World Cups and fireworks

The first ever FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup is being hosted in New Zealand and Christchurch will be host to several teams and the semi-final matches on Thursday week. The tournament’s Christchurch regional general manager Anne Hindson says the the 16-team tournament will feature the very best in emerging talent from around the world.

"It should be a fantastic spectacle with Christchurch hosting some of the most entertaining teams including Brazil, Germany, North Korea and the two African qualifiers Nigeria and Ghana," she said.

This event headlines our new resource for football fans, with links to news, results and a wide variety of resources about the world’s most popular game.

The Rugby League World Cup is also underway in Townsville, Australia, so be sure to follow progress with the help of our guide.

Guy Fawkes

Guy Fawkes day celebrates the failure of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. England’s celebration of Guy Fawkes day includes fireworks, bonfires, children begging "a penny for the guy," and the burning of effigies of Fawkes himself. In other countries, including New Zealand, fireworks are the main element of the occasion. You can find a local fireworks display by visiting localeye. Guy Fawkes also makes an appearance in Gavin Bishop’s childhood memoir Piano rock.

Celebrate Armistice Day at your library

November 11 is Armistice Day, and 2008 is the 90th anniversary of the end of hostilities in World War I. To mark this occasion visiting Flemish historian Johan Van Duyse, will share details of the Our Soldiers Group Exhibition, a collaboration exploring the connection between Belgium and New Zealand at the Central Library at 11am on Tuesday 11 November.

We recommend: World Cups and fireworks

Our online resources:

• Football resources
• Football links to websites of football clubs and organisations in Christchurch and Canterbury. From localeye.
• Football clubs and organisations contact information for clubs and organisations in Christchurch and surrounding areas. From CINCH, our community information directory.
• Rugby League World Cup
• If you are interested in learning to play rugby league in Christchurch, local clubs can be found on CINCH, our community information directory. Canterbury Rugby League would also help you out with more information.
• Other sports pages
• Photo: The All Blacks league team which toured in 1911
• Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot
• Christchurch and Canterbury fireworks displays
• Fireworks safety

Our Internet Gateway recommends:

• FIFA Under 17 Womens World Cup the official website
• Football recommended national and international websites from our Internet Gateway
• Rugby League World Cup 2008 Official Website includes information about all the playing nations, venues, results and merchandise
• New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) Official New Zealand Rugby League website
• Other rugby league news websites can be found on our Internet Gateway
• Rugby League Football from Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
• Canterbury Rugby League
• The Gunpowder Plot Society
• The Gunpowder Plot: Parliament and Treason 1605
• The House of Commons: The Gunpowder Plot
• Bruce Robinson, The Gunpowder Plot, BBC Website

Browse the resources in your library:

• Football
• Football magazines footballing magazines you can borrow or view online
• Football in New Zealand
• Football DVDs view some great games and get some great coaching tips watching these DVDs. We also have some football videos you can borrow
• There are some great Playstation football games at our Upper Riccarton and New Brighton libraries too.
• Rugby league titles
• Baring My Soul – Monty Betham biography
• Rugby league football players
• Rugby league football coaches
• Guy Fawkes 1570 - 1606
• The Gunpowder Plot 1605
• Gavin Bishop’s Piano rock
• Gunpowder – a history of the explosive mixture
• Fireworks and firecrackers

This week in Christchurch history

What interesting things happened in Christchurch this week? Find out with the help of the Christchurch Chronology on the library website.

• November 1, 1960 New railway station opens. The building had been designed before World War II.
• November 1, 1989 New Christchurch City Council established by amalgamation of the old City, Waimairi District, Riccarton Borough, Heathcote County and parts of Paparua and Eyre Counties.
• November 2, 1899 Balloonist "Captain" Lorraine lost at sea after an ascent from Lancaster Park.
• November 2, 1906 Foundation stone laid for the Technical College (now Christchurch Polytechnic).
• November 2, 1914 Riccarton (Deans) Bush presented to the city by the Deans family.
• November 4, 1876 Second Theatre Royal opens. Built in only 17 weeks on the same site as the first, the new theatre was claimed to have the largest stage in New Zealand.
• November 4, 1897 Night cycle races held at Lancaster Park. The experiment was not a success - the gas illumination was completely inadequate.
• November 4, 1986 23-week old Mary Ellen Foulds becomes the youngest baby to be born at Christchurch Womens Hospital (normal gestation is 40 weeks).
• November 4, 1989 Record crowd of 60,000 at Lancaster Park to see Irish rock band U2.
• November 5, 1886 New Zealand Kennel Club inaugurated in Christchurch.
• November 6, 1830 Te Rauparaha’s war party massacres the inhabitants of Akaroa and returns to Kapiti Island with captives and a cargo of human flesh.
• November 6, 1899 Addington Raceway holds inaugural meeting.

What’s new online?

New on the blog

• Mercury Rev strangely attractive
• Cat on the Island
• What’s the name of that book?

New on the library website

• Rugby League
• Libraries 2025 facilities plan
• Football

Next week: The courage to write

Courage Day is the day to remember imprisoned writers - those who are denied their freedom in support of their ideals.