This is a timeline of the

history of New Zealand The human history of New Zealand can be dated back to between 1320 and 1350 CE, when the main settlement period started, after it was discovered and settled by Polynesians, who developed a distinct Māori culture. Like other Pacific cultures, M ...

's involvement with Antarctica.

Pre 1900s

;1838–1840 *French and American expeditions, led by

Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French List of explorers, explorer and French Navy, naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist an ...

and

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and List of explorers, explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865 ...

. John Sac, a Māori travelling with Wilkes, becomes the first New Zealander to cross the Antarctic Circle. p. 72. ;1895 *New Zealander Alexander von Tunzelmann becomes the first person to set foot on Antarctica, at Cape Adare. p. 73. ;1899 *February British expedition led by Carsten Borchgrevink, including several New Zealanders, establishes first base in Antarctica, at Cape Adare. This expedition becomes the first to winter over on the continent.

1900s

;1902 * Scott Island (formerly ''Markham Island'') was discovered and landed upon by William Colbeck.

1910s

;1910 *

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott (6 June 1868 – ) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova Expedition ...

leaves for Antarctica from

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers () is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The or ...

. Scott's party later died on the return journey after being delayed by a blizzard. ;1911–1914 *Four New Zealanders (H Hamilton, AJ Sawyer, EN Webb, and LA Webber) are members of

Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was a British-born Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...

's Australian Antarctic expedition. p. 74.

1920s

;1923 *

Ross Dependency The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a circular sector, sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160th meridian east, 160° east to 150th meridian west, 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60th para ...

proclaimed on 30 July as a British Territory entrusted to New Zealand. ;1928 *

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Rear Admiral

Richard Evelyn Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer, and pioneering aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader cr ...

leaves

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

for the first sea-air exploration expedition to the Antarctic. Byrd overflew the South Pole with pilot Bernt Balchen on 28 and 29 November 1929, to match his overflight of the North Pole in 1926. ;1929 *Combined UK-Australia-NZ expedition led by

; New Zealand members include RA Falla and RG Simmers. p. 75.

1930s

;1933 * New Zealand Antarctic Society founded.

1940s

;1946 *New Zealand joins the

International Whaling Commission The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation ...

to help oversee whaling in the southern ocean. ;1949 *First publication of New Zealand Antarctic Society quarterly journal, ''

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

1950s

;1955 *In August, The New Zealand Government decide to establish an Antarctic base as part of its contribution to

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...

(1957–58). pp. 75–76. ;1956 *

McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is ...

established; construction of both Scott Base and

Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is a science and technology in the United States, United States scientific research station at the South Pole of the Earth. It is the List of extreme points of the United States, southernmost point under ...

started. ;1957 *20 January Scott Base established in

. *

New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition The New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (NZGSAE) describes a series of scientific explorations of the continent Antarctica. The expeditions were notably active throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Features named by the expeditions 19 ...

(NZGSAE) of 1957–58; named the Borchgrevink Glacier. * Hallett Station South of Cape Adare is established as a joint New Zealand-United States operation. p. 76. * Bill Cranfield, John Claydon, and a New Zealand scientist arrived at the South Pole by air aboard a US Navy airplane; ;1958 *4 January

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineering, mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa people, Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the Timeline of M ...

, leading an expedition using farm tractors equipped for polar travel, arrives at the Pole, the first expedition since Scott's to reach the South Pole over land; part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Hillary was the first New Zealander to reach the South Pole overland. *

(NZGSAE) of 1958–59; named the Mountaineer Range. *United States ''

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze is the code name for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There was an init ...

'' starts, based in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. ;1959 *1 December

Antarctic Treaty The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of A ...

signed with other countries involved in scientific exploration in Antarctica. *New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) established an Antarctic Division.

1960s

;1964 *January Walter Nash becomes the first

Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023. The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...

to visit Antarctica. * Hallett Station destroyed by fire. It is not rebuilt but is used as a summer-only base until 1973. ;1965 *The first flight from New Zealand to Antarctica made by a Royal New Zealand Air Force C130 (Hercules) aircraft ;1968 * Marie Darby becomes first New Zealand woman to visit the Antarctic ;1969 *

(NZGSAE) of 1969–70; visited the Scott Glacier and named Marble Peak and Surprise Spur. *12 November South Pole visited for the first time by women – four Americans, an Australian, and New Zealander Pamela Young * Vanda Station staffed for the first time

1970s

;1970 * Antarctic Amendment Act comes into force. ;1972–1974 *First solo voyage to Antarctica, by New Zealand-born yachtsman and author David Lewis p. 77. ;1974 *December Joint NZ-France expedition makes first ascent, and descent into crater, of Mount Erebus. *Antarctic Museum Centre opened at Canterbury Museum in

. ;1975 *Prime Minister

Bill Rowling Sir Wallace Edward Rowling (; 15 November 1927 – 31 October 1995), commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the Leader of the New Zealand ...

had a formal proposal made at the Oslo Meeting for Antarctic to be declared a World Park. ;1976 * Thelma Rodgers, of New Zealand's DSIR, becomes the first woman to winter over on Antarctica. ;1977 *New Zealand proclaims

Exclusive Economic Zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

of 200 nautical miles (370 km), which provides for the zone to also include Ross Dependency's waters. ;1978 *21st Anniversary of Scott Base ;1979 * The Mount Erebus disaster: an

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 28 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily within the Pacific Rim. The airline h ...

DC-10 crashes and 257 people die.

1980s

;1980 *New Zealand is signatory to the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, which comes into effect in 1982. ;1982 *20 January Rob Muldoon becomes the first sitting

to visit Antarctica. *June Antarctic Treaty nations meet in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

to discuss the exploitation of Antarctica's minerals. ;1987 *Closure of Scott Base Post Office (reopened in 1994)

1990s

;1995 *Closure of Vanda Station ;1996 * Antarctica New Zealand established on 1 July to manage the Government's interest in Antarctica.

2000s

;2006 * October (to January 2007): New Zealanders Kevin Biggar and Jamie Fitzgerald become the first people to walk to the South Pole without the aid of any supply dumps. Their plan to parasail back is abandoned. ;2007 *Prime Minister

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

and Sir

(aged 87) travel with an official party to Scott Base to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its founding. * 4 June First New Zealand Antarctic Medal (NZAM) awarded to geophysicist Dr Fred Davey.

References

External links

Antarctica New Zealand website

New Zealand Antarctic Society

{{New Zealand topics New Zealand and the Antarctic History of Antarctica

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

Regional timelines History of the Ross Dependency