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Events on this Day – 31 March

1864

The last battle of the Waikato War began when the spearhead of a strong British force charged an apparently weak Māori position at Ōrākau, south-east of Te Awamutu. After two frontal assaults failed, the British besieged the pā.

1910

Thomas Hocken’s priceless legacy of historical material is the most important collection outside Crown ownership in New Zealand.

1967

Well-known Auckland aviator Fred Ladd illegally flew his Widgeon amphibian aircraft under the Auckland Harbour Bridge.