History

More than 50 years after women won the right to vote in New Zealand, we appointed our first woman Cabinet minister. Her name was Mabel Howard. Audio

Sir Edmund Hillary might be best-known for climbing Mount Everest, but one of his greatest, most dramatic adventures happened more than two decades later. Audio

Many people are familiar with Dr Zhivago - the epic love story set during the Russian Revolution. What they might not know is the story of how the novel, written by Boris Pasternak, finally came to be… Audio

A Russian cultural foundation has been in Papua New Guinea this month, exhibiting and teaching Russian culture, language and history. Audio

What is your favourite New Zealand television show and why? Audio

Never-before seen film of the immediate aftermath of the 1931 Napier earthquake is now on show at the National Library building in Wellington. Audio, Gallery

Joe Gillard has put together a handy guide of old timey linguistic gems that once gave colourful expression to the English language. Words like honeyfuggle (to flatter someone), ninnyhammer (fool) and… Audio

The battle for the world's steepest street is headed to court - kind of. Ffordd Pen Llech in the Welsh resort of Harlech dethroned Dunedin's Baldwin Street as the world's steepest street in July. But… Audio

Hunger for land and the rise of Kingitanga prompted Governor George Grey to invade Waikato in 1863. Fighting spread over years and into the Bay of Plenty, devastating Maori. But it was not as… Audio

In Europe, factions debated the future of Aotearoa, while Māori had their own ideas how to handle the growing number of Pākehā here. In the end, Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed, but the early promise… Audio

Abel Tasman and James Cook’s first contacts with Māori were complex and sometimes violent. Europeans brought new technologies, food and ideas, such as muskets, potatoes and Christianity. In some cases… Audio

It's time for the rest is history when we look into the week's news in the past. This week we're going to be a tiny bit sacrilegious. Our resident historian Robert Kelly is looking back to the first… Audio

The most anticipated day of Tuia 250 has wrapped up with a private civic ceremony, but the question of how we commemorate controversial historical figures will be discussed for a long time yet. Audio

NZ has seen a series of Climate Change Protests over the past year. Has NZ seen a similar movement in the past?  Historian Grant Morris argues that the most similar one is the Prohibition movement. Audio, Gallery

Today's biography is on a man who himself was a biographer of some this country's most celebrated people, as well as a hugely respected historian, Michael King.  Audio

In today's visit to the sound archives of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision with Sarah Johnston we hear recordings about the history of the world's only mainland albatross colony. Audio, Gallery

Around 850 years ago Polynesian explorers found an empty land and the story of people in Aotearoa began. A new culture emerged; tangata whenua had arrived and started to thrive. Audio

Our occasional Book Club series, Auckland author and publisher Debra Millar has almost lived at Auckland's Point Chevalier long enough to be considered a local. It's a pretty sedate place these days… Audio

The replica of Captain Cook's Endeavour ship made its way into Turanganui-a-Kiwa today, greeted thousands of spectators and about 50 protestors. Audio

The most anticipated day in the Tuia 250 commemorations has arrived, with the Endeavour replica arriving in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa this morning. Audio