Today in History

1935 Lovelock wins ‘Mile of the century’

In June 1934, a year after Lovelock set his world mile record at Palmer Stadium, Princeton, the college staged another invitational at which Glenn Cunningham of the United States broke the record in a time of 4:06.7. The college decided to repeat the meeting on a grand scale in June 1935 and invited Lovelock to attend. The plan was to have the world's top milers compete in what the media later dubbed the ‘Mile of the Century’.

It became clear to Lovelock after he accepted the invitation in March 1935 that other athletes from outside the US were not attending. Instead the focus of the race would be on the contest between Lovelock and the Americans. The event inspired great interest in England, the US and New Zealand. As Lovelock departed he received a telegram from New Zealand Prime Minister G.W. Forbes wishing him good luck ‘on behalf of the Government and people of the Dominion’.

On the day of the meeting the temperature was hot; Lovelock wore his favourite floppy panama hat while warming up. The meeting wasn't scheduled to start until 5.15 p.m., after a football match between Princeton and Yale, with the mile at 6 p.m. That morning the papers had stressed the possibility of a world record being set. But the heat and the wind, which was blowing directly up the straight, soon put paid to these suggestions.

The field that day included world-record holder Cunningham, Glen Dawson (who had beaten Cunningham a few weeks before), Bill Bonthron (now world-record holder for the 1500 metres), Gene Venzke and Joe Mangan. When the race began Dawson and Cunningham moved away fast, but within 30 m the field had settled and everyone appeared to be waiting on someone else. Dawson edged ahead, with Cunningham behind, followed by Venzke, Lovelock and Bonthron. In spite of the wind, after 180 m or so Lovelock decided ‘he had to get onto Cunningham's heels’. He caught up to Cunningham and kept pace with him for much of the rest of the race. Just before the final straight Lovelock made his move, finishing comfortably ahead of Cunningham, who was also overtaken by Bonthron.

Lovelock's time of 4:11.5 was his second-fastest mile but well short of the world record. The crowd didn't seem bothered; hundreds were so keen to touch Lovelock that he needed to be protected from them. He lost his panama hat in the melee, but it was returned following a public plea – with the suggestion that he might provide autographed running shorts in return.

• Image: Jack Lovelock after 'Mile of the Century'

1959 Chinese gooseberry becomes kiwifruit

The prominent produce company Turners and Growers announced they would now export the Chinese gooseberry under the name 'kiwifruit'. First introduced here in 1904, kiwifruit are now grown worldwide, with New Zealand-grown fruit marketed as 'Zespri'.

Despite the name, kiwifruit are not native to New Zealand. Seeds were brought to New Zealand in 1904 by Mary Isabel Fraser, the principal of Wanganui Girls' College, who had been visiting mission schools in China. In 1906 the seeds were planted by a Wanganui nurseryman, Alexander Allison, with the vines first fruiting in 1910. People thought it had a gooseberry flavour and began to call it the Chinese gooseberry. It is not related to the Grossulariaceae (gooseberry) family

New Zealand exported the fruit to the US in the 1950s. This was the height of the Cold War and the term Chinese gooseberry was seen as a marketing nightmare by Turners and Growers. They briefly used the label melonettes. This was equally unpopular with US importers because melons and berries were both subject to high import tariffs. In June 1959, during a meeting of Turners and Growers management in Auckland, Jack Turner suggested the name kiwifruit, which was adopted and later became the industry-wide name.

The Bay of Plenty town of Te Puke is known as the 'Kiwifruit Capital of the World'. It was here that New Zealand's kiwifruit industry began. Italy is now the leading producer of kiwifruit in the world, followed by China, New Zealand, Chile, France, Greece, Japan and the US. Most New Zealand kiwifruit is now marketed under the brand-name Zespri, partly as a way of distinguishing 'Kiwi kiwifruit' from that produced by other countries.

Image information (Te Ara)