Historic NZ events in November
Nov
1898 Old-age Pensions Act becomes law
A world first, the Act gave a small means-tested pension to destitute older people who were 'of good moral character'; Chinese were specifically excluded. It was one of the major achievements of Richard Seddon's Liberal government. Read more...
1944 Polish refugees land in New Zealand
On 1 November 1944, more than 800 Polish refugees from war-torn Europe landed in Wellington from the troopship USS General George M. Randall. Read more...
Nov
1942 NZ Division helps Allies break through at El Alamein
The 2nd New Zealand Division opened the way for British armour, allowing the Allies to make a decisive breakthrough at El Alamein, Egypt, and send the Axis forces into retreat. Read more...
Nov
1886 Manawatū rail link opened
Built by the privately owned Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR), the line helped open the Kapiti Coast, Horowhenua and Manawatū to European settlement. Read more...
1886 Birth of iconic Anchor butter brand
Henry Reynolds' new factory at Pukekura, Waikato, produced its first butter. The brand name was allegedly inspired by a tattoo on the arm of one of Reynolds' workers. Read more...
1974 'Summer time' reintroduced on trial basis
The trial proved popular with most New Zealanders and daylight saving of one hour between October and March was made permanent in 1975. Read more...
Nov
1930 Phar Lap wins the Melbourne Cup
Ridden by Jimmy Pike, the New Zealand-bred (but Australian-owned) wonder-horse beat Second Wind by two lengths to claim one of his greatest victories. Read more...
Nov
1881 Attack on pacifist settlement at Parihaka
Parihaka had come to symbolise protest gainst the confiscation of Māori land. Its leaders, Te Whiti-o-Rongomai and Tohu Kakahi, were arrested and exiled until March 1883. Read more...
1913 Battle of Featherston Street
The ‘Battle of Featherston Street’, in downtown Wellington, saw some of the most violent street fighting of the 1913 Great Strike. Read more...
Nov
1908 Last spike for North Island main trunk line
The last spike was driven home by Prime Minister Ward at Manganuioteao, between National Park and Ōhakune. A regular express service between Auckland and Wellington began in February 1909. Read more...
Nov
1848 The Acheron arrives to begin survey of NZ waters
Captained by John Lort Stokes, the paddle steamer Acheron spent four years charting the New Zealand coastline. Read more...
1912 Public Service Act passed into law
The Public Service Act was passed into law, creating a framework for New Zealand’s bureaucracy that was to endure until 1988. The Act was the brainchild of lawyer Alexander Herdman, a senior minister in the new Reform Party government. Read more...
1970 Aoraki/Mt Cook face conquered by hippies
Long-haired Christchurch mountaineers John Glasgow and Peter Gough became the first to scale the 2000-m Caroline Face of Aoraki/Mt Cook, declaring it a ‘triumph for the hippies’ Read more...
Nov
1936 NZers march into besieged Madrid
Griff Maclaurin and Steve Yates were part of the International Column of anti-fascist volunteers which marched into Madrid, bolstering the city's defences against the assault of General Francisco Franco's rebel armies. Both men were killed in battle within two days of arriving Read more...
1939 NZ Centennial Exhibition opens
More than 2.6 million people visited the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition which ran from 8 November 1939 to 4 May 1940 at Rongotai, Wellington. Read more...
Nov
1769 Captain Cook observes transit of Mercury
Captain Cook's astronomer Charles Green observed the transit of Mercury at Te Whanganui-o-Hei (Mercury Bay) on Coromandel Peninsula. Read more...
1920 White New Zealand policy introduced
The Immigration Restriction Amendment Act 1920 required immigrants to apply for a permanent residence permit before they arrived in New Zealand. Read more...
Nov
1868 Te Kooti attacks Matawhero
Te Kooti and his supporters attacked Matawhero in Poverty Bay, killing approximately 60 people – roughly equal numbers of Māori and Pākehā. Read more...
1871 Telegraph Department cleared of 'hacking' charges
Events in 1870-71 led Otago Daily Times editor George Barton to claim in his newspaper that the government had been intercepting telegraphs for political gain. Read more...
1880 Sutherland Falls 'discovered'
The renowned backwoodsman Sutherland 'discovered' the waterfall that bears his name near what is now the Milford Track – New Zealand’s best-known walking track. Read more...
Nov
1918 Armistice Day
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month was the moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front in 1918, following the signing of an armistice Read more...
1942 Troopship Awatea goes down fighting
New Zealand's finest pre-war passenger liner, the Union Steam Ship Company's Awatea, was sunk by German and Italian bombers after landing Allied troops on the North African coast. Read more...
1978 Andy Haden dives to save rugby test
With two minutes to play in a rugby test match against Wales, All Black lock Andy Haden flung himself sideways as if in a C-grade action movie in an attempt to secure a match-winning penalty Read more...
Nov
1912 Striker fatally wounded at Waihī
Striking worker Fred Evans was seriously injured in a clash with police and strike-breakers during a bitter industrial dispute in the goldmining town of Waihī. He died the following day. Read more...
Nov
1896 Mount Tongariro erupts
At 12.40 p.m. on 13 November 1896, Te Maari, a crater at the northern end of the Tongariro range, erupted spectacularly. It continued to erupt sporadically for nearly a year. Read more...
1990 David Gray kills 13 at Aramoana
David Gray, an Aramoana resident, began a shooting spree that left 13 people dead. Read more...
Nov
1845 George Grey arrives in NZ
Grey served two terms as Governor and later one as Premier. His most notable achievement in his first term as Governor (1845-53) was probably his management of the relationship between the Crown and Māori. Read more...
1973 DPB legislation introduced
The passage of the Social Security Amendment Act introduced the Domestic Purposes Benefit. Paid out from 1 May 1974, the DPB was to be set at a level that would enable sole parents to stay home to care for their children. Read more...
Nov
1769 British flag flies for first time in NZ
By raising the British Colours on Coromandel Peninsula, Cook claimed the area in the name of King George III. Read more...
1861 First issue of Otago Daily Times published
Dunedin became the first New Zealand centre to get a daily newspaper when William Cutten and future Premier Julius Vogel published the first issue of the Otago Daily Times. Read more...
Nov
1840 NZ officially becomes British colony
New Zealand became a separate colony of the United Kingdom. North, South and Stewart islands were to be known respectively as the provinces of New Ulster, New Munster and New Leinster. Read more...
1869 Hamiora Pere executed for treason
Hamiora Pere was hanged at the Terrace Gaol, Wellington. He is the only New Zealander to have been executed after being convicted of treason. Read more...
Nov
1925 NZ and South Seas International Exhibition opens
By the time it closed in May 1926 the exhibition had attracted over 3.2 million visitors, more than double New Zealand's total population at the time. Read more...
Nov
1874 Cospatrick fire kills 470
En route to Auckland laden with immigrants, the Cospatrick caught fire off the Cape of Good Hope. The tragedy has been described as New Zealand's worst civil disaster. Read more...
Nov
2010 Pike River mine explosion kills 29
The mine exploded at 3.45 p.m. on Friday 19 November 2010. Twenty-nine of the 31 men underground died immediately or shortly afterwards from the blast or because of the toxic atmosphere this generated. Read more...
Nov
1841 Mass murder in the Bay of Islands
Maketū Wharetōtara, the 17-year-old son of the Ngāpuhi chief Ruhe, killed five people at Motuarohia in the Bay of Islands. In March 1842 he became the first person to be legally executed in this country. Read more...
1937 Parachuting Santa crashes in Auckland Domain
George Sellars narrowly escaped serious injury when he was able to swing his parachute away from the glass roof of the Winter Gardens during the Farmers' Christmas parade. Read more...
Nov
1863 Māori surrender at Rangiriri
More British soldiers were killed at 'Bloody Rangiriri' than in any other battle of the New Zealand Wars. But their victory opened the Waikato basin to the imperial forces. Read more...
Nov
1939 Freyberg takes command of NZ Expeditionary Force
The First World War hero was British-born but New Zealand raised. He proved to be a charismatic and popular military leader and would later serve a term as governor-general. Read more...
Nov
1947 Civic funeral for 41 Ballantyne's fire victims
On 18 November 1947 Ballantyne's, a Christchurch department store that was a local institution, was razed by one of the worst fires in New Zealand's history. The bodies of the 41 victims were buried at Ruru Lawn Cemetery, Bromley, after a civic funeral. Read more...
Nov
1959 Fifteen die in mysterious shipwreck
All hands were lost when the modern coastal freighter Holmglen foundered off the South Canterbury coast. The cause of the tragedy was never established Read more...
Nov
1903 Fitzsimmons wins third world boxing title
By winning the world light-heavyweight championship, Timaru boxer Bob Fitzsimmons became the first man ever to be world champion in three different weight divisions. Read more...
Nov
1960 'Kiwi Keith' begins 12-year reign as PM
The National Party, led by Keith Holyoake, swept into power, defeating Walter Nash's Labour Party, which had held office for the previous three years Read more...
Nov
1849 Death of Te Rauparaha
The formidable Ngāti Toa leader had dominated Te Moana-o-Raukawa - the Cook Strait region - from his base at Kapiti Island for nearly 20 years. Read more...
1940 Liner sunk by German raiders off East Cape
The 16,712-ton New Zealand Shipping Company liner Rangitane was intercepted and sunk 550 km off East Cape, with the loss of 15 lives. Read more...
Nov
1893 Women vote in first general election
New Zealand women went to the polls for the first time, just 10 weeks after the governor signed the Electoral Act 1893, making this country the first in the world to give all adult women the vote. Read more...
1979 257 killed in Mt Erebus disaster
Flight TE901, an Air New Zealand sightseeing flight over Antarctica, crashed into the lower slopes of Mt Erebus, near Scott Base, killing all 257 passengers and crew on board. Read more...
2008 Air New Zealand A320 crashes in France
An Air NZ Airbus A320 crashed off the coast of France. All seven people on board, including five New Zealanders, were killed. It was 29 years to the day since Air NZ Flight TE901 had crashed in Antarctica, killing all 257 on board Read more...
Nov
1893 First woman mayor in British Empire elected
By winning the Onehunga mayoralty, Elizabeth Yates struck another blow for female rights the day after the first general election in which women could vote. Read more...
Nov
1949 Election of first National government
After 14 years of Labour government, voters were tired of continuing shortages and regulations. The National Party would be in power for 29 of the next 35 years. Read more...
