January 18 » An X-ray generating machine is exhibited for the first time by H. L. Smith.
February 1 » La bohème premieres in Turin at the Teatro Regio (Turin), conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini.
May 26 » Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
May 27 » The F4-strength St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing over $10-million in damage.
June 4 » Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.
June 15 » The deadliest tsunami in Japan's history kills more than 22,000 people.
Day of death May 17, 1972
The temperature on May 17, 1972 was between 5.1 °C and 9.4 °C and averaged 6.6 °C. There was 9.8 mm of rain during 15.1 hours. The almost completely overcast was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the northeast. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from April 5, 1967 to Tuesday, July 6, 1971 the cabinet Biesheuvel I, with Mr. B.W. Biesheuvel (ARP) as prime minister.
In The Netherlands , there was from Thursday, July 20, 1972 to Friday, May 11, 1973 the cabinet Biesheuvel II, with Mr. B.W. Biesheuvel (ARP) as prime minister.
January 20 » Pakistan launched its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
May 2 » In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, killing 91 workers.
May 15 » In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while he is campaigning to become president.
May 21 » Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal, the mentally disturbed Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth.
June 9 » Severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, creating a flood that kills 238 people and causes $160million in damage.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: J. van Broekhoven, "Database Van Broekhoven", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/database-van-broekhoven/I326573.php : accessed March 5, 2026), "Willem Beck (1896-1972)".
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