1. NZ gives women the right to vote – 1893
On the 19th of September 1893, New Zealand became the first self-governing country to give women the right to vote in parliamentary elections. The suffrage movements were led by Kate Sheppard, who arrived in New Zealand from Liverpool aged 22 and co-founded the NZ Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). In 1887 Kate was appointed the national superintendent of the franchise and legislation department. The Electoral Act of 1983 passed due to the petitions, pamphlets and other efforts by Kate, the WCTU and their supporters. Sixty-five per cent of all New Zealand women over 21 voted in the first election. You can see Kate’s face on the NZ $10 note.
2. First Māori to complete a degree at a New Zealand university – 1893
Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata was a prominent New Zealand politician and lawyer. He completed his BA in Politics in 1893 from the Canterbury University College (one of the very first New Zealanders, Māori or Pakeha, to gain a double degree). He was elected to Parliament in the 1905 election as part of the Liberal party. He was knighted in 1927, the third Māori ever to be knighted at the time. You can see Āpirana Ngata’s face on the $50 note.
3. Ernest Rutherford ‘splits the atom’ – 1919
Born near Nelson in 1871, Ernest gained three degrees at Canterbury College and won an Exhibition of 1851, using it to study at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge in England. In 1898, he accepted a Professorship at McGill University in Montreal, Canada – it was here he made his first career break-through: the discovery that atoms of heavy elements have tendency to decay. This was the precursor to todays ‘carbon dating’. In 1907 Rutherford returned to England, becoming Professor of Physics and Manchester University. He made his second break-through here – a new model of the atom as a tiny nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons. Because of this work, Rutherford won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908. Rutherford’s third and final breakthrough was his most famous, as he ‘split the atom’ to become the world’s first successful alchemist. His quote after was “I have broken the machine and touched the ghost of matter”. He has an element ‘rutherfordium’ and a mineral ‘rutherfordine’ named after him. He is also known as ‘The Lord Rutherford of Nelson’ and “The Father of the Atom”. You can see Ernest’s face on the NZ $100 note.
4. Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay first to ascend Mount Everest – 1953
New Zealander, ‘Ed’ Hillary summited the tallest mountain in the world alongside Tenzing Norgay. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. At 11:30am on the 28th May Hillary and then Tenzing stepped onto Everest’s 29,028ft (8,848m) summit – the highest point on earth. After Everest Ed was knighted and Tenzing received the George Medal (awarded for acts of great bravery). Hillary also became the first person to summit Everest and visit both the South and North pole. You can see Ed’s face on the New Zealand $5 note.
5. Springbok Tour – 1981
Apartheid had made South Africa an international outcast, and other countries were discouraged from having any contact with it. With the All Blacks and Springboks rugby union team’s due to play each other three times in 1981, opinion was divided as to whether the tour should go ahead or not. Ultimately, then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon decided that the Government would not interfere due to the position of “no politics in sport”. Major protests ensued, aiming to make clear New Zealander’s opposition to apartheid and attempt to stop the games if possible. Two games were cancelled and the final test between the Springboks and All Blacks was flour-bombed. Throughout the tour there were constant protests and police clashed with spectators over and over. After the tour, no official sporting contact took place between NZ and South Africa until the early 1990’s, after apartheid had been abolished.
6. Rainbow Warrior Attack – 1985
New Zealand’s anti-nuclear stance was well-established by the mid 1980’s and the bombing of Greenpeace vessel, the Rainbow Warrior, in New Zealand waters, was an act of a terrorism and retaliation by the French Government for protests against French nuclear testing. 15 DGSE (Directorate-General for External Security) agents worked on the attack, nicknamed Operation Statanic and sank the Warrior with two mines in Auckland’s Waitemata harbour. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in New Zealand history as Portuguese-Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira drowned after the second bomb went off. This resulted in poor relations between France and New Zealand for the remainder of the 20th Century. In 2015, 30 years after the event, and after relations had been repaired between the two countries, the leader of the French Intelligence agency that bombed the ship finally apologised publicly.
7. New Zealand wins the first Rugby World Cup – 1987
The first-ever Rugby World Cup was hosted by New Zealand and Australia and run by the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB – now the IRB). The tournament comprised the seven then-members of the IRFB and the remaining nine places were filled by teams invited by the IRFB. New Zealand lifted the Webb Ellis Cup (named after rugby’s inventor William Webb Ellis) by beating France 29-9 in the final. The final was played at Auckland’s Eden Park stadium on the 20th June 1987, in front of a crowd of 48,035 people. Try-scorers were All Blacks legends Michael Jones, captain David Kirk and John Kirwan. Grant Fox kicked the rest of the points for the hosts. France scored a late try through Pierre Berbizier.
8. First America’s Cup win for NZ – 1995
Sir Peter Blake, lucky red socks and Black Magic (NZL 52), a crew of sailors and boat makers was the recipe for New Zealand’s success in the America’s Cup. The team defeated the defender Stars & Stripes, and Dennis Conner, by a 5-0 margin. With the Americans having a lot more money than New Zealand, the victory was a triumph of ability and seamanship over big money. When the team arrived back in New Zealand they were welcomed home with ticker-tape parades and they defended the America’s Cup (the Auld Mug) in 2000 at Auckland’s Viaduct Basin. After their 2000 defence, the Kiwis didn’t win the cup again until Bermuda 2017, suffering defeats to Alinghi in 2003 and 2007, and Oracle in 2007, 2010 and 2013.
9. First female party leaders and Prime Ministers in NZ – 1997 & 1999
Dame Jenny Shipley became New Zealand’s first female Prime Minister (PM) in 1997 after ousting former PM Jim Bolger. She is also the only woman to have ever led the National party. She became the 36th PM of NZ on the 8th of December 1997 and left office on the 5th December 1999 to become leader of the opposition. Shipley’s successor was The Right Honourable Helen Clark. She was the first female to lead the labour party and was New Zealand’s fifth-longest-serving Prime Minister (5 December 1999 – 19 November 2008). Clark resigned from Parliament in 2009 to take up the post of Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme.
10. Same-sex marriage is legalised – 2013
New Zealand became the first country in Oceania, the fourth in the Southern Hemisphere and the 13th country overall to allow same-sex couples to marry. The bill passed after 77 of 121 parliamentary members voted in favour of allowing same-sex marriage. This was a landmark moment in New Zealand’s push towards equality and was celebrated with cheers and the singing of NZ folk song Pokarekare Ana.
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