What happened that day?

Search event by date

See historic events for any day of the year by entering the date below. Why not try your birthday?

Visit the full Calendar

Kiwi of the Week

Charles Heaphy

The multi-faceted Charles Heaphy made quite an impact on colonial New Zealand as an artist, explorer, soldier and colonial administrator. He was the first colonial soldier to win the Victoria Cross

more

Get KotW as RSS

Today in History

12 December

1961 First Golden Kiwi lottery draw

The Golden Kiwi lottery replaced the euphemistically named ‘art union'. The government saw this new lottery, with its bigger prizes, as a way to regain the ground that had been lost to more glamorous overseas lotteries. more...

Internal links

1961 - key events

External links

1769 De Surville first sights NZ near Hokianga

As James Cook rounded the northern tip of the North Island from east to west, the French explorer Jean François Marie de Surville was in the same waters, sailing in the opposite direction. A storm prevented any chance of an historic meeting. more...