New Zealand

January 1

• Pencarrow lighthouse, New Zealand’s first lighthouse, in the Wellington Region was first lit on 1 January 1859. It was decommissioned in 1935 and is now registered as a Historic Place.^[1]

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• New Zealand was the proud organizer of the 14th Commonwealth Games, held in Auckland from 24 January to 3 February 1990.^[2]

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• Teen golfer Lydia Ko from New Zealand created history, as the youngest winner of a professional golf tournament, when she won the New South Wales (NSW) Open Women’s title on 29 January 2012 at the age of 14 years and nine months, eclipsing Japan's Ryo Ishikawa's mark of 15 years and eight months, set in 2007.^[3]

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February 1

February 2

• Remains of New Zealand's Pink and White Terraces, a natural wonder apparently destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1886, has been rediscovered by scientists on February 2, 2011. The terraces, once described as the eighth wonder of the natural world.^[4]

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February 10

• New Zealand singer Kimbra won Record Of The Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance awards at the 2013 Grammy Awards for her hit duet Somebody That I Used to Know with Australian singer Gotye.^[5]

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• New Zealand for the first time won a cricket test match at the 48th attempt on 15 February 1978 against England. New Zealand beat England by 72 runs.^[6]

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• Bret McKenzie, a musician from New Zealand, won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2012 for the song Man or Muppet in the film The Muppets.^[7]

February 27

• For the first time, New Zealand's critically endangered Archey's frog - the world's most evolutionarily distinct amphibian - has been successfully bred from a long-term captive population at Auckland Zoo, according to an official announcement on 27 February 2013.^[8]

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February 29

• New Zealand film director Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won 11 Oscars on February 29, 2004. Only two films before have achieved this record: Ben Hur and Titanic.^[9]

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• Zoë Hilton from New Zealand received a Unesco-L’Oreal International Fellowship for Young Women in Life Sciences on 29 March 2012 for her study of the environment and nutrition necessary to ensure successful captive oyster production.^[10]

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April 18

• The crime rates across New Zealand have dropped to match Better Public Services (BPS) target to December 2012, according to statistics released on 18 April 2013 by Justice Minister Judith Collins. The figures show a reduction in total crime (9%), violent crime (7%) and youth crime (14%) across the country.^[11]

April 19

April 20

• For the first time New Zealand participated as a nation at the 1920 Summer Olympic Games held in Belgium from April 20 to September 12. Previously they have competed as part of Australasian team.^[12]

April 21

• New Zealand-born country music singer Keith Urban was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry's list of legends, country music's highest honor, at a ceremony in Tennessee on 21 April 2012. Keith is the first artist from outside North America to become an Opry member.^[13]

April 22

• Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, was awarded the prestigious Champions of the Earth Award by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on 22 April 2008. She was awarded for her major policy initiatives on environmental strategies.^[14]

April 23

• By sequencing the DNA of nearly 40 ancient skeletons found in the Mitelelbe Saale region of Germany, scientists from New Zealand along with their international colleagues have suggested that the foundations of the modern European gene pool were laid down in the Neolithic era, between 4,000 and 2,000 BC. Their findings were published on 23 April 2013 in the journal Nature Communications.^[15]

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• China overtook Australia as New Zealand's top export destination for the first time in the March 2013 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said on 26 April 2013, a sign of New Zealand's strong and diverse growth in exports to bigger marketplaces. Overseas merchandise trade figures for the March 2013 quarter show goods exported to China were valued at $2.3 billion. Exports to Australia were valued at $2.2 billion.^[16]

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• The first 15 turbines of Project West Wind, a wind farm located at New Zealand’s largest and oldest sheep stations known as Terawhiti Station and Makara Farm west of Wellington, were officially switched on by then Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key on April 29, 2009. It was a stepping stone for New Zealand's commitment to remain one of the lowest carbon dioxide emitting countries in terms of electricity generation.^[17]

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May 20

• New Zealand is famous for its sheep. However, Sheep aren't native to New Zealand. It was introduced by the British explorer Captain Cook when he released the first sheep in New Zealand on May 20, 1773.^[18]

May 21

• Craig Cliff, short story and poetry writer from New Zealand, won the prestigious Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2011 in Overall Best First Book category for his book "A Man Melting". The winners of the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize were announced on 21 May 2011 at The Sydney Writers' Festival in Sydney.^[19]

May 22

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May 24

• New Zealand's government announced a 40 percent hike in tobacco taxes over the next four years on 24 May 2012 with the aim of reducing nationwide smoking habit.^[20]

May 25

• New Zealand is to co-host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a global science and engineering project to build the world’s largest radio telescope, that will give mankind its farthest peek into the Universe. The Members of the SKA Organization announced the decision on 25 May 2012.^[21]

May 26

May 27

• Lloyd Jones, a novelist from New Zealand, was awarded the prestigious Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2007 in Overall Best Book category for his novel Mister Pip. The novel tells the story of Mr Watts, an inspirational white teacher, and his influence among children on the small copper mining island of Bougainville.^[22]

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• On May 29, 1953 New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Tenzing Norgay became the first human beings to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Their stay would last a mere 15 minutes since their oxygen reserves were low.^[23]

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June 20

• Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key addressed the Australian parliament on June 20, 2011. His historic address to Australia's Parliament was the first by a New Zealand Prime Minister.^[24]
• New Zealand won the 1987 Rugby World Cup. They won the final comprehensively against France (Final Result: 29 - 9). It was the inaugural rugby world cup and was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.^[25]

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• The University of Otago is New Zealand's oldest university. The university was opened on 5th July 1871.^[26]

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• Lorraine Downes from New Zealand was crowned Miss Universe 1983 at the age of 19. Lorraine became the first New Zealander to win the title.^[27]

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August 1

• New Zealand launched its first commercially available biofuel, consists of bioethanol made from cows' milk, for the motorists on August 1, 2007. The 10 per cent bioethanol-blended petrol was introduced by Gull Petroleum.^[28]

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• New Zealand played their first rugby test match on 15 August 1903 against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia. New Zealand won the match comprehensively by 22-3.^[29]

August 16

• Valerie Adams, is a shot putter from New Zealand, won the gold medal in the women's shot put event at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics on 16th August 2008. She won the gold with a throw of 20.56 m.

• Philip Rush from New Zealand completed a three way swim of the English Channel, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that forms a channel between France and Britain, on 16 August 1987 with world record time of 28 hours 21 minutes.^[30]

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• Tom Ashley won the gold medal in the RS:X Mens windsurfing event during day 12 of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Prior to this gold medal New Zealand won this event almost 16 years back.^[31]

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• Fifteen-year-old amateur golfer Lydia Ko from New Zealand made history on 26 August 2012 becoming the youngest player to win in LPGA Tour history with a victory at the 2012 CN Canadian Women's Open.^[32]

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September 1

• Mike Moore, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, served as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Moore became Director-General of the World Trade Organization on 1 September 1999. He was the third Director-General of WTO which commenced to deal with the rules of trade between nations at a global or near-global level.^[33]

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September 9

• The 2011 Rugby World Cup got off to a spectacular start in New Zealand on September 9, 2011. This is the second time New Zealand proudly hosting the Rugby World Cup.^[34]

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September 21

• The United States has lifted a 26-year old ban on visits by New Zealand warships to U.S. defense and coast guard bases around the world, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced on 21 September 2012. The change in policy is part of an effort to bolster security ties between the two countries.^[35]

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September 26

• Dominion Day which marks as the day New Zealand became a dominion within the British Empire. This day added a new dimension to the struggle for freedom in New Zealand. [Year 1907].^[36]

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• New Zealand won the Rugby Championship series with a game to spare as the All Blacks put in a world champion performance to beat Argentina 54-15 and lift the inaugural Rugby Championship title on 29 September 2012.^[37]

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October 1

• New Zealand's scientists have genetically engineered a cow to produce high protein milk less likely to cause allergic reactions in humans. The research was published on 1 October 2012 in the early-edition of the journal National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.^[38]

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• Alan G. MacDiarmid won The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2000 in recognition of his contribution "for the discovery and development of conductive polymers".^[39]

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October 18

• New Zealand’s first trans-global radio transmission was sent to London on 18 October 1924. The two way communication originated in Shag Valley, Otago, New Zealand and replied back from London.

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October 22

• In a landmark study, University of Otago researchers have achieved the feat of sequencing complete mitochondrial genomes for members of the first-known New Zealanders and have revealed a surprising degree of genetic variation among these pioneering voyagers. The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on 22 October 2012.^[40]

October 23

• New Zealand won the 2011 Rugby World Cup on 23 October 2011. It is the second Rugby World Cup for New Zealand. They won the final 8-7 against France at the Eden Park stadium, Auckland, New Zealand.

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November 1

• New Zealand ranked ninth in the list of the World’s Most Positive Countries 2011 revealed by Daily Positive (D+) published on November 1, 2011.

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November 6

• A team of New Zealand scientists have confirmed that two spade-toothed beaked whales, the rarest of the species, had been found on one of its beaches. The findings were published on 6 November 2012 in the journal Current Biology.^[41]

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November 8

• Bionic legs known as Rex, an acronym for Robotic Exoskeleton, designed by two New Zealand inventors Richard Little and Robert Irving is approved for sale on 8 November 2011 in the United Kingdom for people who have difficulty walking.

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• New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote. Women in New Zealand voted for the first time at a polling station in the tiny South Otago settlement of Tahakopa, New Zealand on 28 November 1893.^[42]

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December 1

• The first public railway in New Zealand, between Ferrymead and Christchurch, was opened on 1 December 1863.^[43]

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• Jenny Shipley was the first ever female Prime Minister of New Zealand. She took the office on December 8, 1997. She was also the first woman ruler of an independent state of South Pacific/Oceania.^[44]

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December 10

• New Zealand and China signed two agreements on science-technology and education cooperation. The agreements were signed on 10 December 2012 in Wellington during the three-day visit by Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong ahead of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
• Helen Elizabeth Clark was the second female Prime Minister of New Zealand. Clark became the second, consecutive woman prime minister of New Zealand, succeeding Jenny Shipley on December 10, 1999.^[44]

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