1860
First Taranaki War erupts at Waitara
The opening shots of the first Taranaki War were fired when British troops attacked a pā built by Te Āti Awa at Te Kohia, Waitara.



1905
Only surviving Maungatautari Bank cheque issued
The Maungatautari Bank was one of several set up by Māori in the decades after the New Zealand Wars to handle the money they were receiving from land sales.



In Music History

2023-Taylor Swift launches her Eras Tour in Glendale, Arizona. The three-hour show is divided into 10 acts dedicated to the music and looks of each of her previous albums. It's her first trek since her Reputation Tour five years and four albums earlier.

2020-A federal judge rules in favor of Katy Perry, overturning a verdict that her song "Dark Horse" infringed on the song "Joyful Noise" by Flame. The jury had ordered $2.78 million in damages.

2020-With St. Patrick's Day festivities shut down due to the coronavirus, Dropkick Murphys livestream a free concert from an empty venue in Boston. Over the next few weeks, many other artists follow suit, using livestreaming as a way to perform for fans during lockdown.More

2018-At their St. Patrick's Day concert in Brussels, The Script buy everyone in the audience of 8,000 a drink, setting a Guinness World Record for "world's biggest round."

2017-Popular World War II-era singer Vera Lynn releases Vera Lynn 100 to celebrate her 100th birthday. The album debuts at #3 on the UK chart, making her the oldest living artist to have an album on the tally.

2016-Prince's ex-wife Mayte Garcia puts a collection of his memorabilia up for auction.More

2012-After gaining exposure on the show Glee and in a Super Bowl commercial, "We Are Young" by Fun hits #1 in America, where it stays for six weeks. The song was inspired by what frontman Nate Ruess remembers from a drunken night that didn't end well.

2012-After getting pelted with cans and other trash at their SXSW performance, Rocky and the rest of A$AP Mob launch into the crowd, punching fans and igniting a brawl.

2011-Ferlin Husky dies of congestive heart failure at age 85.

2010-Big Star lead singer Alex Chilton dies of a heart attack at age 59. Three days later, the group's scheduled performance at SXSW is turned into a tribute to Chilton.

2009-Instead of getting boozed up on the streets like most people on St. Patrick's Day, Amy Winehouse gets sloppy at her court hearing in London to face charges that she attacked a fan at a charity event in 2008.

2009-Belinda Carlisle is the first person eliminated on Season 8 of Dancing With The Stars.

2009-Chicago blues harmonicist Lester "Mad Dog" Davenport dies of prostate cancer at age 77.

2008-Heather Mills is awarded 23.7 million pounds (about $47 million) in her divorce from Paul McCartney, substantially more than the $32 million Paul offered. Throughout the ordeal, Mills is vilified in the British press as being opportunistic.

2006-Professor X (founder of the hip-hop group X Clan) dies of complications from spinal meningitis at age 49.

2025- "Too Sweet" by Hozier won the Alternative Song of the Year at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.

2005-Robert Plant is presented with his lifetime achievement Grammy award at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

2003-Cliff – The Musical opens at The Prince of Wales Theatre in London. The show, which is based on the life of Cliff Richard, closes three months later.

2003-On the very first episode of MTV's practical joke show Punk'd, host Ashton Kutcher stages a prank involving the IRS that makes Justin Timberlake cry.

Seven Pearl Jam Bootlegs Make Chart
2001-Seven Pearl Jam bootleg albums from their North American tour debut in the Billboard 200 albums chart, breaking the record for most appearances on the chart in a single week that the band established the previous year, when five bootlegs from their European tour landed on the chart.More

1999-Sinead O'Connor records the first ever single via the Internet in a BBC studio as part of the Tomorrow's World program. The song is a cover of Bob Marley's "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" recorded for the War Child charity.

1998-Mick Fleetwood joins The Corrs on stage for a St. Patrick's Day performance at Royal Albert Hall in London. Their performance of the Fleetwood Mac song "Dreams" is released as a single and becomes the first hit for The Corrs, going to #6 in the UK.

1998-Van Halen release Van Halen III, their only album with their third lead singer, Gary Cherone. Pushing against the legacies of their lineups led by David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, it sells poorly and disappoints fans. The band goes on hiatus a year later and returns with Roth in 2007.

1996-Country singer Terry Stafford ("Amarillo By Morning") dies of liver failure at age 54.

Spinal Tap Release Break Like The Wind
1992-After reuniting at their ex-manager's funeral, Spinal Tap issue their 17th album, Break Like The Wind.

1991-Seven members of Reba McEntire's band, as well as her road manager and two pilots, are killed when their plane crashes near the Mexican border after a performance in San Diego. McEntire, along with two members of her band and some of her road crew, were on a different plane that took off before the one that crashed.

1990-Indie rocker Hozier is born Andrew Hozier-Byrne in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland.

1990-Ric Grech, bass player in Traffic and Blind Faith, dies of a brain hemorrhage at age 43.

1990- Whitney Houston headlined an AIDS benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

1989-New Orleans R&B singer Bobby Mitchell dies at age 54.

1988-Grimes is born Claire Elise Boucher in Vancouver.

1987-Reacting to a Beastie Boys concert three weeks earlier where the group used a giant inflatable penis as a stage prop and encouraged girls in the crowd to bare their breasts, the city of Columbus, Georgia passes an anti-lewdness law prohibiting nudity, simulated sex, and objectionable language at any show attended by minors.

1985-Richard Ramirez kills a man and attacks a woman at a house in Rosemead, California, leaving an AC/DC hat behind at the crime scene. Ramirez continues his killing spree and becomes known as the "Night Stalker." When it becomes clear that AC/DC is his favorite band, the group is accused of encouraging crime and devil worship in their music.

1984-Van Halen's 1984 rises to #2 on the US albums chart, held off by Michael Jackson's Thriller, which has already topped the tally for 31 weeks. 1984 stays one spot behind Thriller for two more weeks before dropping down. Perhaps it would have hit #1 if Eddie Van Halen hadn't done the guitar solo on "Beat It."

1982-Samuel George, Jr. (of The Capitols) is stabbed and killed during a domestic dispute.

1979-Talking Heads make their first major TV appearance, performing "Take Me to the River" on American Bandstand. The lip-synced performance goes well, but the interview is a little awkward.

1979-Zenon DeFleur (rhythm guitarist for The Count Bishops) dies of a heart attack at age 27 after sustaining severe injuries in a car crash.

1978-Jimmy Buffett releases his eighth studio album, Son Of A Son Of A Sailor, which features his popular tune "Cheeseburger In Paradise."

1978-The Alan Freed biopic American Hot Wax, widely considered one of the best Rock and Roll movies of all time, premieres in New York City, featuring appearances and performances by Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

1978-The Irish high school band U2, which just recently changed their name from The Hype, win the Limerick Civic Week Pop '78 talent competition, earning about $1,000 and a chance to record a demo for CBS Records.

1976-Stephen Gately (of Boyzone) is born in Dublin, Ireland.

1975-Cher appears on the cover of Time magazine.

1975-Justin Hawkins, lead singer/guitarist for the glam-pop band The Darkness, is born in Chertsey, Surrey, England. His musical philosophy: "If something's worth doing, it's worth overdoing."

1973-The sci-fi musical Lost Horizon, scored by Burt Bacharach, bombs at the box office. The failure precipitates Bacharach's split from longtime songwriting partner Hal David and Dionne Warwick, who had performed their songs for more than a decade.More

1973-Yes's The Yes Album and Yessongs are both certified Gold.

1973-Caroline Corr (singer, drummer for The Corrs) is born in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland.

1972-Bass player Melissa Auf der Maur is born in Montreal, Quebec. She's in Courtney Love's group Hole from 1994-1999, and does a stint in Smashing Pumpkins from 1999-2000.

1968-The Bee Gees appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, marking their first appearance on American TV.

1967-Billy Corgan is born in Elk Grove Village, a suburb of Chicago. He forms Smashing Pumpkins in 1988, taking the reins as their lead singer, guitarist and songwriter. They carve out a sound in the '90s distinguished by waves of sound and Corgan's emotional intensity. Popular tracks include "1979" and "Bullet With Butterfly Wings."

1968-Mick Jagger joins a demonstration at Grosvenor Square in London to protest the Vietnam War. When the group, estimated at 25,000, marches to the American embassy, they are met with police resistance and rioting ensues. Jagger leaves the protest before it reaches the embassy, but uses the events as inspiration for the Rolling Stones song "Street Fighting Man."

1967- The Jimi Hendrix Experience released their second single "Purple Haze" in the UK, which became a hit.

1966-Keith Moon of The Who marries his pregnant girlfriend, Kim Kerrigan, in secrecy.

1962-Deke Leonard makes his debut in a talent contest at the Car Bay Club in Wales with Lucifer And The Corncrackers. According to his book Maybe I Should've Stayed In Bed... the band is introduced as Ivor And The Prawn Crackers.

1959-Mike Lindup (keyboardist, singer for Level 42) is born in London, England.

First Ever Greatest Hits Album Released Courtesy of Johnny Mathis
1958-The first "Greatest Hits" compilation is released, and it's by Johnny Mathis. It's a huge hit, and the format catches on quickly. The Mathis album stays in the Billboard 200 album chart for over nine years, a record not broken until Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.

1958-The Coasters record "Yakety Yak."

"Tequila" Goes To #1
1958-"Tequila" by The Champs hits #1 in America, becoming one of the most popular saxophone instrumentals of all time.

1956-Carl Perkins makes his first TV appearance, on the Ozark Jamboree.

1955-Sarah Vaughan records "Whatever Lola Wants."

1951-Scott Gorham (of Thin Lizzy, Supertramp) is born in Glendale, California.

1948-Fran Byrne (drummer for Ace) is born in Dublin, Ireland.

1946-Harold Ray Brown (percussionist, vocalist for War) is born in Long Beach, California.

1944-Pattie Boyd is born in Taunton, Somerset, England. She would later marry George Harrison and Eric Clapton, and also inspire the song "Layla."

1944-John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful is born in New York City.

1941-Paul Kantner, a founding member of Jefferson Airplane, is born in San Francisco.

1938-Zola Taylor (of The Platters) is born in Los Angeles, California.

1935-Pop singer/drummer Adam Wade is born Patrick Henry Wade in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Known for "Take Good Care Of Her" (1961), among other hits.

1919-Nat King Cole is born Nathaniel Adams Cole in Montgomery, Alabama, but would be raised in Chicago, Illinois.