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TODAY IN HISTORY
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1898, First movie shot in New Zealand
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24 December
24 December
1953
Tangiwai railway disaster
The worst railway disaster in New Zealand’s history occurred on Christmas Eve 1953, when the Wellington–Auckland night express plunged into the flooded Whangaehu River, just west of Tangiwai in the central North Island.
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This Week in History
27 November
1849
Death of Te Rauparaha
28 November
1893
Women vote in first general election
29 November
1877
Education Act passed into law
30 November
1949
Election of first National government
1 December
1898
First movie shot in New Zealand
2 December
1917
'Six o'clock swill' begins
3 December
1863
Land confiscation law passed