16 December 1864
149 years ago the foundation stone was laid for ChristChurch Cathedral. The weather was atrocious.
20 December 1955
First Antarctic flights by USN Operation Deep Freeze from Christchurch. Browse our page on Antarctica and its Christchurch connections.
21 December 1877
New Christchurch railway station opens.
22 December 1885
Statue of William Moorhouse unveiled in the Botanic Gardens.
chronological order from pre-European times to 1989.
More December events in our Christchurch chronology.
Christchurch City Libraries Blog 
Oh, didn’t we have a fancy railway station?