Todays punishment lesson

The answer to yesterdays little poser is Captian James Cook visited NZ in 1769 - 100 years after Tasman's first sighting. If one in ten NZ'ers could name that date I would be surprised. So question, am I been precious about this? Or should some of the defining moments in our history be basic knowledge for all of us?

NZ could be a very different place now should Julius Vogel been successful in his drive for complete independence of the South Island in the 1860's. And he didn't fall too far short, his bill eventually voted down in Parliament 17 to 31. Had that have gone through, Auckland vs Otago would be an international - weird.