Events In History
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12 September 1914Forty-three miners killed in explosion at Huntly
At 7.20 a.m. an explosion at Ralph's mine on Raynor Rd rocked Huntly. It was caused by a miner's naked acetylene cap-lamp igniting firedamp (methane gas given off by coal) Read more...
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26 March 1896Brunner mine disaster kills 65
At 9.30 a.m., an explosion tore through the Brunner mine in Westland’s Grey Valley. Two men sent underground to investigate were later found unconscious after inhaling black damp, a suffocating mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Read more...
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21 February 1879Kaitangata mining disaster
On the morning of 21 February 1879, an explosion rocked the coal mine at Kaitangata, South Otago. Read more...
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23 May 1861First major gold rush in Otago
Gabriel Read gained fame and fortune when he found gold near the Tuapeka River, a tributary of the Clutha River in Otago. Read more...
Articles
Pike River mine disaster
On the afternoon of 19 November 2010, an explosion ripped through the remote Pike River mine on the West Coast of the South Island, killing 29 men.
- Page 1 - Pike River mine disasterOn the afternoon of 19 November 2010, an explosion ripped through the remote Pike River mine on the West Coast of the South Island, killing 29
British & Irish immigration, 1840-1914
Who were the ancestors of Pākehā New Zealand? Where did they come from and what sort of people were they? These are some of the questions which this feature sets out to answer.
- Page 4 - The EnglishTable and graph showing which part of England immigrants to New Zealand came
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Main image: Deaths from underground gas explosions in mines
This map shows the location of New Zealand's major coal mine disasters in which deaths were caused by gas explosions.