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

March 5, 1863: Samuel Bealey elected third Superintendent of Canterbury.
March 6, 1856: Riccarton race course established.
March 6, 1914: First point to point flight in Canterbury by J. W. H. Scotland from Timaru to Christchurch. In the same year, Scotland had the dubious privilege of becoming the first pilot to crash in New Zealand.
March 6, 1989: Visit by Princess Anne, the Princess Royal.
March 7-8, 1964: Air exposition at airport marks opening of runway extensions (to 2400 metres) and 50th anniversary of Scotland’s Timaru to Christchurch flight.
March 7, 1925: Cholmondeley Home for children (a gift of Hugh Heber Cholmondeley) opens at Governors Bay.
March 8, 1958: Christchurch athlete Marise Chamberlain breaks world record for 440 yards.
March 9, 1880: First steam trams begin operation from Cathedral Square to the railway station.
March 9, 1963: Concerts by jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong.
March 9, 1968: Second Pan-Pacific Arts Festival opens.
March 10, 1907: Foundation stone laid for the Cashmere sanitorium. Poet James K. Baxter was an undistinguished employee in the 1940s.
March 11, 1899: Railway accident at Rakaia kills 4 and injures 22. The 2 trains which collided were crowded with Islington freezing workers returning from an excursion. The accident led to dramatic immprovements in railway signals, braking systems and safety equipment.