New Zealand was settled after work on Notre-Dame had begun.
The cathedral's first stone was laid in 1163; Polynesians arrived around 1250–1300, making it the last large landmass people reached.
The events
- Polynesians settle New Zealandc. 1280 · Aotearoa. East Polynesian voyagers in canoes reached New Zealand, the last major landmass to be settled by humans. Their descendants created Māori culture; one of the oldest settlements has been found at Wairau Bar.
- Notre-Dame de Paris begun1163–1345 · Paris. The first stone of Notre-Dame de Paris was laid in 1163 under Bishop Maurice de Sully. Construction lasted nearly two centuries and was completed around 1345.
More amazing facts
- 1147 · 1150 Moscow is first mentioned in a chronicle in 1147 — around the time Angkor Wat was being completed in Cambodia.
- 1147 Moscow first appears in the chronicles as the venue for a feast.
- 1150 The first known reference to hops as a beer preservative is thought to come from a nun: Hildegard of Bingen, in her 12th-century book on healing plants.
- 1150 · 1780 In the 12th century Cahokia on the Mississippi was as populous as London or Paris of the day. It remained the largest city in what is now the US until the 1780s, when Philadelphia passed 40,000.
- 1154 · 1295 Marco Polo did not bring pasta back from China.
- 1163 · 1185 When Prince Igor marched against the Polovtsians in 1185, Notre-Dame had been under construction for 22 years.