THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
MAY 29
1942 – Bing Crosby records White Christmas, widely regarded as the world’s best-selling single of all time.
1949 – At the first British Film and TV Awards (Baftas), The Best Years Of Our Lives wins Best Film. 1953 – New Zealand’s Edmund Hillary (above) and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal are the first recorded people to reach the summit of Mt Everest.
2018 – ABC TV network cancels the sitcom Roseanne after its star Roseanne Barr posts a racist tweet.
MAY 30
1959 – The Auckland Harbour Bridge (above) opens, after four years of construction.
1966 – US country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton, 20, weds Carl Dean, 23, in Ringgold, Georgia. The couple are still married.
1998 – The Crusaders win their first Super Rugby title, beating the Blues 20-13 at Eden Park, Auckland. Exactly 12 months later, they retained their title, beating the Highlanders 24-19 in the final at Carisbrook, Dunedin.
2003 – The movie Finding Nemo (below), with voices by Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks, is released in the US and Canada.
MAY 31
1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono record Give Peace A Chance and, on the same day, Steve Wonder releases the soul classic My Cherie Amour.
2004 – British children’s cartoon Peppa Pig, created by Astley Baker Davies, premieres on TV.
2004 – Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, the third film based on the books by JK Rowling, is released in UK cinemas.
2014 – Psy’s Gangnam Style becomes the first video to reach two billion views on YouTube.
JUNE 1
1960 – New Zealand’s first official TV transmission takes place from the Shortland Street studios in central Auckland. The broadcast, which started at 7.30pm, lasted just three hours and could
be seen only in the Auckland region.
1968 – Simon And Garfunkel’s single Mrs Robinson from The Graduate movie hits number one on the US charts and later wins Grammy Record Of The Year.
1980 – Cable news network CNN tansmits for the first time.
2008 – A fire in the backlot of Universal Studios in Hollywood destroys several notable sets including the clock tower from Back To The Future and the King Kong exhibit on the studio tour.
JUNE 2
1953 – The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II takes place in London’s Westminster Abbey.
1970 – New Zealand F1 driver Bruce McLaren dies during a test-drive on the Goodwood circuit in England. He was 32.
1989 – The movie Dead Poet’s Society, starring Robin Williams, premieres.
JUNE 3
1969 – The last episode of TV series Star Trek screens on NBC.
1985 – Larry King Live debuts on CNN and continues through until December 2010.
1988 – The film Big, directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks, premieres in the US.
1989 – The Tiananmen Square massacre begins as Chinese troops open fire on pro-democracy supporters in Beijing. In the image below a Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks. 2013 – New Zealand singer Lorde releases her debut single Royals, the 2014 Grammy Song Of The Year.
JUNE 4
1940 – Britain completes the “Miracle of Dunkirk” by evacuating more than 338,000 allied troops from France via a flotilla of at least 800 vessels.
1943 – Twenty one people die when the Cromwell-Dunedin express derails while rounding a curve of the track near Hyde, in central Otago. It is New Zealand’s second-worst rail disaster (surpassed only by the 1953 Tangiwai tragedy).
1951 – Actors Tony Curtis, 26, and Janet Leigh, 23, are married in Greenwich, Connecticut. 1984 – The album Born In The USA by Bruce Springsteen (above) is released.
1995 – The All Blacks set a world record score for a rugby test in beating Japan 145-17 at the World Cup in Blomfontein, South Africa. Marc Ellis scores six tries.