c. 1000AD Arrival of first Polynesians .

c.1350 Mythical arrival of the "Great Fleet" from Hawaiki.

1642 Dutchman Abel Tasman sails past the West Coast but doesn't land.

1769 Englishman James Cook circum-navigates both main islands and makes first constructive contact.

1772 French sailor Marion du Fresne and 26 of his men killed in the Bay of Islands.

1809 Whangaroa Maori attack the Boyd ; most of the crew killed.

1814 Arrival of Samuel Marsden , the first Christian missionary.

1830s Sealing and whaling stations dotted around the coast.

1833 James Busby installed as British Resident at Waitangi.

1835 Independence of the United Tribes of NZ proclaimed.

1840 Treaty of Waitangi signed; capital moved from Kororareka to Auckland.

1840s Cities of Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson, New Plymouth, Wanganui and Wellington all established.

1852 NZ becomes a self-governing colony divided into six provinces.

1858 Settlers outnumber Maori .

1860-65 Land Wars between pakeha and Maori.

1860s Major gold rushes in the South Island.

1865 Capital moved from Auckland to Wellington.

1867 Maori men given the vote.

1870s Wool established as the mainstay of the NZ economy.

1876 Abolition of provincial governments. Power centralized in Wellington.

1882 First refrigerated meat shipment to Europe. Lamb becomes increas-ingly important.

1890 NZ becomes "social laboratory" with introduction of compulsory arbitra-tion and graduated income tax.

1893 Full women's suffrage ; a world first.

1898 Old-age pension introduced.

1910s Rise of organized labour under the socialist Red Federation. Strikes at Blackball, Waihi and Auckland.

1914-18 NZ takes part in WWI with terrible loss of life.

1917 Temperance Movement gets pubs closed after 6pm. Only repealed in 1967.

1920s Initial prosperity evaporates as the Great Depression takes hold.

1935 M.J. Savage's Labour government ushers in the world's first Welfare State with free health service, family benefits, state housing and increased pensions.

1941 Bombing of Pearl Harbor and WWII begins NZ's military realignment with the Pacific region.

1947 New Zealand becomes fully independent from Britain.

1950 Parliament's upper house abol-ished.

1951 NZ joins ANZUS military pact with the US and Australia.

1950s NZ comfortable as one of the world's most prosperous nations.

1957-60 Infrastructure improvements: steel mill, oil refinery, and numerous hydro-electric power stations built or planned.

1960s Start of immigration from Pacific Islands . Major urbaniza-tion of Maori population.

1972-75 Third Labour government. NZ econ-omy struggles to cope with huge oil price hikes and Britain's entry into the Common Market.

1975 Waitangi Tribunal established to consider Maori land claims.

1975-84 National's Robert "Piggy" Muldoon tries to borrow NZ out of trouble, investing heavily in ill-considered petro-chemical projects.

1976 African nations boycott Montreal Olympics because of NZ's rugby contacts with South Africa.

1977 NZ signs Gleneagles Agreement banning sporting ties with South Africa.

1981 Springbok Tour . Massive protests as a racially selected South African rugby team tours NZ.

1983 NZ signs Closer Economic Relations (CER) Treaty with Australia.

1984 The "Hikoi" land march brings Maori grievances into political focus.

1984 Labour regains power under David Lange. Widespread privatization and deregulation of NZ's protectionist economy. Refusal to allow American nuclear warships into NZ ports severely strains US/NZ relations.

1985 French secret service agents bomb Greenpeace flagship the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour.

1987 New Zealand becomes a Nuclear-Free Zone .

1987 Stock market crash devastates NZ economy.

1990-96 Jim Bolger leads National govern-ment, pressing on with Labour's free-market reforms and further dismantling the welfare state.

1996 First MMP election returns an alliance of National and NZ First.

1997 Jenny Shipley ousts Bolger to become NZ's first woman Prime Minister.

1999 Labour regain power under Jenny Shipley in coalition with the Alliance and the Green Party. The Greens' Nandor Tanczos installed as NZ's first Rastafarian MP and Labour's Georgina Beyer becomes the world's first transgender MP