TODAY IN HISTORY
1867 First passengers traverse Lyttelton rail tunnel
After 6½ years of construction, it took just 6½ minutes for the first trainload of passengers to speed through the 2.6- km tunnel linking the Canterbury plains to the port of Lyttelton.
KIWI OF THE WEEK
Ernest Rutherford
Rutherford's discoveries about the nature of atoms shaped modern science and paved the way for nuclear physics. Einstein referred to him as the 'second Newton' who ‘tunneled into the very material of God’.
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New Zealand and the First World War
The First World War had a seismic impact on New Zealand, reshaping the country's perception of itself and its place in the world.
Women's Suffrage Petition
The 1893 Women's suffrage petition — signed by more than 25,000 women, about a fifth of the enture adult European female population — helped pave the way for the passage of New Zealand's world-leading Electoral Act in September 1893.
See the digitised version of the petitionMemorials Register
Find exact locations and further information for more than 900 memorials throughout New Zealand.
Explore the memorials