Historic NZ events in August
Aug
1987 Māori becomes official language
The Maori Language Act came into force, meaning that te reo Māori could now be used in some legal proceedings. The Act also established the Maori Language Commission. Read more...
Aug
1992 Barbara Kendall wins gold at Barcelona
Barbara Kendall became the sole New Zealand gold medallist at the Olympic Games in Barcelona when she won the windsurfing competition. Read more...
1983 Protest as USS Texas visits Auckland
The visit sparked anti-nuclear rallies on land and sea. Nuclear ship visits became an election issue in 1984 and they were later banned by David Lange's Labour government. Read more...
Aug
1941 Finnish barque Pamir seized as war prize
Following its arrival in Wellington on 29 July, the Pamir was seized, as Finland was deemed to be 'territory in enemy occupation'. The ship sailed under the New Zealand ensign until 1948. Read more...
1872 Anthony Trollope arrives for NZ tour
Anthony Trollope, one of the Victorian era’s most famous novelists, landed at Bluff at the start of a two-month tour of New Zealand. Read more...
Aug
1923 Ōtira rail tunnel opened
The 8.5-km Ōtira tunnel, which pierced the Southern Alps and linked Christchurch with Greymouth, was formally opened by Prime Minister William Massey. At the time it was the longest tunnel in the southern hemisphere and the British Empire, and the sixth-longest in the world. Read more...
1965 Cook Islands achieve self-government
First included within the boundaries of New Zealand in 1901, the islands were governed by a Resident Commissioner until 1946. When they achieved self-government, Cook Islanders remained New Zealand citizens. Read more...
Aug
1914 New Zealand enters the First World War
New Zealand received the news of the outbreak of war just before 1 p.m. on 5 August. At 3 p.m. the Governor, Lord Liverpool, announced the news from the steps of Parliament to a large and enthusiastic crowd. Read more...
1988 Cartwright Report condemns cervical cancer treatment
The report was triggered by Sandra Coney and Phillida Bunkle's Metro article, 'An Unfortunate Experiment'. Published in June 1987, this claimed that dozens of cervical cancer patients at National Women's Hospital were receiving inadequate treatment. Read more...
Aug
1936 Lovelock wins 1500-m gold at Berlin
Jack Lovelock won New Zealand's first Olympic athletics gold medal before Adolf Hitler and a crowd of 110,000 at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He led the 1500-m field home in a world record time of 3:47.8. Read more...
Aug
1908 First train runs length of main trunk line
The 'Parliament Special' travelled over a makeshift track in the central section of the still-unfinished main trunk line. It carried MPs north to greet the American navy's 'Great White Fleet'. Read more...
1997 Beatrice Faumuina wins athletics world championship gold
Beatrice Faumuina became the first New Zealander to win an event at a World Athletics Championships when she threw the discus 66.82 m at Athens in 1997. Read more...
Aug
1915 Wellington Battalion captures Chunuk Bair
Led by Lieutenant-Colonel William Malone, this attack was one of the high points of the New Zealand effort at Gallipoli. Read more...
Aug
1908 US 'Great White Fleet' arrives in Auckland
The 16 American battleships under the command of Admiral C.S. Sperry were greeted with much pomp and ceremony. An extensive programme of 'fleet week' entertainment was put on for the 14,000 sailors. Read more...
1930 George Nepia plays last All Blacks test
Nepia was one of the stars of the 1924-5 All Blacks, playing in all 32 matches on the team's tour of the British Isles, France and Canada. He played the last of his nine tests in 1930, against the British Lions. Read more...
Aug
1840 British assert sovereignty as French head for Akaroa
HMS Britomart arrived at Akaroa, on Banks Peninsula, a week before a shipload of French colonists landed. The ship's captain raised the Union Jack to confirm British sovereignty over the area. Read more...
Aug
1962 Picton ferry Aramoana enters service
The country's first roll-on roll-off ferry, New Zealand Railways' Aramoana revolutionised transport between the North and South islands. Read more...
Aug
1895 Baby-farmer Minnie Dean hanged
In 1895 Minnie Dean became the first (and only) woman to be hanged by law in New Zealand. Known as the 'Winton baby farmer', she had been convicted of the murder of baby Dorothy Edith Carter after a sensational trial in Invercargill. Read more...
1975 John Walker breaks world mile record
John Walker became history’s first sub-3:50 miler on 12 August, running 3:49.4 at Gothenburg, Sweden. Read more...
Aug
2005 Death of David Lange
David Lange was New Zealand's youngest prime minister of the 20th century. Renowned for his sharp wit and oratory, he led the fourth Labour government from 1984 to 1989. Read more...
Aug
1891 Women's vote petitions presented to Parliament
These petitions, signed by 9000 women, contributed to the introduction of a Female Suffrage Bill in Parliament. This received majority support in the House of Representatives but was defeated in the Legislative Council. Read more...
Aug
1945 The war is over! VJ Day
Japan's surrender following the atomic bombing ofHiroshima and Nagasaki ended the Second World War. More than 200,000 New Zealanders had served during the war and more than 11,500 had died. Read more...
1951 Troop ship Wahine wrecked en route to Korean War
Carrying New Zealand troops to the Korean War, the 38-year-old Lyttelton–Wellington ferry Wahine ran aground in the Arafura Sea. There were no casualties but the ship became a total loss. Read more...
Aug
2008 Evers-Swindell twins defend Olympic rowing title at Beijing
Few expected identical twins Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell to successfully defend the double sculls title they had won in Athens in 2004. Read more...
1944 CORSO formed
CORSO was set up to support aid efforts in war-torn nations. It became increasingly involved in the developing world and also spoke out about poverty in New Zealand. Read more...
Aug
1942 Attack on the Nino Bixio
118 New Zealand prisoners of war died when the Italian transport ship Nino Bixio was torpedoed by a British submarine in the Mediterranean. Read more...
1839 NZ Company ship Tory arrives
The New Zealand Company party, which included William Wakefield and his nephew Jerningham, was sent to make preparations for organised settlement. Read more...
Aug
1955 20-year old hanged for murder
Edward Te Whiu was one of the last four people executed in New Zealand. He admitted to killing 75-year-old widow Florence Smith, but his underprivileged background and childlike mental state led some to question the appropriateness of the death penalty. Read more...
1971 Deadline for Vietnam pull-out announced
Prime Minister Keith Holyoake’s statement in Parliament that New Zealand’s combat force would be withdrawn before the end of the year coincided with a similar announcement by the Australian government. Read more...
Aug
1944 Kiwi pilot's sacrifice saves French village
As his damaged Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber rapidly lost height, Pilot Officer James Stellin struggled to avoid crashing into Saint-Maclou-la-Brière, a village of 370 people. He succeeded, but at the cost of his own life. The villagers gave him a hero’s funeral and have honoured his memory ever since. Read more...
1853 Wakefield elected to Parliament
The originator of the New Zealand Company was elected to the House of Representatives as the member for Hutt, six months after arriving in the colony. He had been quick to lobby for the introduction of responsible government. Read more...
Aug
1940 Turakina sunk by German raider in Tasman
It was the first naval battle in the Tasman Sea. The New Zealand Shipping Company freighter Turakina was intercepted and sunk by the Orion nearly 500 km off the Taranaki coast with the loss of 36 lives. Twenty survivors were taken prisoner. Read more...
Aug
1958 Auckland pedestrians begin 'Barnes Dance'
Auckland became the first city in New Zealand to introduce the ‘Barnes Dance’ street-crossing system, which stopped all traffic at intersections, allowing pedestrians to cross in any direction at the same time. Read more...
1915 New Zealand mounteds attack Hill 60
Hill 60 was the last offensive action fought by the New Zealanders during the Gallipoli campaign. This ‘abominable little hill’, as described by Brigadier General Andrew Russell, was the site of bitter fighting between New Zealand Mounted riflemen and Ottoman troops in late August 1915. Read more...
Aug
1969 First 'Young Farmer of the Year' chosen
Held at the South Pacific Hotel in Auckland, this competition was open to all members of the Young Farmers' Club. The inaugural winner was Gary Fraser from Swannanoa, near Christchurch. The contest has since become an established part of the farming calendar. Read more...
Aug
1939 Writer Robin Hyde dies in London
The journalist, poet and novelist, born Iris Wilkinson, was one of New Zealand's finest inter-war writers. Troubled by depression, illness and poverty, she took her own life in London. Read more...
1947 Assisted immigration resumes after war
Between 1947 and 1975, 77,000 children, women and men arrived from Great Britain under the assisted immigration scheme. The first draft of 118 young adult immigrants arrived in Auckland on the New Zealand Shipping Company liner Rangitata. Read more...
Aug
1878 Wellington steam-tram service opened
The governor, the Marquess of Normanby, opened the new service, which was said to be the first in the Southern Hemisphere. The steam-powered trams proved unpopular and were later replaced by horse-drawn trams. Read more...
Aug
1916 First New Zealand soldier executed
After being found guilty of desertion, 28-year-old Private Frank Hughes was killed by a firing squad in Hallencourt, northern France. He was the first New Zealand soldier executed during the First World War. Read more...
1920 First flight across Cook Strait
Captain Euan Dickson completed the first air crossing of Cook Strait, flying a 110-hp Le Rhone Avro from Christchurch to Upper Hutt and carrying the first air mail between the South and North Islands. Read more...
1948 Killer twister hits Frankton
Three people were killed, 80 injured and about 150 buildings badly damaged by New Zealand's deadliest recorded tornado. The damage was estimated at more than £1 million. Read more...
Aug
1911 New Zealand Coat of Arms warranted
On this day King George V signed the Royal Warrant assigning the first New Zealand Coat of Arms. The Warrant was published in the New Zealand Gazette on 11 January 1912. Read more...
1894 Death of second Māori King
As the second Māori King, Tāwhiao had led his people through the traumatic period of the wars of the 1860s. He was succeeded by his son Mahuta. Read more...
1866 Submarine telegraph line laid across Cook Strait
After two bungled attempts and near disaster at sea, the installation of the first communications cable between the North and South Islands of New Zealand was completed on 26 August 1866. Read more...
Aug
1911 Pawelka's last prison break
Joseph Pawelka escaped from Wellington's Terrace Gaol. It was the last in a series of bold but seemingly effortless prison escapes he made over a period of 18 months. Read more...
1904 Foundation stone for Victoria’s first building laid
Victoria College (now Victoria University of Wellington) was founded in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria's 60th jubilee. Until the opening of the Kelburn building in 1906, classes were taught in rented accommodation. Read more...
Aug
1954 'Heavenly Creatures' found guilty of murder
Pauline Parker, aged 16, and Juliet Hulme, 15, were convicted of the murder of Pauline's mother Honora at Christchurch on 22 June. Their story was later the subject of Peter Jackson's film Heavenly Creatures. Read more...
1992 Canterbury's 'Big Snow'
Cantabrians awoke to find the region blanketed in snow. ‘The Big Snow', as the 1992 storm came to be known, was the region's worst for 30 years, killing more than a million sheep and costing farmers $40 million. Read more...
Aug
1914 NZ force captures German Samoa
Colonel Robert Logan led a 1400-strong expeditionary force to capture German Samoa (later renamed Western Samoa). The Germans stationed there were in no position to resist. Read more...
Aug
1926 Kawarau Falls dam becomes operational
Hundreds attended the opening ceremony for a dam above the Kawarau Falls which was to temporarily block the outlet from Lake Wakatipu and hopefully expose gold-bearing rock to prospectors. Read more...
1903 Four killed by Rotorua geyser
Guide Joseph Warbrick and three tourists were killed instantly when Waimangu geyser, then one of the largest and most active in the world, erupted unexpectedly. Read more...
Aug
1841 The wreck of the Sophia Pate
The fate of the brig Sophia Pate, wrecked on a sandbar at the entrance to Kaipara Harbour with the loss of 21 lives, highlighted the dangers faced by early migrants to New Zealand in poorly charted coastal waters. Read more...
1894 Arbitration Act becomes law
The brainchild of Liberal Minister of Labour William Pember Reeves, the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act made New Zealand the first country in the world to outlaw strikes and introduce compulsory arbitration. Read more...
1974 Death of Norman Kirk
Leader of the Labour Party since 1965 and prime minister since late 1972, 'Big Norm' died suddenly at the age of 51. He was the fifth New Zealand PM to die in office. Read more...
