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The Story of

New Zealand

26000 BCE – 2021

Island country in the southwest Pacific Ocean

  1. Tet Offensive

    30 January 1968 – 23 September 1968

    The Tet Offensive was both a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong (VC) launched a surprise attack on 30 and 31 January 1968 against the forces of the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), the United States Armed Forces and their allies, targeting military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam.

  2. 1968 Inangahua earthquake

    23 May 1968

    The 1968 Inangahua earthquake struck 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Murchison, New Zealand, near the small town of Inangahua Junction at 5:24 am NZDT on 24 May 1968. The earthquake had a moment magnitude of 7.1, a local magnitude of 6.7, a surface-wave magnitude of 7.4 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme).

  3. Vietnam War

    30 April 1975

    The Vietnam War (c. 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations.

  4. 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake

    2 March 1987

    The 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake measured 6.5 on the moment magnitude scale and struck the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand at 1.42 pm on 2 March. The hypocentre was at a shallow depth of 8 km.

  5. Aramoana massacre

    14 November 1990

    The Aramoana massacre was a mass shooting that occurred on 13 November 1990 in the small seaside township of Aramoana, northeast of Dunedin, New Zealand. Resident David Gray killed 13 people, including local police Sergeant Stewart Guthrie, one of the first responders to the reports of a shooting, after a verbal dispute between Gray and his next-door neighbour.

  6. Ansett New Zealand Flight 703

    9 June 1995

    Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 was a scheduled flight from Auckland to Palmerston North. On 9 June 1995, the de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 aircraft crashed into the Tararua Range on approach to Palmerston North.

  7. Iraq War

    20 March 2003 – 15 December 2011

    The Iraq War (Arabic: حرب العراق, romanized: ḥarb al-ʿirāq), also referred to as the Second Gulf War (Gulf War II), was a protracted armed conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2011. It began in March 2003 with the invasion by a United States–led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein.

  8. 2007 Gisborne earthquake

    20 December 2007

    The 2007 Gisborne earthquake occurred under the Pacific Ocean about 50 kilometres (31 mi) off the eastern coast of New Zealand's North Island at 8:55 pm NZDT on 20 December. With a moment magnitude of 6.7 and maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very Strong), the tremor affected the city of Gisborne and was felt widely throughout the country, from Auckland in the north to Dunedin in the south.

  9. 2009 Fiordland earthquake

    15 July 2009

    A Mw 7.8 earthquake struck a remote region of Fiordland, New Zealand, on 15 July 2009 at 21:22 local time (09:22 UTC). It had an initially–reported depth of 12 km (7.5 mi), and an epicentre near Dusky Sound in Fiordland National Park, which is 160 km (99 mi) north-west of Invercargill.

  10. New Zealand flag debate

    2010s

    The New Zealand flag debate is a question over whether the national flag of New Zealand should be changed. For several decades, alternative designs have been proposed, with varying degrees of support.

  11. 2010 Canterbury earthquake

    3 September 2010

    The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Darfield earthquake) struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude of 7.1 at 4:35 am local time on 4 September, and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Some damaging aftershocks followed the main event, the strongest of which was a magnitude 6.3 shock known as the Christchurch earthquake that occurred nearly six months later on 22 February 2011.

  12. February 2011 Christchurch earthquake

    22 February 2011

    A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February).

  13. June 2011 Christchurch earthquake

    13 June 2011

    The June 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a shallow magnitude 6.0 Mw earthquake that occurred on 13 June 2011 at 14:20 NZST (02:20 UTC). It was centred at a depth of 7 km (4.3 mi), about 5 km (3 mi) south-east of Christchurch, which had previously been devastated by a magnitude 6.2 MW earthquake in February 2011.

  14. 2015–2016 New Zealand flag referendums

    11 December 2015

    Two referendums were held by the New Zealand Government in November/December 2015 and March 2016 to determine the nation's flag. In the first referendum, voters chose their favourite alternative flag design.

  15. 2016 North Canterbury earthquake

    13 November 2016

    The 2016 Kaikōura earthquake was a Mw 7.8 earthquake in the South Island of New Zealand that occurred two minutes after midnight on 14 November 2016 NZDT (11:02 on 13 November UTC). Ruptures occurred on multiple faults and the earthquake has been described as the "most complex earthquake ever studied".

  16. Christchurch mosque shootings

    15 March 2019

    On 15 March 2019, two consecutive terrorist mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand. They were committed during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton at 1:40 p.m., and shortly afterwards at 1:52 p.m.

  17. COVID-19 pandemic

    1 December 2019

    The global COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It spread to other parts of Asia and then worldwide in early 2020.

  18. 2019 Whakaari / White Island eruption

    9 December 2019

    On 9 December 2019, Whakaari / White Island, an active stratovolcano island in New Zealand's northeastern Bay of Plenty region, explosively erupted. The island was a popular tourist destination, known for its volcanic activity, and 47 people were on the island at the time.

  19. 2021 Kermadec Islands earthquake

    5 March 2021

    The 2021 Kermadec Islands earthquakes were a series of earthquakes with magnitudes of 8.1 and 7.4 that occurred at 19:28:31 UTC on 4 March 2021. The epicentres were located southeast of Raoul Island in the Kermadec Islands, part of the New Zealand outlying islands.