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A timeline of some Christchurch events in chronological order from 1700s to 1989.
Go to a year between 1700 & 1989
Begin at the beginning 
This week in history
- May 22-25, 1988
- Snow falls in Central City for first time in 10 years .
- May 22, 1868
- William Rolleston becomes the fourth (and last) Superintendent of Canterbury. The 4 superintendents have been remembered in the names of the city’s "four avenues", previously called the Town Belts.
- May 22, 1989
- First significant rainfall in 22 months breaks drought in Canterbury.
- May 23, 1861
- Fire destroys brewery and shops in Cashel Street.
- May 23, 1960
- Tsunami (tidal wave) causes water level range of nearly 6 metres in 2 hours at Lyttelton.
- May 23, 1968
- Visit by Duke of Edinburgh.
- May 24, 1940
- Centennial music festival presents 10 days of music to large audiences. This was the New Zealand Centennial. For Christchurch Centennial see 1950.
- May 25, 1861
- “Christchurch Press” appears. The first editor was ex-Superintendent James FitzGerald, a bitter opponent of the proposed Lyttelton-Christchurch railway tunnel. He and supporters began the paper to air their views.
- May 25, 1903
- Statue of Queen Victoria unveiled in Market Square, and the area is renamed Victoria Square.
- May 25, 1966
- Steering committe set up to plan Ferrymead Historic Park.
- May 25, 1969
- First pair of one-way streets (Lichfield and St Asaph Streets) in operation. With traffic signals eventually controlled by a computer, this was the beginning of New Zealand’s first area traffic control scheme.
- May 26, 1859
- Public Library begins as the Mechanics Institute in Town Hall.
- May 26, 1906
- Statue of William Rolleston (outside the Canterbury Museum) unveiled.
- May 27, 1949
- New Zealand’s first commercial aerial topdressing on Banks Peninsula.
- May 27, 1986
- Court Theatre’s 15th anniversary celebrated with two week season of Steven Sondheim’s play "Sweeney Todd" in James Hay Theatre.
- May 28, 1840
- Major Bunbury on HMS “Herald” visits Akaroa collecting signatures of Maori chiefs for the Treaty of Waitangi.
- May 28, 1866
- George Dobson (brother of Arthur Dudley Dobson) murdered by the Burgess and Kelly gang in the Southern Alps. The gang mistook him for a gold courier.
- May 28, 1955
- First parking meters installed.
- May 28, 1983
- Visit of Professor Zhu Xuanren, Vice Governor, Gansu Province China.
