In today's weather forecast we are expecting a mainly fine day but with a chance of a shower from the afternoon. Also a northwest to southwest breeze in the afternoon.

It's a three-clothing layer day today with a high of 20 and an overnight low of 10 degrees. Humidity is 96 per cent.

Low tide is at 12.50pm and high tide at 7pm (Tay St). There's a sea swell of 0.4m and sea temperature is 19 degrees. Sunset tonight is at 8.07pm.

If you're going fishing the next best fish bite time is between 11am and 1pm.

On this day in NZ history in 1939 Freyberg was given command of 2NZEF. British-born but New Zealand-raised, Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg was a charismatic and popular military leader, who later served as governor-general.

In world history on this day in 1542 new laws were passed in Spain giving Indians in America protection against enslavement.

In 1919 a Labor conference committee in the United States urged an eight-hour workday and a 48-hour week.

In 1935 Pan Am inaugurated the first transpacific airmail service from San Francisco to Manila.

In 1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese Premier Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin did not attend the Cairo Conference (code-named Sextant) out of concern that his meeting with Chiang would cause friction between the Soviet Union and Japan.

In 1963 Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. Lyndon B. Johnson became president. In 1964 almost 40,000 people paid tribute to John F. Kennedy at Arlington Cemetery on the first anniversary of his death.

In 1986 the US Justice Department found a memo in Lt. Col. Oliver North's office on the transfer of $12 million to the Contras of Nicaragua.

In 1995 the first feature-length film created entirely with computer generated imagery – Toy Story – premiered.

In 2005 Angela Merkel became the first woman ever to be Chancellor of Germany; the former research scientist had previously been the first secretary-general of the Christian Democratic Union.

Today is the birthday of English novelist George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans). Born in 1819, George Eliot once wrote 'It is never too late to be what you might have been.”

To get involved in activities around the Bay of Plenty, please check out our What's on page.

Have a great day!