January 17 » The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
September 13 » Henry Bliss is the first person in the United States to be killed in an automobile accident.
October 11 » The Second Boer War erupts in South Africa between the British-ruled Cape Colony, and the Boer-ruled Transvaal and Orange Free State.
November 29 » FC Barcelona is founded by Catalan, Spanish and Englishmen. It later develops into one of Spanish football's most iconic and strongest teams.
December 2 » Philippine–American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, termed "The Filipino Thermopylae", is fought.
December 11 » Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein the Boers commanded by general Piet Cronjé inflict a defeat on the forces of the British Empire commanded by Lord Methuen trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley.
Day of death February 5, 1959
The temperature on February 5, 1959 was between -3.4 °C and 3.2 °C and averaged -0.9 °C. There was 7.7 hours of sunshine (83%). The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the east-northeast. Source: KNMI
February 19 » The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
July 21 » Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green becomes the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox, the last team to integrate. He came in as a pinch runner for Vic Wertz and stayed in as shortstop in a 2–1 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
July 21 » NSSavannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, is launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" initiative.
September 12 » The Soviet Union launches a large rocket, Lunik II, at the moon.
September 18 » Vanguard 3 is launched into Earth orbit.
October 30 » Piedmont Airlines Flight 349 crashes on approach to Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport in Albemarle County, Virginia, killing 26 of the 27 on board.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Hendrik Dreyer, "Dreyer Tree", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/dreyer-tree/I13280.php : accessed January 30, 2026), "Petrus Adriaan Johannes (Piet) Dreyer (1899-1959)".
Copy warning
Genealogical publications are copyright protected. Although data is often retrieved from public archives, the searching, interpreting, collecting, selecting and sorting of the data results in a unique product. Copyright protected work may not simply be copied or republished.
Please stick to the following rules
Request permission to copy data or at least inform the author, chances are that the author gives permission, often the contact also leads to more exchange of data.
Do not use this data until you have checked it, preferably at the source (the archives).
State from whom you have copied the data and ideally also his/her original source.