March 7 » The German liner SSKaiser Wilhelm der Grosse becomes the first ship to send wireless signals to shore.
July 29 » In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
August 3 » The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is founded.
August 16 » The Battle of Elands River during the Second Boer War ends after a 13-day siege is lifted by the British. The battle had begun when a force of between 2,000 and 3,000 Boers had surrounded a force of 500 Australians, Rhodesians, Canadians and British soldiers at a supply dump at Brakfontein Drift.
September 17 » Philippine–American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham Jr. at Mabitac.
December 14 » Quantum mechanics: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law.
Day of death February 2, 1979
The temperature on February 2, 1979 was between -0.9 °C and 3.7 °C and averaged 1.9 °C. There was 14.0 mm of rain during 7.6 hours. There was 1.7 hours of sunshine (19%). The heavily clouded was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the north. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from Monday, December 19, 1977 to Friday, September 11, 1981 the cabinet Van Agt I, with Mr. A.A.M. van Agt (CDA/KVP) as prime minister.
January 7 » Third Indochina War: Cambodian–Vietnamese War: Phnom Penh falls to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
July 16 » Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.
September 14 » Afghan President Nur Muhammad Taraki is assassinated upon the order of Hafizullah Amin, who becomes the new president.
October 12 » The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the western Pacific Ocean during Typhoon Tip.
October 17 » The Department of Education Organization Act creates the US Department of Education.
November 15 » A package from Unabomber Ted Kaczynski begins smoking in the cargo hold of a flight from Chicago to Washington, D.C., forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: James Downs, "Downs Tree", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/downs-tree/I312392886938.php : accessed December 6, 2025), "Rena M Gillenwater (1900-1979)".
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