1866 Wreck of the General Grant
Sailing from Melbourne to London, the General Grant hit cliffs on the west coast of the main island in the subantarctic Auckland Islands. Fifteen of the 83 people on board survived the sinking, but only 10 of them were ultimately rescued 18 months later. Read more...
1870 First game of rugby played in NZ
Around 200 people were on hand at Nelson’s Botanic Reserve to watch a new version of rugby football brought to New Zealand by Charles Monro. Read more...
1907 Plunket Society formed
The Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children was founded at a meeting in the Dunedin Town Hall. It became known as the Plunket Society after its first patron, Victoria, Lady Plunket, the wife of the governor. Read more...
1941 NZ minesweeper sunk off Bream Head
The minesweeper HMS Puriri was the second victim of mines laid off the Northland coast by the German raider Orion. Five of its crew were killed. Read more...
