Today in NZ history- 20/08/1904 - First use of kiwi as unofficial national symbol? The New Zealand Free Lance printed a J.C. Blomfield cartoon in which a plucky kiwi morphed into a moa as the All Blacks defeated Great Britain 9–3 in the first rugby test between Motherland and colony. This may have been the first use of a kiwi to symbolise the nation in a cartoon.
- 20/08/1940 - Turakina sunk by German raider in TasmanIt was the first naval battle in the Tasman Sea. The New Zealand Shipping Company freighter Turakina was intercepted and sunk by the Orion nearly 500 km off the Taranaki coast with the loss of 36 lives. Twenty survivors were taken prisoner.
- 21/08/1915 - New Zealanders attack Hill 60Hill 60 was the last offensive action fought by the New Zealanders during the Gallipoli campaign. The ‘abominable little hill’, as it was dubbed by Brigadier-General Andrew Russell, saw bitter fighting between New Zealand mounted riflemen and Ottoman troops in late August 1915.
- 21/08/1958 - Auckland pedestrians begin 'Barnes Dance'Auckland became the first New Zealand city to introduce the ‘Barnes Dance’ system, which stopped all traffic at intersections, allowing pedestrians to cross in any direction at the same time.
- 20/08/1904 - First use of kiwi as unofficial national symbol?
Monthly Archives: December 2013
Cutting communication to the bone
One of the Ngaio Press books I sell by mailorder is WOOL: a history of New Zealand’s wool industry. I co-wrote it with Bill Carter and published it ten years ago. There are a few cartons left and while it’s … Continue reading
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