4 January

Te Kooti defeated at Ngātapa

1869 Te Kooti defeated at Ngātapa

Pursued by Māori and colonial troops to Ngātapa, an old hilltop pā inland from Poverty Bay, Te Kooti narrowly avoided capture after a three-day siege. Many of those with him were captured and executed the following day. Read more...
Hillary leads New Zealand party to South Pole

1958 Hillary leads New Zealand party to South Pole

Sir Edmund Hillary’s New Zealand team became the first to reach the South Pole overland since Robert Falcon Scott in 1912, and the first to do so in motor vehicles. Read more...