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Historic NZ events in June
Jun
1960 NZ's first official TV broadcast
Broadcast from Shortland Street in central Auckland, New Zealand's first official television transmission began at 7.30 p.m. The first night's programming lasted just three hours and could only be seen in Auckland.
more...Jun
1917 NZ steamer captured by the Wolf
The steamer Wairuna, en route from Auckland to San Francisco, was captured by the German raider Wolf and later sunk near the Kermadec Islands. The crew of 42 was taken prisoner.
more...
1970 Motor racing driver Bruce McLaren killed
Bruce McLaren was killed while testing one of his Can-Am series cars on the Goodwin circuit near Chichester, England. He had been one of New Zealand's most successful Formula One Grand Prix racers. more...
Jun
1936 Colin 'Pinetree' Meads born
The legendary All Black lock was a physically tough, uncompromising player. Rugby writer Lindsay Knight described Colin Meads as New Zealand's equivalent of Australia's Sir Donald Bradman or American Babe Ruth as a sporting legend.
more...Jun
1943 Rail tragedy at Hyde
The Cromwell-Dunedin express, travelling at speed, derailed at Hyde, killing 21 people and injuring 47. The driver was later found guilty of manslaughter.
more...Jun
1866 Te Kooti deported to Chathams
The East Coast military leader and prophet was deported with Pai Marire prisoners to the Chatham Islands. He had been accused of spying for the enemy while fighting with government troops.
more...Jun
1823 Wesleyan mission established
Samuel Leigh and William White established Wesleydale, a Wesleyan (Methodist) mission station at Kaeo. Leigh was friendly with Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society and the two missions worked closely together.
more...Jun
1917 The Battle of Messines
The Battle of Messines was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, better known as Passchendaele. New Zealanders played a prominent role in this successful action but paid a heavy price: 3700 casualties, including 700 dead. more...
Links
- New Zealand goes to war - First World War overview
- The battle for Messines
- On the Western Front - Maori and the First World War
- Samuel Frickleton
- First World War timeline
- First World War cemeteries map - Western Europe, UK and Ireland
- Battle of Messines (Wikipedia)
- Battle of Messines (First World War.com)
1940 Fighter ace Edgar ‘Cobber’ Kain killed
Known to others as ‘Killer Kain’, the Hastings-born pilot had become a household name in Britain due to his exploits flying Hurricanes for the RAF’s No. 73 Squadron in the opening year of the Second World War. more...
1976 McDonald's arrives in NZ
The Golden Arches appeared for the first time in New Zealand at Cobham Court, Porirua. Within 20 years the American fast-food giant would have 100 outlets around the country.
more...Jun
1987 New Zealand becomes nuclear free
The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act was passed into law, establishing this country as a nuclear and biological weapon-free zone
more...Links
- Nuclear-free legislation - nuclear-free New Zealand
- Overview - NZ and the Cold War
- David Lange
- Last decade - NZ and the Cold War
- Last decade - New Zealand and the Cold War
- Legal challenges to nuclear weapons (Disarmament and security centre)
- David Lange obituary (NZ Herald)
- Nuclear free protesters (Timeframes)
Jun
1868 Titokowaru's war begins
Three settlers were killed near Ketemarae, Hawera, by Nga Ruahine warriors acting on the spiritual leader's orders. The deaths marked a change in strategy in the response to the confiscation of Maori land.
more...Links
- Riwha Titokowaru
- Prophets and colonists - New Zealand Wars
- Normanby NZ Wars memorial
- Waihi NZ Wars memorial cairn
- John Ballance
- The war begins - Tītokowaru's war
- George Whitmore
- Titokowaru's War (New Zealand Wars)
- Cowan's New Zealand Wars (NZETC)
- Titokowaru biography (DNZB)
- Titokowaru biography (1966 encyclopaedia)
- Ngati Ruanui: A new order emerges (Te Ara)
Jun
1886 Eruption of Mt Tarawera
The eruption lasted six hours and caused massive destruction. Several villages were destroyed, along with the famous silica hot springs known as the Pink and White Terraces. Around 120 people, mainly Maori, lost their lives more...
Links
- Scenery preservation in New Zealand
- New Zealand disasters timeline
- The Pink Terraces
- The White Terraces
- The eruption of Mt Tarawera - roadside stories
- Mt Tarawera (Chch City Libraries)
- Painting of the eruption (Timeframes)
- The Tarawera eruption (Te Ara)
- Historic volcanic activity (Te Ara)
- Disasters and mishaps (1966 encyclopaedia)
- Tarawera phantom canoe (1966 encyclopaedia)
- Memorial to Edwin Bainbridge (Flickr)
- Tarawera doco (NZOnScreen)
- White Terraces rediscovered (GNSscience video)
1906 Death of Richard Seddon
Known as 'King Dick', Seddon had dominated New Zealand politics since the early 1890s. His Liberal government is widely credited with establishing the tradition of state-supported welfare in this country.
more...Jun
1901 Cornwall Park gifted to Auckland
At a civic reception for the visiting Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, Mayor John Logan Campbell handed over the deed to land around One Tree Hill. The new park was named in honour of the royals.
more...Jun
1942 First US troops arrive in Auckland
Between 1942 and 1944 about 100,000 American servicemen were stationed in New Zealand, in support of the Allies' counter-offensive against Japan. This American ‘invasion’ led to a considerable clash of cultures.
more...Jun
1866 Murder on the Maungatapu track
Having killed George Dobson a fortnight earlier, and a prospector the day before, the Burgess gang continued their killing spree on the track between Canvastown and Nelson. Four men were ambushed and murdered in a crime that stunned the colony.
more...Links
- The Maungatapu murders
- New Zealand crime timeline
- Maungatapu Murders (Crime NZ)
- Letter from George Dobson (Archives NZ Christchurch)
- Former Provincial Buildings Fire Engine House (Historic Places Trust)
- Richard Burgess biography (DNZB)
- Maungatapu mountain killings (1966 encyclopaedia)
- Philip Levy biography (1966 encyclopaedia)
- Joseph Sullivan biography (1966 encyclopaedia)
Jun
1984 Muldoon calls snap election
Prime Minister Robert Muldoon surprisingly announced a snap election for 14 July. He hoped to catch the opposition Labour Party under-prepared, but the gamble backfired and National suffered a heavy defeat. more...
Jun
1935 Lovelock wins ‘Mile of the century’
In June 1935 Lovelock returned to Princeton – the scene of his 1933 world record – to compete against the top American milers in what the media later dubbed the ‘Mile of the Century’
more...
1959 Chinese gooseberry becomes kiwifruit
The prominent produce company Turners and Growers announced that they would from now on export the Chinese gooseberry under the name 'kiwifruit'. First grown here in 1906, kiwifruit are now grown worldwide, with New Zealand-grown fruit marketed as 'Zespri'.
more...Jun
1923 Baby-farmer Daniel Cooper hanged
A generation after the execution of the infamous Minnie Dean, the murder trial of Daniel and Martha Cooper revealed that 'baby farming' was still considered a solution to the problem of unwanted children in 1920s New Zealand.
more...Jun
1843 The Wairau incident
Also known as the ‘Wairau Affray’ and ‘Wairau Massacre’, this was the first serious clash of arms between Maori and British settlers after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Four Maori and 22 Europeans were killed.
more...Jun
1895 Minnie Dean goes on trial
Minnie Dean's trial for murdering a baby placed in her care began at the Invercargill Supreme Court. The 'Winton baby-farmer' was found guilty three days later and hanged on 12 August.
more...Jun
1940 Niagara sunk by German mines off Northland
The Second World War arrived in New Zealand with a bang when the trans-Pacific liner Niagara was sunk by a German mine off the Northland coast. All 349 people on board were rescued.
more...Jun
1987 All Blacks win the first World Cup
With Michael Jones, John Kirwan and captain David Kirk scoring tries, the All Blacks defeated France 29-9 at Eden Park, Auckland. Kirk became the first All Black captain to lift the Webb Ellis Cup.
more...
1943 US Navy tragedy at Paekākāriki
Ten United States Navy personnel were drowned off the Paekākāriki coast near Wellington during a beach landing exercise. more...
Jun
1964 The Beatles land in NZ
Beatlemania hit New Zealand when 7000 hysterical fans greeted the Fab Four in Wellington during their 'Far East' tour.
more...Jun
1954 Parker-Hulme murder in Christchurch
Armed with a brick in a stocking, 16-year-old Pauline Parker and her best friend Juliet Hulme, 15, became two of New Zealand's most notorious murderesses when they killed Pauline's mother, Honora, in Victoria Park, Christchurch.
more...Jun
1973 World court condemns French nuclear tests
The International Court of Justice's ruling was part of New Zealand's long campaign to end French nuclear testing in the Pacific. The French ignored the court's injunction to cease testing.
more...Jun
1905 New Zealand Truth hits the newstands
Truth prided itself on being 'the champion of the little person and the scourge of corruption and scandal in high places'. At its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, one in two New Zealand households bought the paper.
more...Jun
1860 Death of the first Maori King
The Maori King movement came into existence in the late 1850s as an attempt to unite the tribes, prevent land sales and make laws for Maori to follow. Potatau Te Wherowhero became the first Maori King in 1858, but died two years later.
more...Links
Jun
1918 Wimmera sunk by German mine
The steamer Wimmera, bound from Auckland to Sydney, struck a mine laid the year before by the German raider Wolf north of Cape Maria van Diemen. Twenty-six of its 151 passengers and crew were lost.
more...Jun
1975 Mark Williams hits No. 1
'Yesterday Was Just the Beginning of My Life' topped the New Zealand music charts for three weeks. Williams successfully combined soul and pop with an image that merged glam rock with disco.
more...Jun
1973 HMNZS Otago sails for Mururoa test zone
Prime Minister Norman Kirk told the crew of the Otago that by sailing to France's nuclear testing area they would act as a 'silent witness with the power to bring alive the conscience of the world'.
more...Links
- Nuclear testing in the Pacific - nuclear-free New Zealand
- Norman Kirk
- Results of Tests (NZ Herald)
- HMNZS Otago Association (RNZN)
- New Zealanders: The French (Te Ara)
- Norman Kirk biography (DNZB)
- HMNZS Otago (1966 encyclopaedia)
- Cousteau at Moruroa Atoll (Te Ara)
- Political rumblings (Te Ara)
- NZOnScreen Nuclear-free NZ collection
Jun
1990 World's first female diocesan Anglican bishop appointed
Dr Penny Jamieson, who had been ordained as a priest in 1985, became the Anglican bishop of Dunedin − the first woman in the world to hold such a position. She retired in 2004. more...
Jun
1939 First issue of NZ Listener published
Free to all 380,000 radio licence holders, the New Zealand Listener soon expanded its original brief, which was to publicise radio programmes. Today it is the country's only national weekly current affairs and entertainment magazine.
more...This Week in History
