Today in History
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Historic NZ events in May
May
1
1926 NZ Railways Magazine launched
The New Zealand Railways Magazine was published each month until June 1940. Originally intended as a shop journal for the Railways Department’s 18,000 staff and major customers, it evolved into a hugely popular general interest monthly. more...
1893 Richard Seddon becomes Premier
Richard Seddon became the Liberal Party's second premier following the death in office of John Ballance. Immortalised as ‘King Dick’, Seddon would dominate the New Zealand political landscape for the next 13 years. more...
May
2
1964 NZ's last electric tram trip
Tram #252, displaying the message ‘end of the line’, travels from Thorndon to the Zoo in Newtown, Wellington, bringing to an end the use of electric trams in New Zealand. more...
May
3
1897 NZ's first woman doctor registered
Margaret Cruickshank became the first woman to be registered as a doctor in New Zealand. She practised in Waimate until her death during the 1918 influenza epidemic. more...
1820 First European plough used in NZ
The missionary John Butler turned New Zealand's first furrow at Kerikeri, recording: ‘I trust that this day will be remembered with gratitude, and its anniversary kept by ages yet unborn.’ more...
May
4
1772 Marion du Fresne arrives in Bay of Islands
The following month the French explorer and 24 of his crew were killed in an act of utu by local Ngare Raumati. In the reprisals that followed, the French killed up to 250 Maori. more...
May
5
1833 Busby becomes official British Resident
James Busby's arrival in the Bay of Islands represented Britain's first tentative step towards the Treaty of Waitangi, signed on the grounds of his house some seven years later. more...
May
6
1996 New royal honours established
A totally New Zealand Royal Honours System was established with the institution of the New Zealand Order of Merit, which replaced the various British State Orders of Chivalry. more...
May
7
1846 Devastating landslide at Lake Taupo
The Ngati Tuwharetoa village of Te Rapa on the south-western shore of Lake Taupo was obliterated in this landslide. Sixty people were killed, including the paramount chief Mananui, Te Heuheu Tukino II more...
1881 Anti-Chinese hysteria in Dunedin
In a climate of widespread hostility towards non-white immigrants, a meeting in Dunedin − presided over by the mayor − unanimously called for a ban on further Chinese migrants more...
May
8
1970 'Cheryl Moana Marie' hits No. 1
John Rowles wrote this hit single, which sold a million copies worldwide, about one of his younger sisters. It was lovingly parodied as ‘Share a banana with me’ more...
May
9
1907 First School Journal published
The School Journal was initiated by Inspector-General George Hogben to provide New Zealand schoolchildren with a free publication containing information on history, geography and civics, replacing the need for several separate textbooks. more...
1945 NZ celebrates Victory in Europe
Germany surrendered on 7 May, New Zealand time, but acting Prime Minister Walter Nash insisted that celebrations should wait until Winston Churchill officially announced peace − at 1 a.m. on 9 May New Zealand time. more...
May
10
1960 All-white All Blacks leave for South Africa
The slogan‘No Maoris − No Tour’ fell on deaf ears as this controversial rugby tour went ahead. The issue of sporting ties with South Africa would later split the country in devastating fashion in 1981. more...
May
11
1945 Upham presented with VC and Bar
New Zealand's most-decorated soldier was recognised for outstanding gallantry and leadership in Crete in 1941 and Egypt in 1942. He remains the only combat soldier to win a Bar to his VC. more...
May
12
1971 Anti-Vietnam War protests in Queen Street
A civic reception for 161 Battery on its return from Vietnam was disrupted by protesters. They accused the New Zealand soldiers of being murderers and threw red paint, symbolising Vietnamese blood. more...
May
13
1947 Death of Frances Hodgkins
One of this country's most celebrated artists, Frances Hodgkins spent most of her life overseas. She earned a place among the British avant-garde of the 1930s and 1940s, becoming the first New Zealand-born artist to achieve such stature. more...
1936 NZ National Party founded
Established at a conference in Wellington on 13-14 May 1936, the National Party was to dominate the New Zealand political scene in the second half of the 20th century. more...
May
14
1907 Plunket Society formed
The Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children was founded at a meeting in the Dunedin Town Hall. It came to be known as the Plunket Society after its first patron, Lady Victoria Plunket, the wife of the governor. more...
1941 NZ minesweeper sunk in Hauraki Gulf
The minesweeper HMS Puriri was the second victim of mines laid in the Hauraki Gulf by the German raider Orion. Five of its crew were killed. more...
May
15
1920 Wanganui mayor shoots poet
Walter D'Arcy Cresswell alleged that Mayor Charles Mackay had made homosexual overtures to him. Mackay was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 15 years' hard labour. more...
May
16
1981 All Whites beat Australia on road to Spain
The New Zealand soccer team's famous 2-0 victory in Sydney was a defining moment in their epic qualification campaign for the 1982 World Cup finals. more...
May
17
1962 George Wilder escapes from prison
Wilder was a burglar who left apology and thank-you notes for his victims. He was at large for 65 days, becoming a renegade folk hero in the process. Wilder's second (and longer) escape the following year won him even greater notoriety. more...
May
18
1937 NZ nurses detained on way to Spanish Civil War
Of the small group of New Zealanders who served in the Spanish Civil War, most made their own way to Spain from Britain and Australia. The only organised New Zealand contingent comprised three nurses: René Shadbolt, Isobel Dodds, and Millicent Sharples.
more...
1966 Death of Maori King Koroki
Koroki Te Rata Mahuta Tawhiao Potatau Te Wherowhero was the fifth Maori monarch − the head of the Kingitanga movement that began in 1858 in response to European colonisation. more...
Links
May
19
1987 Attempted hijacking in Fiji foiled
An attempted hijacking of an Air New Zealand Boeing 747 at Nadi airport, Fiji, was thwarted when a member of the cabin crew hit the hijacker over the head with a whisky bottle. more...
1846 Brunner, Kehu and Heaphy reach Mawhera pa
This journey was part of Thomas Brunner's epic 1846-48 exploration of the South Island. He was accompanied by Kehu, a Ngati Tumatakokiri Maori, and Charles Heaphy, a draftsman and artist with the New Zealand Company. more...
Links
- Exploring New Zealand's interior
- Thomas Brunner explorer (Kingfisher Fly Fishing)
- Heaphy's notes on Port Nicholson (Wellington City Council)
- Greymouth information office (Visitor information)
- Thomas Brunner biography (DNZB)
- Charles Heaphy biography (DNZB)
- Heaphy lithograph (Te Ara)
- Whakatu tribes (Te Ara)
May
20
1941 German paratroopers assault Crete
The Battle for Crete raged for 12 days before the Allies were driven off the island. Casualties were high on both sides. More than 650 New Zealanders were killed and another 2000 taken prisoner. more...
1773 NZ's first sheep released
During his second voyage to New Zealand James Cook released a ewe and a ram from the Cape of Good Hope in Queen Charlotte Sound. They only survived a few days, but represented the start of New Zealand's long association with sheep. more...
May
21
1840 Hobson proclaims sovereignty over NZ
Hobson proclaimed sovereignty over all of New Zealand: over the North Island on the basis of cession by the Treaty and the southern islands by right of discovery. more...
May
22
1884 First NZ Rugby team in action
The first representative New Zealand rugby team played its first match, defeating a Wellington XV 9-0, before embarking on a tour of New South Wales. more...
May
23
1966 Coronation of first Maori Queen
Princess Piki, the daughter of King Koroki, was selected as the sixth Maori monarch − and first Queen − during her father's funeral, in accordance with Kingitanga protocol. She assumed her mothers name, Te Atairangikaahu. more...
May
24
1854 Parliament's first sitting in Auckland
A 21-gun salute from Fort Britomart marked the opening of New Zealand's first Parliament. The 37 parliamentarians gave their oaths of allegiance to the Crown via the Acting Governor, R.H. Wynyard. more...
May
25
1978 Bastion Point protestors evicted
Police and army removed all 218 occupants of Bastion Point, ending an occupation that began in January 1977. Ngati Whatua were protesting the loss of land in the Orakei Block, which was once declared ‘absolutely inalienable’. more...
May
26
1879 Parihaka ploughing campaign begins
Under the leadership of Te Whiti and Tohu Kakahi, Parihaka Maori embarked upon a ploughing campaign to protest against European settlement on confiscated Maori land. more...
Links
- Prophets and colonists - New Zealand Wars
- Tohu Kakahi
- Te Whiti-o-Rongomai
- Pacifist of Parihaka (Puke Ariki)
- Legacy of Parihaka (HPT)
- Parihaka exhibition (City Gallery)
- Best NZ Poems 2001 (VUW)
- Te Whiti (1966 encyclopaedia)
- Taranaki resistance (Te Ara)
- Te Whiti biography (DNZB)
- Tohu Kakahi biography (DNZB)
May
27
1987 Death of Colin McCahon
Colin McCahon is regarded as one of New Zealand's greatest painters. A risk-taker and non-conformist, he engaged with questions of religion, faith and the human condition through his art. more...
May
28
1920 Fingerprints help convict murderer
In the Auckland Supreme Court, Dennis Gunn was convicted of the murder of a postmaster and sentenced to death. In what was possibly a world-first involving a capital crime, Gunn's conviction was based almost entirely on fingerprint evidence. more...
May
29
1953 Hillary and Tenzing conquer Everest
A beekeeper from New Zealand, Edmund Hillary, and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of the world's tallest peak. more...
May
30
1959 Auckland harbour bridge opened
The original four-lane harbour bridge was built between St Marys Bay and Northcote Point, crossing the narrowest part of Auckland Harbour. It took four years to complete but soon required further expansion. more...
May
31
1975 Mona Blades vanishes
Eighteen-year-old Mona Blades was last seen alive sitting in the back of an orange Datsun station wagon. Her body was never found and her disappearance never explained. more...
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