Culture, science & sport
5 events between 1869–1960, shown on the map in this colour.
University of Otago founded
Gold money funded New Zealand’s first university, which opened to students in 1871 and admitted women from the start.
DunedinErnest Rutherford wins the Nobel Prize
A farm boy from Brightwater took the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and went on to split the atom and discover the atomic nucleus.
Brightwater, NelsonEdmund Hillary summits Everest
An Auckland beekeeper and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest, and the news arrived in London on the morning of the Queen’s coronation.
AucklandThe 1953–54 royal tour
Elizabeth II became the first reigning monarch to visit New Zealand. An estimated three in four New Zealanders saw her in person.
Television broadcasting begins
AKTV2 broadcast to a few thousand Auckland sets for two hours a night, opening with a British sitcom.
Auckland