Today in NZ history- 02/12/1917 - 'Six o'clock swill' beginsSix p.m. closing of pubs was introduced as a temporary wartime measure. It ushered in what became known as the 'six o'clock swill', in which patrons drank their fill before closing time. The practice was to last for 50 years.
- 02/12/1928 - First Bishop of Aotearoa consecrated Frederick Bennett, who had a Ngāti Whakaue mother and an Irish father, was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1897. He spent 13 years as superintendent of the Māori mission in Rotorua before moving to Hastings for mission work in Hawke’s Bay.
- 03/12/1863 - Land confiscation law passedParliament passed legislation enabling the confiscation (raupatu) of Māori land from tribes deemed to have ‘engaged in open rebellion against Her Majesty’s authority’. Pākehā settlers would occupy the confiscated land.
- 03/12/1910 - First female ascent of Aoraki/Mt CookFreda du Faur was the first female to complete the ascent of Aoraki/Mt Cook.
- 02/12/1917 - 'Six o'clock swill' begins
