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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
- April 5, 1844
- Frederick Tuckett and a party including surveyors, land at Lyttelton from the “Deborah” looking for a suitable site for a Scottish settlement in the South Island. They subsequently got lost in the swamps, so it is not surprising that their eventual choice was Otago, not Canterbury.
- April 5, 1985
- Visit by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
- April 6, 1982
- Premiere of "Roadshow" road safety stage show. The show was later taken on a national tour for 6 months from February 1983. It played to a total audience of over 250,000, probably the biggest of any New Zealand musical show.
- April 7, 1859
- Canterbury Rifles organised - the first military force in the Province. It was formed as a result of the Taranaki land wars.
- April 8, 1865
- First issue of ”Punch in Canterbury“. It was modelled on the English magazine, but did not survive for long.
- April 8, 1883
- First shipment of frozen "Canterbury lamb" leaves Lyttelton for the United Kingdom on the "British King".
- April 8, 1959
- Billy Graham crusade draws 50,000 to Lancaster Park.
- April 9, 1934
- Visit by George Bernard Shaw. He gave a nationwide radio broadcast from his civic reception in Christchurch.
- April 10-12, 1981
- Visit by Prince of Wales.
- April 10, 1882
- Joubert and Twopenny’s New Zealand International Exhibition opens in South Hagley Park. The exhibition, complete with an educated pig and an armless lady drew a total attendance of over 250,000 until it closed on July 15.
- April 10, 1965
- Airport becomes New Zealand’s first jet airport with the inauguration of the first regular jet flights from Christchurch to Australia.
