1892
NZ Rugby Football Union founded
As rugby grew in popularity in New Zealand, it became necessary to standardise the administration of the game in the colony. Despite some opposition, a New Zealand Rugby Football Union was founded.
1912
News of Titanic sinking reaches New Zealand
Although no New Zealanders were aboard the world’s largest passenger ship when it sank in the chilly North Atlantic with appalling loss of life, the country followed the news closely.
1973
Arthur Allan Thomas convicted of Crewe murders – again
Waikato farmer Arthur Allan Thomas was found guilty – for the second time – of the 1970 murder of his Pukekawa neighbours Harvey and Jeanette Crewe.
In Music History
2023 – Broadway milestone: Phantom of the Opera, the longest-running Broadway show, closed at the Majestic Theater after 13,981 performances and seven Tony Awards.
2018-Kendrick Lamar's album DAMN. wins the Pulitzer Prize for music, making him the first rapper to win the award, which traditionally goes to classical composers or jazz musicians.
2015-The actress Suzanne Somers inadvertently outs Barry Manilow when she appears on Watch What Happens Live and talks about serving as best man at his wedding the previous year when Barry married his longtime manager, Garry Kief. Manilow comes out publicly two years later.
2010-Shakira appears on Wizards of Waverly Place in the episode "Dude Looks Like Shakira."
2010-At the Showbox in Seattle, Washington, Soundgarden play their first show in 13 years.
2008-Barbra Streisand donates $5 million to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for a women's heart education and research program.
2007-Ornette Coleman wins the Pulitzer Prize for music for his 2006 album, Sound Grammar, the first jazz work to receive the honor.
2003-Luther Vandross suffers a stroke that leaves him confined to a wheelchair. The singer, whose album Dance With My Father is released in June and goes to #1 in America, dies two years later.
2003-Jerry Lee Lewis files for divorce from his sixth wife, Kerrie McCarver, who was once the president of his fan club.
1999 – Tom Waits released his album Mule Variations, which became his biggest-selling album and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
1999-Skip Spence of Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape dies of lung cancer two days before his 53rd birthday.
1996-Judy Collins marries her second husband, designer Louis Nelson.
1996-Kiss perform at the Grammys in full makeup and glorious costumes. It's just the second time since 1980 (following their 1995 MTV Unplugged taping) that all four original members have been on stage together.
1995-Bob Seger has his second child: a daughter named Samantha Char.
1995-Gabrielle gives birth to her son Jordan. Eight months later, Jordan's father murders his stepfather and is sentenced to life in prison.
1994-Harry Connick, Jr. marries Victoria's Secret model Jill Goodacre in New Orleans.
1994-Pearl Jam pay tribute to Kurt Cobain, who was found dead a week earlier, on Saturday Night Live with a performance of "Daughter" that ends with lead singer Eddie Vedder opening up his jacket to reveal a "K" on his T-shirt.
1994 – Prince reached the top of the UK singles chart with “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World”, his first UK number one after changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol.
1993-Billy Burnette leaves Fleetwood Mac to pursue a country music career.
1993-Chance the Rapper is born Chancelor Bennett in Chicago. He upsets the industry apple cart by making a huge impact while remaining independent, earning most of his revenue early on through live shows and sponsorships.
1992-Nirvana appear on the cover of Rolling Stone with Kurt Cobain wearing a T-shirt that reads, "Corporate Magazines Still Suck."
1992-David Milgaard is released from jail in Canada after serving 23 years for a crime he didn't commit. The Tragically Hip, who have helped in his fight for justice, write the song "Wheat Kings" about the ordeal.
emple Of The Dog Album Released
1991-The Temple of the Dog album is released. The one-off project is a tribute to Andrew Wood, the Mother Love Bone lead singer who died in 1990. Temple of the Dog is comprised of Soundgarden members Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron, along with Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.
1990-Tribute Concert Celebrates Nelson Mandela's Release.
The Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa concert is held in Wembley Stadium, London, to celebrate the release of Mandela, who had been imprisoned since 1962. Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Tracy Chapman, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt all perform.
1983 – Bonnie Tyler reached No.1 in the UK with her album Faster Than the Speed of Night, featuring “Total Eclipse of the Heart”.
1980-Academy Award-winning composer Morris Stoloff - who worked with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dinah Shore during his long tenure as music director at Columbia Pictures - dies at age 81.
1977 – ABBA returned to number one on the UK Albums Chart with Arrival, continuing their global pop dominance.
1977 – David Soul topped the US Billboard Hot 100 with “Don’t Give Up On Us”, which also reached number one in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Canada.
1977-Stevie Wonder becomes a father for the second time when his son Kieta is born.
1976-Boz Scaggs goes to visit friend Bobby "Blue" Bland backstage at the famed Antone's in Austin, Texas, and is beaten unconscious by two bouncers.
1974-Queen make their US live debut at Regis College in Denver, Colorado, supporting Mott the Hoople. Their trek ends early when Brian May develops hepatitis a month later.
1973-Paul McCartney's first television special, James Paul McCartney, airs on ABC, featuring a few Beatles songs, new Wings tracks, sketches, and a final performance of a song called "Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance," originally written for Twiggy.
1972 – Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) performed their live debut at The Fox and Greyhound pub in London, showcasing their classical-influenced rock style before becoming one of the biggest acts of the 1970s.
1971-Ringo Starr releases his second solo single in the US, "It Don't Come Easy," which will peak at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1971-Tejano singer Selena is born Selena Quintanilla in Lake Jackson, Texas.
1971-The Rolling Stones issue "Brown Sugar," the first release on their own label, Rolling Stones Records.
Electra Kicks Out The MC5
1969-Elektra Records drop the MC5 from their roster after the group takes out an ad in an underground newspaper castigating the department store chain Hudson's for not stocking their debut album, Kick Out The Jams. Hudson's didn't want it on their shelves because of a line in the title track: "Kick out the jams, motherf--ker!"More
1969 – Desmond Dekker and The Aces became the first Jamaican act to top the UK Singles Chart with “The Israelites”, marking a milestone for reggae music internationally and also charting in the US.
1965-The Hollies make their US stage debut at New York's Paramount Theatre.
1964-The Rolling Stones release their self-titled debut album in the UK.
1964-David Pirner (frontman of Soul Asylum) is born in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
1964-Needing one more song for his album, Dean Martin records "Everybody Loves Somebody," which his friend Frank Sinatra recorded in 1948 and several other singers tried in the '50s. Martin's version is the first to hit, and it hits big, knocking The Beatles off the top spot in August.
1963-Jimmy Osmond (of The Osmonds) is born in Canoga Park, California.
1962-Punk rocker Ian MacKaye (of Minor Threat, Fugazi) is born in Washington, DC.
1956 – Buddy Holly released his debut single “Love Me” with the B-side “Blue Days – Black Nights”.
1955-Kool Herc is born in Kingston, Jamaica. Born Clive Campbell, his stage name is based on "Hercules," a nickname he earns for his strength. When he is 12, his family moves to the Bronx, where Herc becomes a DJ, throwing dance parties where MCs talk over extended breakbeats he creates with two turntables, one of the most important developments in hip-hop.
1954 – Doris Day reached No.1 on the UK Singles Chart with “Secret Love”.
1953-Peter Garrett, frontman of the Aussie rock band Midnight Oil, is born in Wahroonga, Sydney. He pursues a law career before joining the band.
1947-Rock drummer Lee Kerslake (of Uriah Heep, Blizzard of Ozz) is born in Winton, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
1947-Rock singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty (of Stealers Wheel) is born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
Woody Guthrie Begins The Asch Recordings
1944-On shore leave from the Merchant Marines, Woody Guthrie arrives at Folkway Records' studios in New York City, where he starts recording with the label's founder, Moses Asch, in what becomes known as the "Asch recordings." Among the songs recorded during these sessions is "This Land Is Your Land," which becomes an iconic populist protest anthem, covered by countless artists including Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen.
1943-Blues rocker Dave Peverett (of Foghat, Savoy Brown) is born in Dulwich, London, England.
1939-Dusty Springfield is born Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien in West Hampstead, North London, England.
1936-Country entertainer Judy Lynn is born Judy Lynn Voiten in Boise, Idaho.
1935-Bobby Vinton is born Stanley Robert Vintula in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
1930-Jazz flautist Herbie Mann is born Herbert Jay Solomon in Brooklyn, New York.
1929-Singer-songwriter Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On," is born in Fayetteville, Tennessee.
1929-R&B singer Roy Hamilton ("Unchained Melody," "You'll Never Walk Alone") is born in Leesburg, Georgia.
1924-Rudy Pompilli (tenor saxophonist for Bill Haley & His Comets) is born in Chester, Pennsylvania.
1924-Film composer Henry Mancini ("Moon River") is born Enrico Nicola Mancini in Cleveland, Ohio.
Notable Deaths on April 16
Mike Mitchell, guitarist of The Kingsmen, passed away on his 77th birthday; the band is best known for their 1963 hit “Louie Louie”.
Lew Lewis, English harmonica player and vocalist, died; he was known for his work with Eddie and the Hot Rods and collaborations with The Clash and The Stranglers.
Barry Mason, a leading 1960s songwriter, passed away at age 85; he co-wrote hits like “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” and “I Pretend”.
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