Discover your family’s history at our libraries
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
- January 28, 1851
- Fire destroys a large part of Riccarton (Deans) Bush.
- January 29, 1875
- Kaiapoi Woollen Mills founded.
- January 31, 1921
- New Zealand’s first regular airmail service begins between Christchurch, Ashburton and Timaru.
- February 2, 1960
- Burnside High School opens. For a long time it was the biggest high school in the Southern Hemisphere.
- February 2, 1974
- Commonwealth Games end with "the greatest middle distance race of all time". Tanzanian Filbert Bayi wins the 1500 metres in new world record time. Second was John Walker who also broke the existing record. The national records of five countries Tanzania, Kenya, Australia, Great Britian and New Zealand - were all broken in this race.
- February 2, 1982
- New central Public Library (designed by Warren and Mahoney) opens in Gloucester Street.
- February 3, 1915
- Canterbury Battalion sustains New Zealand’s first casualties of W.W.I at Suez Canal.
- February 3, 1962
- Peter Snell sets new world records for the half mile and 800 metres at Lancaster Park.
