February 14 » The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).
February 23 » Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".
April 29 » A landslide kills 70 people in Frank, in the District of Alberta, Canada.
May 29 » In the May Coup, Alexander I, King of Serbia, and Queen Draga, are assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand (Crna Ruka) organization.
July 1 » Start of first Tour de France bicycle race.
September 27 » The Wreck of the Old 97, an American rail disaster that became the subject of a popular ballad.
Day of marriage May 12, 1936
The temperature on May 12, 1936 was between 9.0 °C and 17.2 °C and averaged 12.2 °C. There was 7.2 mm of rain during 4.6 hours. There was 0.9 hours of sunshine (6%). The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the north-northeast. Source: KNMI
February 26 » In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
June 30 » Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia appeals for aid to the League of Nations against Italy's invasion of his country.
July 20 » The Montreux Convention is signed in Switzerland, authorizing Turkey to fortify the Dardanelles and Bosphorus but guaranteeing free passage to ships of all nations in peacetime.
August 30 » The RMS Queen Mary wins the Blue Riband by setting the fastest transatlantic crossing.
October 9 » Boulder Dam (later Hoover Dam) begins to generate electricity and transmit it to Los Angeles.
October 27 » Mrs Wallis Simpson obtains her divorce, which would eventually allow her to marry King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, thus forcing his abdication from the throne.
Day of death April 11, 1961
The temperature on April 11, 1961 was between 4.3 °C and 15.6 °C and averaged 9.8 °C. There was 0.1 mm of rain. There was 8.9 hours of sunshine (65%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the north-northwest. Source: KNMI
March 15 » At the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference, South Africa announces that it will withdraw from the Commonwealth when the South African Constitution of 1961 comes into effect.
March 24 » Quebec Board of the French Language is established.
May 5 » Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight.
May 24 » American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus.
June 23 » The Antarctic Treaty System, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and limits military activity on the continent, its islands and ice shelves, comes into force.
November 29 » Project Mercury: Mercury-Atlas 5 Mission: Enos, a chimpanzee, is launched into space. The spacecraft orbits the Earth twice and splashes down off the coast of Puerto Rico.
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/I47175.php : accessed February 26, 2026), "Dirk de Groot (1903-1961)".
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