2 September

1945 Air Vice-Marshal Isitt accepts Japanese surrender

Air Vice-Marshal Leonard Isitt added New Zealand’s signature to the Instrument of Surrender between the Allied powers and Japan. Read more...

1960 Golden hour for Kiwi runners in Rome

New Zealand sport enjoyed one of its greatest days in Rome’s Olympic Stadium. Peter Snell won the 800 m and Murray Halberg won the 5000 m. Read more...

1972 New Zealand’s rowing eight wins gold

In 2008 the well-known sports writer Joseph Romanos chose the victory of the 1972 rowing eight as the best team performance by New Zealanders at an Olympic Games. Read more...

1975 First New Zealand representative women’s football team wins Asian Cup

In their first outing on the international stage, the New Zealand women’s football team won the invitational Asian Cup tournament in Hong Kong, beating Thailand 3–1 in the final.  Read more...

1979 Ivan Mauger wins sixth world speedway title

As well as a record six individual world titles between 1968 and 1979, including three in a row from 1968 to 1970, Mauger also won the long track world championship three times between 1971 and 1976. Read more...