Events on this Day – 6 February

More than 40 Māori chiefs signed a treaty with the British Crown in the Bay of Islands. The Treaty of Waitangi remains controversial.

The first public girls’ secondary school in the southern hemisphere was Otago Girls’ High School, which opened eight years after the local public boys’ high school.

The liner, carrying 400 passengers, struck Barrett Reef in Wellington Harbour on 19 January. Only an unusually long spell of calm weather - dubbed 'Wanganella weather' by locals - saved it from becoming a total wreck.