Just wondering . . .

. . . why the technological wizards who make phones which can do so much can’t make batteries which allow you to do it for more than a very few hours.

Free trade deals save millions

Free trade deals have saved multi millions of dollars, Beef + Lamb New Zealand says.

By its calculations, New Zealand’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) delivered tariff savings of more than $160 million on sheep meat and beef exports last year.

Beef and Lamb chief executive Scott Champion said those savings would grow as tariffs continued to come down and exports grew.

“The good news, I guess, is how big some of the savings are compared to if those free trade agreements weren’t in place.”

Dr Champion said red meat was one of the most protected products in the world and, especially for beef, the amount of tariffs being paid was still significant.

“It’s about $161 million saved, compared to not having FTAs in place, but the total tariff bill is still about $326 million.

“We have a lot of discussion – often publicly – around whether we should be doing free trade agreements, or shouldn’t we, and what this data really suggests is that… free trade agreements deliver significant savings to sectors, and particularly primary industries.”

Protection limits choice and adds costs for consumers, distorts markets and reduces income for producers.

It can also facilitate corruption as those seeking market access or to limit access for others seek to influence those with the power to confer favours.

The only real beneficiaries from trade restrictions are politicians, bureaucrats and the protected businesses who gain at everyone else’s cost.

Quote of the day

We are a nation of people who pride ourselves on standing up for what we believe in.  . .

In all of these cases, we have acted with integrity not because it was the easy course of action, but because it was the right thing to do. Because we look after people. Because we are kaitiaki – guardians and stewards who look after the land, people and place. Many of us have a deep sense of connection to our land. This extends beyond the picturesque postcards and sweeping vistas from Lord of the Rings, to the pockets of humble Kiwi bush dotted across farmland and the one-third of New Zealand’s land mass that has some form of protection for conservation values.  Alina Siegfried

July 24 in history

1132 Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily.

1148  Louis VII of France  laid siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade.

1411  Battle of Harlaw, one of the bloodiest battles in Scotland.

1487  Citizens of Leeuwarden, Netherlands struck against ban on foreign beer.

1534  French explorer Jacques Cartier planted a cross on the Gaspé Peninsula and took possession of the territory in the name of Francis I of France.

1567  Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate and replaced by her 1-year-old son James VI.

1701  Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded the trading post at Fort Pontchartrain, which later became the city of Detroit, Michigan.

1715 A Spanish treasure fleet of 10 ships under Admiral Ubilla left Havana  for Spain.

1725 John Newton, English cleric and hymnist, was born (d. 1807).

1783 Simón Bolívar, South American liberator, was born (d. 1830).

1802 Alexandre Dumas, père, French writer, was born (d. 1870).

1814  War of 1812: General Phineas Riall advanced toward the Niagara River to halt Jacob Brown’s American invaders.

1823  Slavery was abolished in Chile.

1832  Benjamin Bonneville led  the first wagon train across the Rocky Mountains by using Wyoming’s South Pass.

1847  After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young led 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City.

1864  American Civil War: Battle of Kernstown – Confederate General Jubal Anderson Early defeated Union troops led by General George Crook in an effort to keep them out of the Shenandoah Valley.

1866  Reconstruction: Tennessee became the first U.S. State to be readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War.

1874 Oswald Chambers, Scottish minister and writer, was born (d. 1917).

1895  Robert Graves, English author, was born  (d. 1985).

1897 Amelia Earhart, American aviator, was born (disappeared 1937).

1901  O. Henry was released from prison after serving three years for embezzlement from a bank.

1911  Hiram Bingham III re-discovered Machu Picchu, “the Lost City of the Incas”.

1915  The passenger ship S.S. Eastland capsised in central Chicago, with the loss of 845 lives.

1923  The Treaty of Lausanne, settling the boundaries of modern Turkey, was signed.

1927  The Menin Gate war memorial is unveiled at Ypres.

1929  The Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of foreign policy went  into effect.

1931  A fire at a home for the elderly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania killed 48 people.

1935  The world’s first children’s railway opened in Tbilisi, USSR.

1935   The dust bowl heat wave reached its peak, sending temperatures to 109°F (44°C) in Chicago and 104°F (40°C) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1937 Alabama dropped rape charges against the so-called “Scottsboro Boys“.

1938 First ascent of the Eiger north face.

1943 World War II: Operation Gomorrah began: British and Canadian aeroplanes bombed Hamburg by night, those of the Americans by day.

1950 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station began operations with the launch of a Bumper rocket.

1959  At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev have a “Kitchen Debate“.

1966 Michael Pelkey and Brian Schubert made the first BASE jump from El Capitan. Both came out with broken bones.

1967  During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle declared to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre! (“Long live free Quebec!”). The statement, interpreted as support for Quebec independence, delighted many Quebecers but angered the Canadian government and many English Canadians.

1969 Jennifer Lopez, American actress and singer, was born.

1969  Apollo 11 splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean.

1972 Bugojno group was caught by Yugoslav security forces.

1974 Watergate scandal: the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Richard Nixon did not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed White House tapes and they order him to surrender the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.

1974 After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus the Greek military junta collapsed and democracy was restored.

1977  End of a four day Libyan-Egyptian War.

1982 Anna Paquin, Canadian-born New Zealand actress, was born.

 

1982  Heavy rain caused a mudslide that destroyed  a bridge at Nagasaki, Japan, killing 299.

1990  Iraqi forces started massing on the Kuwait-Iraq border.

1998  Russell Eugene Weston Jr. burst into the United States Capitol and opened fire killing two police officers.

2000 Private Leonard Manning became New Zealand’s first combat death since the Vietnam War when he was killed in Timor-Leste.

2001 – Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the last Tsar of Bulgaria when he was a child, was sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, becoming the first monarch in history to regain political power through democratic election to a different office.

2001 Bandaranaike Airport attack was carried out by 14 Tamil Tiger commandos, all died in this attack. They destroyed 11 Aircrafts (mostly military) and damaged 15, there are no civilian casualties.

2005 Lance Armstrong won his seventh consecutive Tour de France.

2007  Libya freed all six of the Medics in the HIV trial in Libya.

2009 – The MV Arctic Sea, reportedly carrying a cargo of timber, was allegedly hijacked in the North Sea by pirates, but much speculation remains as to the actual cargo and events.

2011 – Digital switchover was completed in 44 of the 47 prefectures of Japan, with Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima television stations terminating analog broadcasting operations later as a result of the Tohoku earthquake.

2013 – A high-speed train derailed in Spain rounding a curve with an 80 km/h (50 mph) speed limit at 190 km/h (120 mph), killing 78 passengers.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

Limerence – a state of mind resulting from romantic attraction, characterised by feelings of euphoria and the desire to have one’s feelings reciprocated; an involuntary interpersonal state that involves intrusive, obsessive and compulsive thoughts, feeling and behaviours that are contingent on perceived emotional reciprocation from the object of interest; a state of infatuation with or obsession by another person, typically experienced involuntarily and characterised by a strong desire for reciprocation of one’s feelings but not primarily for a sexual relationship.

Rural round-up

Potential for dairy farmers to increase income from calves:

In a welcome departure from dismal news on the dairy front, farmers are being told that a simple change to their herd mating plans could increase their income from calves.

The advice is one outcome from the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Dairy Beef Integration Programme which is looking at the impact of using good beef genetics in a dairy beef supply chain.

The aim of the AgResearch managed research is to confirm the impact the strategy could have for dairy farmers and others in the supply chain. Early results show clear advantage – and potential additional profit – to dairy farmers from the use of proven beef genetics. . .

 Tiny mite a buzzkill for NZ’s wasps: – Nick Butcher:

A Landcare Research scientist says a tiny mite found on the back of wasps could be helping control the spread of the pests, which sting the country’s primary industries by about $130 million a year.

Wasps also pose a hazard to people and harm the native bird population by competing with them for food, including honeydew and other insects.

Dr Bob Brown discovered the unnamed mite in 2011. He said his studies showed wasp nests infested with the mites were 50 to 70 percent smaller than uninfested nests. . .

Efforts continue to get to the bottom of NAIT puzzle – Allan Barber:

The saga continues, as my Warkworth friend attempts to find out how NAIT intends to ensure correct reconciliation of livestock records, but as yet without a totally satisfactory answer. After further contact, NAIT’s acting Group Manager Sam McIvor replied with answers to the main points raised and I understand the conversation will continue, as both parties try to convince the other of their respective point of view.

At its most basic, the debate centres round the issue of ensuring 100% accuracy which is only possible, if there is 100% retention of tags at the time of stock movement or every animal has a second or reserve tag. At present NAIT estimates there is 98% retention. My friend who came through the mad cow disease disaster as well as FMD outbreaks in the UK is adamant the only acceptable position is 100% accuracy in the event of a disease outbreak. . .

Duncan Coull New Shareholders’ Council Chairman:

Duncan Coull has been elected unopposed to the position of Chairman of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council.

Mr Coull was first elected to the Council in 2010 to represent Fonterra Farmers in Otorohanga and served as the Council’s Deputy Chair for the past 12 months.

Mr Coull: “It is a privilege to be elected to lead the Council and I thank Councillors for the support I continue to receive. . .

 New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated Annual General Meeting:

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated (NZKGI) held its Annual General Meeting today, Wednesday 22 July 2015, updating growers on its key projects and reflected on a successful year.

NZKGI President, Neil Trebilco, says grower confidence and orchard values have continued to increase over the last twelve months.

“The main factors in this increasing optimism are the reduced effects of Psa and increasing OGRs per tray, particularly for Green. . .

 

Dairy farm prices stalling, lifestyle blocks strong, REINZ data shows – Fiona Rotherham:

(BusinessDesk) – Farm sales are down 9 per cent in the year to June and dairy farm prices have begun a slight downward trend, according to the latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand data.

There were 62, or 11.5 percent, fewer farm sales for the three months ended June, compared to the same period a year ago and the overall year to date is down 9 percent to a total of 1,737 farms sold.

The median price per hectare for all farms sold in the three months to June was $29,141, compared to $26,634 in the same period the previous year, up 9.5 percent. But the All Farm Price Index, which adjusts for differences in farm size, location and farming type, rose by just under 1 percent in June compared to the same month in 2014. . . .

Expert’s visit fruition of relationship cultivation:

Feijoas and Kiwifruit have been on the menu as Lincoln hosted a plant specialist recently to initiate closer working ties around food production with a Chinese province of 90 million people.

Feijoa expert Dr Meng Zhang, of Southwest University of Science and Technology (SWUST) in Sichuan Province, spent a month with Lincoln University and the Bio-Protection Research Centre (BPRC) at Lincoln specifically to learn more about New Zealand horticulture production systems, biological protection and bio-control.

The visit comes a few months after SWUST’s President, Jun-bo Wang, and Director Guan-zhi Zhang, were in Lincoln as part of a large Sichuan trade delegation intended to further extend co-operation between the two institutes. . .

 

Weaker New Zealand Dollar Helps Wool Prices:

New Zealand Wool Services International Limited’s General Manager, Mr John Dawson reports that the weakening New Zealand dollar helped local prices this week with most types increasing by the corresponding currency change.

The weighted indicator for the main trading currencies was down 2.04 percent compared to the last sale on 9th July.

Of the 7,900 bales on offer from the South Island, 88 percent sold with types suitable for in the grease shipments coming under strong competition. . .

New production quality accreditation for animal feed:

New Zealand animal feed manufacturers now have a quality of production accreditation.

FeedSafeNZ is a new accreditation available to New Zealand Feed Manufacturers Association (NZFMA) members who pass independent audit standards as to quality of feed production. The FeedSafeNZ accreditation has two main aims: to provide safe feed for animals and thereby to protect the safety of human food.

Michael Brooks, NZFMA Executive Director says, “High quality feed is vital not only for the health and wellbeing of animals but also for humans, so it’s imperative that feed is manufactured to strict guidelines and is packed and stored correctly to ensure its quality is maintained. . .

 

Thursday’s quiz

1. Who said: The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. ?

2. Who wrote Tom Brown’s School Days?

3. It’s élève in French, allievo in Italian, alumno in Spanish and tauira in Maori, what is it in English?

4. Which is New Zealand’s oldest state girls’ secondary school?

5. What attributes made your best teacher so good?

Growing economy supports healthy environment

Federated Farmers’ president Dr William Rolleston addressed Local Government New Zealand’s conference on how a growing economy can support a health environment:

Farmers and governments around the world worry about food security and climate change. How could we increase our production while mitigating our environmental footprint? How could we build resilience in a changing climate?

If agriculture is to continue its contribution to New Zealand’s economy we must also address the issues of productivity and environmental impact.  We must continue to enhance our economic benefit by increasing productivity, adding value to our current products and developing new high value products.  We must address the risks which exist in the market, in our social licence to operate, in biosecurity (including pests), and in our climate.

It is not axiomatic that economic progress means environmental deterioration.

Rather economic progress is needed to pay for environmental protection and enhancement.

As a farming leader I have looked for solutions which enable economic progress while supporting a healthy environment.  In this way the incentives line up and the need for punitive resource rentals, taxes and similar instruments is obviated.  Let me give you some examples:

• Nitrogen, whether in chemical fertiliser, organic fertiliser or fixed by legumes is a significant expense on many farms.  It always shocks me just how little is actually utilised in product which moves off farm and how much is lost to the atmosphere and beyond the root zone. These losses contribute to adverse water quality outcomes as well as greenhouse gases.  Interventions which increase the utilisation of nitrogen will result in better environmental outcomes as well as reduced expense for the farmer.
• It is a myth that water is free.  Farmers pay big dollars to have water reticulated to their farms through their own or other schemes.  The proposed Ruataniwha Dam is a good example. In Canterbury we have seen significant increases in water efficiency through spray irrigation and now precision irrigation.  Research is continuing to improve drought tolerance and water efficiency in the very plants themselves.
• Soil erosion is a loss of capital from the farming system.  It is not new and it occupied the minds of my farming grandparents on our property for as long as I could remember.  New techniques such as no till agriculture where paddocks are sprayed with herbicide and direct drilled not only increases productivity but retains soil structure helping to preserve this valuable resource from wind and water erosion that ploughing would leave it vulnerable to.
• Even without putting biological emissions into the Emissions Trading Scheme farmers have improved their carbon efficiency by 1.2 percent per year, for the past decade, through improved productivity.  Not only that though, New Zealand farmers are amongst the most carbon efficient animal protein producers in the world.  In the absence of mitigation tools and any charges on our competitors, penalising farmers to the extent it would reduce biological emissions would mean a movement of production to less efficient producers offshore and an increase in global biological emissions.

So in many areas economic and environmental goals are already aligned which is good business for councils.  But alignment is not always possible and we can’t pretend that human activity does not have an effect on the environment.  Of course it does. Our response could be to wind agriculture back, to reduce production to mitigate environmental impacts but this also has consequences.

We live in a global world whose population continues to expand.  The FAO predict we will need to increase world food production by 60 percent by 2050 to meet demand.  

New Zealand cannot feed the world, but we must play our part.  It would be irresponsible of us to squander or underutilise our resources.  Even if we are only feeding the rich and privileged – the worried well if you like – wetlands and forests will need to be converted to farmland at the bottom end to compensate for this indulgence.  This is not supporting our environmental credentials.

When it comes to resources our Resource Management Act (RMA) works on a first come first served basis.  This works well at the front end.  Decision makers at that point cannot have the foresight to know what the demand for a resource will be.  However first in first served becomes problematic as a resource reaches its limits when a more strategic approach is needed.  Councils have grappled with this.  Creating property rights through tradable quota however this is not the answer.

There is no doubt scarcity through quota creates value.  However this is a double edged sword.  On the one hand increased value can mean increased attention by the custodian, on the other hand that value can be artificial and limit options for more creative solutions.

In Canada for example, milk is produced under a quota system.  Many Canadian dairy farmers oppose free trade because it will erode their quota value.

Creating ownership in water could have a similar outcome where water storage or increased supply may be resisted by the status quo.

But here decision makers have a problem, which the RMA is yet to solve satisfactorily. How do you allow movement of a resource to the best use in an efficient and equitable way without creating a property right that would flow simply to the entity that can afford to pay the most, or worse still, one which is banked to the detriment of the economy and the environment?  How do you allow for new entrants?

Three potential answers lie in resource expansion, science to increase efficient use, and collaboration.

Water storage is a good example of resource expansion and remains at the top of Federated Farmers’ agenda.  

Water storage builds resilience – the trifecta of economic resilience, community resilience and environmental resilience.  It also creates headroom to dissipate the issue of constraint.  The rationale however is still governed by cost.

The Opuha Dam in South Canterbury remains the leading example of water storage for irrigation.  As well as economic benefit the Opuha Dam has increased river flows, generated electricity, provided Timaru City with water as well as recreation for water craft, fishers and campers.

The courage of a few to build the Dam has, through its living example, made possible the Canterbury Water Management Strategy and in turn the Land and Water Forum. The protagonists knew that economic and environmental gain together was possible.

Solutions for Maori economic aspirations in water could well come through water storage.  By contributing to the development of water storage, government can help create the headroom for negotiation and settlement, if such a settlement is justified.  

And note I used the word “contribute”, not “invest”.  We already have Crown Irrigation Investments to address the hurdle of early capital shortfall and the Irrigation Acceleration Fund and these have been welcomed by Federated Farmers.  But there is a case for government to directly contribute to water storage infrastructure, to create headroom for negotiation as I have just said, but also to reflect the contribution water storage makes to the environment and the community.  Consider that at the time the Opuha water was switched off to farmers, 8 cumecs were still flowing to meet environmental needs – four times the natural inflows.
Farmers are willing to pay for the benefit they receive from water storage.

But as I have mentioned water storage also provides the opportunity to improve habitat, increase environmental flows and provide recreation.  Both local and central government should also consider their financial contribution to reflect the public good.

If we are to truly make economic gain while supporting a healthy environment, decision makers need to ensure they get the science right.  As I mentioned at the beginning of this presentation the systems in which we operate are uncertain by their nature and information is often incomplete.  

The Prime Minister’s Science Advisor, Sir Peter Gluckman, is concerned that decisions made without the proper application of science can entrench policies which are of little value and are not easily reversible, because there may be a popular or political perception that they are effective when in fact they are not.  I share his concern. 

So our challenge is to ensure regulators, politicians and the judiciary make decisions that are in line with the science, and reflect the uncertainty of the time but are not paralysed by it.

The use of caution in the decision making process is essential, but the activist view of the Precautionary Principle, which in essence says do nothing until all risk is eliminated, is an example of the paralysis which we should avoid.
Decision makers need to distinguish between disagreement between parties and scientific uncertainty.  They need to understand what drives the certainty of any one party and put the uncertainty of experts in context. 

We have some evidence that councils and other decision makers are starting to get it right.

In the discourse on fluoridation, immunisation and 1080 we are seeing the public and decision makers starting to back science and reject the worn out and unsupported rhetoric of the anti-campaigners.

Water is more complex but the same principles apply.    

For some council’s the science surrounding genetic modification has not yet penetrated.  Are they playing a political game hoping central government will play the bad cop and get them off the hook?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that that attempts to duplicate control of genetic modification at the local level is based on scientific fantasy as much as anti-fluoridation, anti-immunisation and anti-1080.  What I do know is that significant biosecurity risks lurk in the garden plants of ratepayers but there is no call for strict liability there.

Is there uncertainty?  Of course there is, but conventional breeding is uncertain too. Do we need regulation? Of course we do, but that regulation should be seated in a competent central government authority and based on the risk not the technology.  

 Opportunities to be pest free, to reduce our environmental footprint, to increase productivity and create new products exist with such modern technologies.  These are the things which will prove our environmental credentials, not labels.  If you as councils want to have economic growth supporting a healthy environment then you need to ensure farmers have choice and access to the modern tools of science such as genetic modification and nanotechnology.

A lot has been said about farming to limits and for councils numbers make decision making much easier.  But I would remind you that the RMA was set up to be effects based and that blunt tools lead to dull outcomes.  We need to remind ourselves that farmers have only been talking nitrogen for about a decade.  The science is progressing quickly.  The challenge for regulators is to ensure that regulations are flexible enough to cope with the evolving evidence and to take account of improvements or reductions in water quality. 

It is my experience that farmers are environmentalists; why else would they dedicate their life to the land and spend over $1billion on the environment in five years? They are also problem solvers.  But they need to understand the problem before buying in.

However to make fast progress it requires strong balance sheets and good cash flows.  While it is unacceptable to go backwards regulators, environmentalists and the public need to understand that the rapid progress made in the last few years cannot be sustained when farmers are making a loss.

A growing economy can support a healthy environment but a shrinking one doesn’t stand much of a chance.  

The best way to achieve both a growing economy while supporting a healthy environment requires sound judgements by councils, with the appropriate use of science, engaging not enraging farmers, providing them with the tools of modern technology and seeking solutions which align economic and environmental outcomes. These are all requirements to grow sustainably.

 The downturn in dairy income isn’t an excuse  to ignore any requirements to be environmentally responsible but it will limit the ability to do more than necessary.

Apropos of the link between the economy and environment, Jim Rose says richer is greener:

The Kuznets environmental curve describes an empirical regularity between environmental quality and economic growth. Outdoor water, air and other pollution first worse and then improves as a country first experiences economic growth and development.

While many pollutants exhibit this pattern in the Kuznets environmental curve, peak pollution levels occur at different income levels for different pollutants, countries and time periods. John Tierney explains:

“In dozens of studies, researchers identified Kuznets curves for a variety of environmental problems.

There are exceptions to the trend, especially in countries with inept governments and poor systems of property rights, but in general, richer is eventually greener.

As incomes go up, people often focus first on cleaning up their drinking water, and then later on air pollutants like sulphur dioxide.

As their wealth grows, people consume more energy, but they move to more efficient and cleaner sources — from wood to coal and oil, and then to natural gas and nuclear power, progressively emitting less carbon per unit of energy. . . “

 Poorer people and countries have other priorities than the environment.

As the economy grows and incomes improve priorities change. The environment becomes more important and they can afford to protect and enhance it.

Quote of the day

What’s the hardest thing about being a parent?

It isn’t the sleepless nights, or the endless fights. It isn’t the constant worrying about every last little thing, or the constant pestering about every last little thing. It isn’t the impact on your work life, your love life, or your social life. It isn’t the lack of money, the lack of time, or even the lack of anything approaching a life of your own.

It feels like it’s all of those things, but it it’s none of them.

In the end, the hardest thing about being a parent is truly understanding that everything comes with a number. You get a certain number of bedtime stories, and a certain number of bedtime kisses. Your get a certain number of roads they’ll cross holding your hand, and a certain number of sports matches on a Saturday morning. You get a certain number of bike rides, and a certain number of bad jokes with no real punchline. Most of all… you get a certain number of hours.

One day you’ll go to the bucket, and it will be empty.

So–and I’m saying this as much to myself as to anyone else–get as much as you can, of all that you can, for as long as you possibly can. It’s the only score you’ll get that will ever truly mean anything, and it’s also the hardest one to keep track of. – Nigel Latta

July 23 in history

1632  Three hundred colonists bound for New France departed from Dieppe, France.

1793 Prussia re-conquered Mainz from France.

1829 William Austin Burt patented the Typographer, a precursor to the typewriter.

1833 Cornerstones are laid for the construction of the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio.

1840  The Province of Canada was created by the Act of Union.

1851 Twenty-six lives were lost when the barque Maria was wrecked near Cape Terawhiti, on Wellington’s rugged south-western coast.

1862 American Civil War: Henry W. Halleck took command of the Union Army.

1874  Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos was appointed the Archbishop of the Portuguese colonial enclave of Goa.

1881  The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, the world’s oldest international sport federation, was founded.

1881  The Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina was signed in Buenos Aires.

1888 Raymond Chandler, American-born author, was born (d. 1959).

1892 Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, was born (d. 1975).

1903  The Ford Motor Company sold its first car.

1914  Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia demanding Serbia to allow the Austrians to determine who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

1926 Fox Film bought the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film.

1929  The Fascist government in Italy bannedthe use of foreign words.

1936  The Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia was founded through the merger of socialist and communist parties.

1940 United States’ Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles‘s declaration on the U.S. non-recognition policy of the Soviet annexation and incorporation of three Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

1942 The Holocaust: The Treblinka extermination camp opened.

1942  World War II: Operation Edelweiss began.

1945  The post-war legal processes against Philippe Pétain began.

1947 David Essex, English singer, was born.

1950 Blair Thornton, Canadian guitarist (Bachman-Turner Overdrive), was born.

1952  New Zealand’s first female Olympic medallist, Yvette Williams (now Corlett) won gold in the long jump with an Olympic-record leap of 6.24 metres (20 feet 5 and 3/4 inches).

1952 Establishment of the European Coal and Steel community.

1952 General Muhammad Naguib led the Free Officers Movement (formed by Gamal Abdel Nasser– the real power behind the coup) in the overthrow of King Farouk of Egypt.

1956 The Loi Cadre was passed by the French Republic in order to order French overseas territory affairs.

1961 Martin Lee Gore, English musician and songwriter (Depeche Mode), was born.

1961 The Sandinista National Liberation Front was founded in Nicaragua.

1962 Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite.

1962  The International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos was signed.

1965 Slash, American guitarist (Guns N’ Roses), was born.

1967  12th Street Riot in Detroit, Michigan  began in the predominantly African American inner city (43 killed, 342 injured and 1,400 buildings burned).

1968 Glenville Shootout: In Cleveland, Ohio, a violent shootout between a Black Militant organization led by Ahmed Evans and the Cleveland Police Department occurs. During the shootout, a riot begins that lasted for five days.

1968  The only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft  when a 707 carrying 10 crew and 38 passengers was taken over by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

1970 Qaboos ibn Sa’id became Sultan of Oman after overthrowing his father, Sa’id ibn Taimur.

1972 The United States launched Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.

1973 Himesh Reshammiya, Indian Bollywood composer, singer and actor, was born.

1980 Michelle Williams, American singer (Destiny’s Child), was born.

1982  The International Whaling Commission decided to end commercial whaling by 1985-86.

1983 The Sri Lankan Civil War began with the killing of 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam .

1983  Gimli Glider: Air Canada Flight 143 ran out of fuel and made a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba.

1986  Prince Andrew, Duke of York married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.

1988 General Ne Win, effective ruler of Burma since 1962, resigned after pro-democracy protests.

1992 A Vatican commission, led by Joseph Ratzinger, (now Pope Benedict XVI) established that it was necessary to limit rights of homosexual people and non-married couples.

1992 Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia.

1995 Comet Hale-Bopp was discovered and becomes visible to the naked eye nearly a year later.

1997 Digital Equipment Company filed antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.

1999 Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan was crowned King Mohammed VI of Morocco on the death of his father.

1999  ANA Flight 61 was hijacked in Tokyo.

2005 Three bombs exploded in the Naama Bay area of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, killing 88 people.

2008 Cape Verde  joined the World Trade Organization, becoming its 153rd member.

2009 Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox  became the 18th pitcher to throw a perfect game in Major League Baseball history, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0.

2012 – At least 107 people were killed and more than 250 others wounded in a string of bombings and attacks in Iraq.

2014 – The opening ceremony for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held in Glasgow, Scotland.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

Arreptitious  – ecstatic; liable to raptures; frantic; hasty or hurried; snatched away; seized or possessed;raving; mad; crack-brained.

Rural round-up

Parasite a bee in keepers’ bonnets:

A bee scientist says the appearance of a new honey bee parasite is the last thing beekeepers need, with the most serious pest, the varroa mite, becoming more difficult to control.

The gut parasite, Lotmaria Passim, has been found in beehives on Coromandel Peninsula and in the southern North Island.

Plant and Food Research bee unit head Mark Goodwin said the discovery had serious implications for the bee industry, because it and another parasite, Nosema Ceranae, also present in New Zealand, have been linked with bee colony collapses overseas. . .

Black Thursday for Dairy and Fonterra – but eventually the sun will rise again – Keith Woodford:

Thursday 16 July was surely a black day for dairy and Fonterra. Not only did prices on the Global dairy trade auction prices drop to a record low, but Fonterra announced it was cutting 523 positions.

It was also a black day for New Zealand, as commentators and exchange rate speculators started to realise that the downturn was going to affect the whole economy. The exchange rate dropped close to 3% that day.

Regional New Zealand has seen the downturn coming for some time, but in the main cities the realisation is only starting to dawn. . .

English: dairy prices will rise:

Dairy prices will pick up, it’s just a matter of when and how quickly they do, Finance Minister Bill English says.

Dairy product prices sank again in last week’s GlobalDairyTrade auction, with whole milk powder leading the way with a 13.1 percent drop.

“The way it’s been described to me is there’s been a perfect storm of excess milk supply influenced by events in Russia, Europe and China and in New Zealand and Australia and that’s led to these prices,” Mr English told reporters. . .

Alliance shareholders force a special meeting – Fiona Rotherham:

(BusinessDesk) – Disgruntled Alliance Group shareholders have gathered sufficient support to force a special meeting to discuss the potential benefits and risks of a merger with fellow cooperative Silver Fern Farms.

Balfour farmer Jeff Grant, who along with rural accountant and farmer, Gaye Cowie, have been gathering the required 5 percent of proxy forms needed to force the special meeting, say they have sent 7 percent to the company for verification.

The move matches a similar one by Silver Fern Farms shareholders to force a special meeting within their own meat cooperative. . .

Property searched, 2 charged – Lynda van Kempen:

A six-month police investigation led to two arrests yesterday in connection with several incidents of alleged poaching in Central and South Otago.

About 20 police, including the armed offenders squad and Alexandra and Omakau officers, carried out a search of an Ida Valley property yesterday morning and seized ammunition, two 4WD vehicles and a quad bike, Sergeant Derek Ealson, ofAlexandra, said.

Following the search, a 27-year-old man and 28-year-old woman, both of Central Otago, were charged with 12 offences relating to unlawful hunting, trespass, unlawful possession of firearms and possession of cannabis, he said. . .

Family tips contribute to success in judging – Sally Rae:

Stud sheep breeding is in Ben Sutherland’s blood.

Mr Sutherland (19), who comes from Benmore Station, near Omarama, has inherited a long standing family interest in and passion for farming.

His great grandfather, H. J. Andrew, farmed Punchbowl, near Maheno, with well known Southdown and Poll Dorset sheep studs, while his grandfather, Jim Sutherland, founded the Benmore merino stud. . .

Man sells human-like sheep to save his sanity – Emma Cropper:

Owners of a lodge near Arthurs Pass have become so fed up with one of their lambs they sent out an online plea for someone to take the animal off their hands.

The animal enjoys hanging out with humans a little bit too much, and it’s driving the owners crazy.

Grasmere Lodge owner Thomas Butler says ‘Marcus’ has a taste for the finer things in life, and he’s getting too cosy with the luxury alpine lodge they call home. He follows them everywhere, chews on the plants, poops on the doorstep and regularly jumps into the car for a ride. . .

 

Tell tale tit

Tell tale tit/your tongue will be slit/ and all the dogs in the town/ will have a little bit.

This schoolyard chant has come to mind often as I watch the mainstream media report breathlessly on something someone has posted on the internet.

The latest is Max Key’s video of his family holiday.

If it wasn’t that his father is the Prime Minister would anyone but his friends know about this? Even when he is the PM’s son, some other than his friends might want to know but does anyone but them need to know?

It’s been viewed more than 116,000 times. But how many times would it have been viewed had it not been broadcast by the MSM?

Other political leaders have, rightly, said that politician’s families should be off-limits.

I only knew about it because I read a post on Facebook referring to Barry Soper’s soapbox saying the PM’s son’s lifestyle was a liability to him.

. . . Key’s always been seen as a regular bloke, and regardless of his super wealth, he is. But perhaps he should have a word to his son Max who’s been with the family at their Hawaiian hideaway over the past couple of weeks, along with his model girlfriend who’s soon to become a Miss Auckland contestant, we’re told. . .

Now that isn’t the privilege of the vast majority 20 year old’s who’re struggling to make ends meet in this country.

It’s not an image that should be flaunted when the number of homeless here is growing and when the economy’s beginning to waiver, and it’s not the image that Key’s so carefully cultivated.

To those who like and admire him the PM comes across as who he is, someone who has the rare ability to engage with a wide spectrum of people and who hides neither his humble background nor the wealth he earned through hard work and careful investment.

This story won’t influence them. It might provide some fuel for those who don’t like him or his politics but probably won’t even register with the vast majority.

If there was any flaunting, it wasn’t the original posting of the video, it was the reporting of it which brought it wider attention.

That brings me back to the schoolyard chant.

Social media is part of life now and some matters broadcast on it do have legitimate news value.

However, some which get reported on by the MSM forget the difference between what some of the pubic might be interested in and what’s in the public interest, and they’re just telling tales.

Stories about politicians families should, with very rare exceptions, be in the latter category.

Quote of the day

. . . One of the reasons why you probably haven’t had a significant correction is because over the last 45 years there’s probably been a general view that houses are not overvalued relative to a whole lot of different factors. My point is that the market, in the end, assesses when housing is massively overvalued compared to fundamentals, not politicians. – John Key

July 22 in history

838 – Battle of Anzen: the Byzantine emperor Theophilos suffered a heavy defeat by the Abbasids.

1099 – First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon was elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of Jerusalem.

1209 – Massacre at Béziers: the first major military action of the Albigensian Crusade.

1298 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Falkirk – King Edward I of England and his longbowmen defeated William Wallace and his Scottish schiltrons outside the town of Falkirk.

1456 – Ottoman Wars in Europe: Siege of Belgrade – John Hunyadi, Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, defeats Mehmet II of the Ottoman Empire.

1484 – Battle of Lochmaben Fair – A 500-man raiding party led by Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany and James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas were defeated by Scots forces loyal to Albany’s brother James III of Scotland; Douglas was captured.

1499 – Battle of Dornach – The Swiss decisively defeated the Imperial army of Emperor Maximilian I.

1510 Alessandro de’ Medici, Duke of Florence, was born  (d. 1537).

1587  Colony of Roanoke: a second group of English settlers arrived on Roanoke Island off North Carolina to re-establish the deserted colony.

1793 Alexander Mackenzie reached the Pacific Ocean becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing of Canada.

1805  Napoleonic Wars: War of the Third Coalition – Battle of Cape Finisterre – an inconclusive naval action was fought between a combined French and Spanish fleets under Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve of Spain and a British fleet under Admiral Robert Calder.

1812  Napoleonic Wars: Peninsular War – Battle of Salamanca – British forces led by Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) defeated French troops.

1844 William Archibald Spooner, English priest and scholar, was born  (d. 1930).

1849 Emma Lazarus, American poet, was born (d. 1887).

1864 – American Civil War:  Battle of Atlanta – Confederate General John Bell Hood led an unsuccessful attack on Union troops under General William T. Sherman on Bald Hill.

1890  Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, American Kennedy family matriarch, was born (d. 1995).

1894  First ever motorised racing event was held between the cities of Paris and Rouen – won by comte Jules-Albert de Dion.

1908 Amy Vanderbilt, American author, was born (d. 1974).

1916 A bomb exploded on Market Street, San Francisco during a Preparedness Day parade killing 10 and injuring 40.

1932 Oscar De la Renta, Dominican/American fashion designer, was born.

1933 Wiley Post became the first person to fly solo around the world traveling 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes.

1934 “Public Enemy No. 1″ John Dillinger was mortally wounded by FBI agents.

1936 Tom Robbins, American author, was born.

1942  The United States government began compulsory civilian gasoline rationing due to the wartime demands.

1942  Holocaust: the systematic deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto began.

1943  Bobby Sherman, American singer and actor, was born.

1944 Anand Satyanand, former Governor-General of New Zealand, was born.

1944 Estelle Bennett, American singer (Ronettes), was born (d. 2009).

1944  Rick Davies, British musician (Supertramp) , was born.

1944  The Polish Committee of National Liberation published its manifesto, starting the period of Communist rule.

1946  King David Hotel bombing: Irgun bombed King David Hotel in Jerusalem, headquarters of the British civil and military administration, killing 90.

1947  Don Henley, American musician (Eagles), was born.

1951 Dezik (Дезик) and Tsygan (Цыган, “Gypsy”) were the first dogs to make a sub-orbital flight.

1962 Mariner programme: Mariner 1 spacecraft flew erratically several minutes after launch and had to be destroyed.

1970 Craig Baird, New Zealander racing driver, was born.

1976  Japan completed its last reparation to the Philippines for war crimes committed in Japan’s imperial conquest of the country in the Second World War

1977  Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was restored to power.

1980 Scott Dixon, New Zealand racing driver, was born.

1983 Martial law in Poland was officially revoked.

1987 Lotto went on sale for the first time with a first division prize of $360,000.

1992   Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escaped from his luxury prison.

1993  Great Flood of 1993: Levees near Kaskaskia, Illinois ruptured, forcing the entire town to evacuate by barges operated by the Army Corps of Engineers.

1997 The second Blue Water Bridge opened between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.

2002 Israel killed terrorist Salah Shahade, the Commander-in-Chief of Hamas’s military arm, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

2002 – Prince Felix of Denmark was born.

2003 Members of 101st Airborne of the United States, aided by Special Forces, attacked a compound in Iraq, killing Saddam Hussein’s sons Uday and Qusay, plus Mustapha Hussein, Qusay’s 14-year old son, and a bodyguard.

2005  Jean Charles de Menezes was killed by police as the hunt started for the London Bombers responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings and the 21 July 2005 London bombings.

2011 – Twin terror attacks in Norway:  the first being a bomb blast which targeted government buildings in central Oslo, the second being a massacre at a youth camp on the island of Utøya.

2012 – Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour de France.

2013 – A series of earthquakes in Dingxi, China, killed at least 89 people and injureed more than 500 others.

2013 –  Prince George of Cambridge was born.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

Antepone – to put or set before; prefer.

Rural round-up

Farmers And Forest & Bird Unite to Explain 1080 Facts:

The Pest Control Education Trust, a joint Federated Farmers and Forest & Bird initiative, today released ‘1080: The Facts’, a resource created to increase public understanding of 1080 and how it is used.

The fact sheet is an illustrated, easy-to-read rundown on which predators are targeted by 1080 and the native species that benefit from its use, and how using 1080 prevents the spread of bovine tuberculosis. It also outlines the precautions taken to ensure 1080 operations are safe.

Federated Farmers National Board Member and a Trustee of the Pest Control Education Trust (PCET) Chris Allen says the fact sheet has been produced in response to strong public demand for accessible, factual, summary information about 1080 and its use. . .

Open Country dairy slashes milk price forecast – Andrea Fox:

New Zealand’s second biggest milk processor Open Country Dairy has slashed its milk payout forecast by more than $1kg for the season as industry pessimism deepens about the multi-billion dollar dairy sector’s earnings outlook.

Open Country had until last week been forecasting a milk payment of $4.75-4.95kg milksolids to its around 700 national supplier farmers. 

Now it has told its farmers to instead bank on $3.65-$3.95kg. . .  

Partnership Helps to Set New Zealand Beef Apart From the Competition:

A partnership between Beef + Lamb New Zealand and a restaurant chain in Taiwan is helping to open consumers’ eyes to the nutritional benefits of grass-fed New Zealand beef.

New Zealand product makes up more than 80 per cent of the beef dishes offered on Royal Host’s menu.

The chain has 14 locations across Taiwan and caters for family dining in particular. Vice President Shirley Huang says local diners put a premium on safe, quality food, so Royal Host values that New Zealand beef is such a positive option. “In our menus, we include images of cows grazing peacefully on open pasture. New Zealand grass-fed beef is low in fat and has lower cholesterol.” . .

 

A2 shares fall as investors weigh up funding needs – Paul McBeth:

 (BusinessDesk) – A2 Milk Co shares fell to a three-week low as investors weighed up the company’s funding needs after the board turned down a potential offer from cornerstone shareholder Freedom Foods Group and US food and beverage firm Dean Foods.

The shares fell as low as 70 cents in morning trading on the NZX, and were 6.5 percent to 72 cents shortly before midday. A2 today said it told Freedom and Dean Foods the expression of interest wasn’t compelling enough to get a board recommendation if a formal bid was made, though was open to talking with the suitors. It has also attracted other potential bidders and is evaluating them. . .

Major Revamp of Dairy Awards:

The most significant changes in the history of the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards have been made to enhance the competitions and enable more dairy farm workers to enter the awards programme.

Awards Executive Chairman Gavin Roden says he is excited about the changes that have been made to all three of the awards competitions.

“As an executive we had identified for a few years that there were a lot of people that couldn’t enter our awards because of the changing face of the industry and employment,” Mr Roden says. . .

Worker participation key to future safety:

After months of industry consultation, the forest industry has a new safety body – the Forest Industry Safety Council (FISC). Most importantly, there has been practical input from experienced forest contractors from on the forest floor and workers with experience at the bushline.

Some simple questions and answers may help explain how FISC will work:

Q: Who decided forestry needs a safety council?

A: The independent forest safety review team was not satisfied that people on the forest floor had a voice in making workplaces safer. Following the review and its recommendations, FICA has worked with forest owners and managers to put in place this new group. It will focus on safety using incident information reported by people working at the bushline to identify work areas. . .

 

Farmers get online survey option:

Farmers are for the first time this month completing their annual Agricultural Production Survey online.

Every year Statistics New Zealand surveys about 30,000 farmers about their land, livestock and crops, and farming practices.

This week farmers can start filling in their online survey forms, once they’ve received details in the post.

The survey measures changes in the sector, and is used for planning and forecasting. Farmers can use survey results on the Statistics NZ website to keep track of trends and make changes in their businesses. . .

 

Ballance appoints General Manager Sales:

Ballance Agri-Nutrients has appointed Campbell Parker as General Manager Sales.

Campbell will join the co-operative in October, following a successful banking career, including leadership of BNZ’s Partners Network and a track record in rural lending.

Ballance CEO Mark Wynne says Campbell combines sales leadership experience with a strong understanding and connection with the agri-business sector. . .

Bayer Central Otago Young Viticulturist of the Year 2015 announced:

Congratulations to Mike Winter from Amisfield who has just become the Bayer Central Otago Young Viticulturist of the Year 2015 and now goes through to the National Final. After a challenging day of activities on Friday at the Central Otago Polytechnic, the contestants’ final task was to deliver a speech at the Annual Winemakers Feraud dinner on Saturday night at Northburn.

It was a very close competition with Annabel Bulk taking 2nd place and Cliff Wickham coming 3rd, both from Felton Road Vineyard. . .

 

 

Rock star economy will play encore

Opposition is a dark place where good is bad and bad is good.

While they’ll never admit it, oppositions can’t really enjoy good news for fear it’s good for the government and  threatens their relevance and they  take a perverse pleasure in bad news in the hope that it will be bad for government and good for them.

That’s why  opposition MPs have been doing their best to talk down the economy and doing a Chicken Little the-sky-is-falling as they over-emphasise the negative impact the sharp decline in dairy prices will have.

Only those who hate dairying and financial success will be happy about the price of milk and low payout, but while dairying is important, there is more to the economy than that and talk of recession is, thankfully, misplaced pessimism.

Growth is slowing but an HSBC economist says  New Zealand’s rock star economy will play an encore cheered on by Chinese consumers.

HSBC co-head of Asian economic research Frederic Neumann said while China’s economy was slowing, along with many other Asian nations, the outlook for New Zealand was still strong.

“The rock star economy will still keep on playing because you guys [New Zealand] are in a sweet spot in terms of having the products that China has an insatiable appetite for,” Neumann said.

In 2014 Neumann’s colleague HSBC chief economist for Australia and New Zealand Paul Bloxham referred to New Zealand as a rock star economy.

However the title has been brought into question recently as gross domestic product growth slows, dairy prices slump, business confidence slips, the dollar falls and Auckland’s heated housing market continues to set records.

But Neumann said New Zealand was simply going through a rebalancing phase, moving away from a commodity dependent economy.

“After years of an overvalued exchange rate you need to have a considerable period of an undervalued exchange rate to get that rebalancing process going.”

Neumann said even if New Zealand did remain reliant on soft commodities that was not a major concern because demand for high quality food from Chinese consumers would grow much faster than the Chinese economy.

“That should be a positive for New Zealand so I’m not terribly worried for the dairy sector or the meat sector over time.” . . .

It’s not hard to find examples of people in difficulty in the best of times and some people are struggling but New Zealand as a whole is not.

Quote of the day

. . . My problem with such people is twofold. First, they believe that the perfect society is attainable only through the intervention of the state, and that this justifies laws that impinge heavily on individual choice. And second (which is closely related), they have no trust in the wisdom of ordinary people. They seem incapable of accepting that most of us are capable of behaving sensibly and in our own best interests without coercion or interference by governments and bureaucrats.  – Karl du Fresne

July 21 in history

356 BC – The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was destroyed by arson.

230 – Pope Pontian succeeded Urban I as the eighteenth pope.

285 – Diocletian appointed Maximian as Caesar and co-ruler.

365 – A tsunami devastated the city of Alexandria, Egypt. The tsunami was caused by the Crete earthquake estimated to be 8.0 on the Richter Scale. 5,000 people perished in Alexandria, and 45,000 more died outside the city.

1242 – Battle of Taillebourg : Louis IX of France put an end to the revolt of his vassals Henry III of England and Hugh X of Lusignan.

1403 – Battle of Shrewsbury: King Henry IV defeated rebels to the north of the county town of Shropshire, England.

1545 – The first landing of French troops on the coast of the Isle of Wight during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight.

1568 – Eighty Years’ War: Battle of Jemmingen – Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva defeated Louis of Nassau.

1645 – Qing Dynasty regent Dorgon issued an edict ordering all Han Chinese men to shave their forehead and braid the rest of their hair into a queue identical to those of the Manchus.

1656 – The Raid on Malaga took place during the Anglo-Spanish War.

1718 – The Treaty of Passarowitz between the Ottoman Empire, Austria and the Republic of Venice was signed.

1774 – Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774): Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca ending the war.

1831 – Inauguration of Leopold I of Belgium, first king of the Belgians.

1858 Alfred Henry O’Keeffe, New Zealand artist, was born (d. 1941).

1861 American Civil War: First Battle of Bull Run – the first major battle of the war began.

1865 Governor George Grey oversaw the capture of the Pai Marire (Hauhau) pa at Weraroa, Waitotara.

1865  Wild Bill Hickok shot and killed Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown.

1873 Jesse James and the James-Younger gang pulled off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West.

1899 Ernest Hemingway, American writer, Nobel laureate, ws born (d. 1961).

1904  Louis Rigolly,  became the first man to break the 100 mph (161 km/h) barrier on land. He drove a 15-litre Gobron-Brille in Ostend.

1918  U-156 shelled Nauset Beach, in Orleans, the first time that the United States was shelled since the Mexican-American War.

1919  The dirigible Wingfoot Air Express crashed into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago, killing 12 people.

1920 Isaac Stern, Ukrainian-born violinist, was born  (d. 2001).

1922  Mollie Sugden, British comedic actress, was born  (d. 2009).

1924 Don Knotts, American actor, was born (d. 2006).

1925  Scopes Trial: high school biology teacher John T. Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100.

1925  Sir Malcolm Campbell became the first man to break the 150 mph (241 km/h) land barrier at Pendine Sands in Wales. He drove a Sunbeam to a two-way average of 150.33 mph (242 km/h).

1944 World War II: Battle of Guam – American troops land on Guam starting the battle.

1944  Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and fellow conspirators were executed in Berlin, Germany for the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

1946 Barry Whitwam, British musician (Herman’s Hermits), was born.

1948 Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), English singer/songwriter, was born.

1948 Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist, was born.

1949 Hirini Melbourne, New Zealand musician and composer, was born (d 2003).

1949  The United States Senate ratified the North Atlantic Treaty.

1951 Robin Williams, American comedian/actor. was born (d. 2014).

1953 Jeff Fatt, Chinese-Australian actor was born.

1954  First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitioned Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

1955 Howie Epstein, American musician (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers), was born (d. 2003).

1956 Michael Connelly, American author, was born.

1959 Elijah Jerry “Pumpsie” Green became the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox, the last team to integrate.

1961 Jim Martin, American musician (Faith No More), was born.

1961  Mercury-Redstone 4 Mission – Gus Grissom piloting Liberty Bell 7 became the second American to go into space (in a suborbital mission).

1964  Singapore Race Riot – every year since then, Racial Harmony Day is celebrated on this day.

1966 Sarah Waters, British novelist, was born.

1969  Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon, during the Apollo 11 mission.

1970  After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed.

1972  Bloody Friday bombing by the Provisional Irish Republican Army around Belfast, Northern Ireland – 22 bomb explosions, 9 people killed and 130 people seriously injured.

1973 In the Lillehammer affair in Norway, Israeli Mossad agents killed a waiter whom they mistakenly thought was involved in 1972′s Munich Olympics Massacre.

1976 Christopher Ewart-Biggs British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland was assassinated by the Provisional IRA.

1977  The start of a four day long Libyan–Egyptian War.

1983 The world’s lowest temperature was recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2°C (−129°F).

1994  Tony Blair was declared the winner of the leadership election of the British Labour Party, paving the way for him to become Prime Minister in 1997.

1995 Third Taiwan Strait Crisis: The People’s Liberation Army began firing missiles into the waters north of Taiwan.

1997  The fully restored USS Constitution (aka “Old Ironsides”) celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.

2004 The United Kingdom government published Delivering Security in a Changing World, a paper detailing wide-ranging reform of the country’s armed forces.

2005  Four terrorist bombings in London – all four bombs failed to detonate.

2008  Bosnian-Serb war criminal Radovan Karadžić was arrested in Serbia and indicted by the UN’s ICTY tribunal.

2011 – NASA’s Space Shuttle programe ended with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135.

2012 – Erden Eruç completed the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.

2013 – Philippe of Belgium became King of the Belgians

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia