In today's weather forecast we are expecting showers developing in the morning, possibly heavy and thundery with hail from the afternoon, and clearing in the evening as westerlies change southerly.

It's a three-clothing layer day today with a high of 19 and an overnight low of 10 degrees. Humidity is 79 per cent.

Low tide is at 12.50pm and high tide at 7pm (Tay St). There's a sea swell of 0.3m and sea temperature is 19 degrees. Sunset tonight is at 8.21pm.

If you're going fishing the next best fish bite time is between 11.30am and 1pm.

On this day in NZ history in 1905 special votes were cast in the general election. For the first time in New Zealand's electoral history, registered voters who were away from their electorate on polling day were able to cast a ‘special' absentee vote at any polling booth in the country.

On this day in world history in 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Santo Domingo in search of gold.

In 1812 the majority of Napoleon Bonaparte‘s Grand Armeé staggered into Vilna, Lithuania, ending the failed Russian campaign.

In 1877 Thomas A. Edison made the first sound recording when he recited 'Mary had a Little Lamb” into his phonograph machine.

In 1906 Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge flew a powered, man-carrying kite that carried him 168 feet in the air for seven minutes at Baddeck, Nova Scotia.

In 1922 Benito Mussolini threatened Italian newspapers with censorship if they kept reporting 'false” information.

In 1967 Adrian Kantrowitz performed the first human heart transplant in the US.

In 1969 Hells Angels, hired to provide security at a Rolling Stones concert at the Altamont Speedway in California, beat to death concert-goer Meredith Hunter.

In 2006 NASA revealed photographs from Mars Global Surveyor that suggested the presence of water on the red planet.

Today is the birthday of Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist. Born in 1952, he once said 'Right now, the biggest shared value that I can think of is that you should treat others the way you want to be treated, and just have some good sense about what matters to you.”

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

Have a great day!