belgium.
May 10, 1975: Ms Vicki Buck becomes the city’s (and New Zealand’s) youngest ever City Councillor at 19.
May 11, 1891: Sumner Borough formed.
May 11, 1908: Colosseum becomes the city’s first picture theatre. The building was claimed to have the largest wooden span in New Zealand. It had previously been a skating rink, a boot factory and a cab stand. See also 1932.
May 12, 1980: Visit by Mr Li Xiannian, Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China.