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1943, Rail tragedy at Hyde
Jun
4
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1 Dec 1898
First movie shot in New Zealand
1 Dec 1933
First flight from North Cape to Invercargill
1 Dec 2018
Bronze medal won by young New Zealanders in Uruguay
2 Dec 1917
'Six o'clock swill' begins
2 Dec 1928
First Bishop of Aotearoa consecrated
3 Dec 1863
Land confiscation law passed
3 Dec 1910
First female ascent of Aoraki/Mt Cook
3 Dec 1960
Bluff Island Harbour opened
3 Dec 2013
Alexia Pickering inducted into the Attitude Awards Hall of Fame
4 Dec 1928
Luna Park opens in Auckland
4 Dec 1966
Radio Hauraki rules the waves
5 Dec 1890
First 'one man one vote' election
6 Dec 1905
Special votes cast in general election
6 Dec 1922
Chatham Islanders vote in first election
7 Dec 1963
Bassett Road machine-gun murders
7 Dec 1984
Queen Street concert ends in riot
8 Dec 1932
First issue of
New Zealand Woman's Weekly
8 Dec 1941
New Zealand at war with Japan
8 Dec 1942
Deadly fire at Seacliff Mental Hospital
8 Dec 1972
Whetu Tirikātene-Sullivan becomes first Māori woman Cabinet minister
9 Dec 1867
First passengers traverse Lyttelton rail tunnel
9 Dec 2019
Whakaari / White Island eruption kills 22
10 Dec 1908
Rutherford wins Nobel Prize
10 Dec 1918
Anzac troops kill Arab civilians at Surafend
10 Dec 1962
Maurice Wilkins wins Nobel Prize
10 Dec 1999
Georgina Beyer becomes first transgender woman elected to Parliament
10 Dec 2016
Joseph Parker wins world heavyweight boxing title
11 Dec 1907
Parliamentary Library escapes fire
11 Dec 1931
Statute of Westminster enacted
12 Dec 1961
First Golden Kiwi draw
13 Dec 1642
First recorded European sighting of New Zealand
13 Dec 1939
Battle of the River Plate
14 Dec 2009
Cabinet endorses Tino Rangatiratanga flag
15 Dec 1915
Evacuation of Gallipoli begins
15 Dec 1944
Poll tax on Chinese immigrants abolished
15 Dec 1951
Belmont viaduct blown up
15 Dec 1995
OMC release ‘How bizarre’
16 Dec 1905
All Blacks' non-try hands Wales historic win
16 Dec 1977
Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act passed
17 Dec 1773
Ten crew from the
Adventure
killed
17 Dec 1889
New Zealand’s Eiffel Tower opens
17 Dec 1944
Major Major, mascot of 19 Battalion, dies of sickness
18 Dec 1642
First known encounter between Māori and Europeans
18 Dec 1988
Air New Zealand women cabin crew win anti-discrimination case
19 Dec 1843
First Auckland A and P Show
19 Dec 1879
Universal male suffrage introduced
19 Dec 1941
HMS
Neptune
lost in Mediterranean minefield
20 Dec 1832
New Zealand’s first cricket match
20 Dec 1893
Women vote in Māori seats for first time
20 Dec 1913
Waterfront strike ends
21 Dec 1964
New Zealand whalers harpoon their last victim
21 Dec 1971
Full steam ahead for Kingston Flyer
22 Dec 1916
Future prime minister charged with sedition
23 Dec 1953
Queen Elizabeth II arrives for royal tour
24 Dec 1953
Tangiwai railway disaster
25 Dec 1814
First Christian mission established
25 Dec 1894
First ascent of Aoraki/Mt Cook
26 Dec 1879
Sectarian violence in Canterbury
27 Dec 1987
Death of Rewi Alley
28 Dec 1929
'Black Saturday' in Samoa
29 Dec 1880
Tuhiata hanged for murder of Mary Dobie
29 Dec 1931
Floating dock breaks moorings in Wellington Harbour
30 Dec 1834
Colenso arrives with a printing press
30 Dec 1835
Charles Darwin leaves New Zealand after nine-day visit
31 Dec 1853
Grey leaves New Zealand after first term as governor
31 Dec 1996
First Gathering dance festival held