Most of us are still suckers for an old wives' tale, presuming that homely wisdom passed down through the ages must contain at least a grain of truth.

Veteran supermaxi Wild Oats XI has reinforced her standing as the most successful boat in the 70-year history of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, claiming line honours for a record eighth time.

It is a quarter of a century since Straight Outta Compton, the seminal gangsta rap album, made a 25 sq km area of Los Angeles synonymous with gang violence and murder.

The Boxing Day feats of Brendon McCullum have underlined his favouritism to win this year’s supreme Halberg Award. Andrew Alderson selects another six of the finest performances by New Zealand test cricketers in a calendar.

Grisly exhibits linked to some of Britain’s most notorious criminals are set to go on display for the first time – after years hidden away.

Every American knows about the Mayflower making landfall in 1620 in what is now called Provincetown, Massachusetts...

The Marsden Cross is known to most of us only as a photograph. It is on a remote northern shore in the Bay of Islands, not as accessible as Waitangi or Russell.

In the film Zero Dark Thirty, she was the persistent, conscientious CIA officer who finally tracked Osama bin Laden to his lair.

More than 500 people gathered on a hilltop in the Bay of Islands yesterday to celebrate the bicentenary of Pakeha settlement in New Zealand.

A 93-year-old German man Oskar Groening, who claims he was an accountant at Auschwitz, to go on trial for being an accessory to the murder of 300,000 prisoners.

55: For five anxious years the troopships set sail from New Zealand, carrying her men in uniform away to war.

Four surviving veterans of one of New Zealand's most famous naval battles joined nearly 600 sailors and thousands of well-wishers in a parade on Auckland's Queen St yesterday to mark the Battle of the River Plate's 75th anniversary.

"I wasn't as dead as I had first surmised." Those were the words of HMS Achilles gunnery officer, Lieutenant Richard Washbourn, in a previously unpublished letter.

Many years ago, when I was a young man, I visited London for the first time.

A tunnel will remove a road that had cut off part of the heritage site, and restore some tranquility to the mystic setting.

New research suggests Viking conquests were more like romantic getaways than drunken stag dos - but they still had a penchant for brutality.

With bells clanging, whistles screeching and hundreds of booted sailors clattering to their firing stations, boy seaman Bob Batt had every right to be scared.

Tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of one of New Zealand's worst riots. On December 7, 1984 Auckland's Queen St was the scene of a bloody struggle between 100 youths and police.

A 7.8ha coastal section owned by descendants of one of the original settler families of Mangawhai is on the market for the first time in 125 years.

Two military heroes - former spy Pippa Doyle and Willie Apiata - rubbed shoulders last night as France bestowed its highest honour on the 93-year-old Mrs Doyle.

She parachuted behind enemy lines, evading the Nazis to to spy on their troop movements. Now a quiet Aucklander is to receive France's highest honour.

Spend a moment with the ghosts of Little Bighorn, writes Ben Stanley.

An agent who evaded the Nazis to send coded messages to Britain is to be honoured by France. Andrew Stone writes about a modest war hero who lives quietly in Auckland.

A macabre international trade in severed heads intensified Maori inter-tribal warfare to such an extent it was feared they would be wiped out altogether, a new book claims.

Our small population means we've produced few world-renowned people warranting the ultimate tribute of a statue.

Prince Harry returned to Afghanistan today on behalf of the Queen as he led emotional tributes to his friends who died in the name of war.

44: Hastings-born George Masters took part in the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 before being posted to Europe. His bravery was recorded in the London Gazette

The South Island's Waitaki Valley is big country: a wide-open world of bare brown hills and huge rocks. Despite this inland setting, Otago University palaeontologist Ewan Fordyce likes to think of himself as snorkelling when he visits.

Given Auckland's chequered history in saving heritage buildings, best to keep the Lindauer on ice for the time being, writes Brian Rudman.

With the Labour leadership contest now in full swing, NZ On Screen Content Director Irene Gardiner looks back at some memorable screen appearances from past Labour leaders who left a big impression.