The temperature on February 21, 1909 was between -4.4 °C and 8.9 °C and averaged 1.5 °C. There was 9.2 hours of sunshine (89%). The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the east. Source: KNMI
February 12 » New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SSPenguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
February 26 » Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
April 27 » Sultan of Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown, and is succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V.
August 28 » A group of mid-level Greek Army officers launches the Goudi coup, seeking wide-ranging reforms.
September 23 » The novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra (The Phantom of the Opera), by Gaston Leroux, is published as a serialization in Le Gaulois.
December 4 » The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest surviving professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association.
Day of death November 18, 1972
The temperature on November 18, 1972 was between -2.7 °C and 7.2 °C and averaged 2.4 °C. There was 0.9 mm of rain during 0.5 hours. There was 5.8 hours of sunshine (67%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the northwest. 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.
February 17 » Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.
April 16 » Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
June 8 » Vietnam War: Nine-year-old Phan Thị Kim Phúc is burned by napalm, an event captured by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut moments later while the young girl is seen running down a road, in what would become an iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo.
August 3 » The United States Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
September 9 » In Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park, a Cave Research Foundation exploration and mapping team discovers a link between the Mammoth and Flint Ridge cave systems, making it the longest known cave passageway in the world.
November 8 » American pay television network Home Box Office (HBO) launches, initially transmitting to 365 Teleservice Cable subscribers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. First operating as a Northeastern U.S.-based regional service, HBO was one of the first cable-originated television channels. HBO's inaugural programming that evening consisted of its first event telecast—an NHL hockey game between the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks, and its first movie presentation—the 1971 Paul Newman–Henry Fonda film Sometimes a Great Notion.
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/I15507.php : accessed February 1, 2026), "Francina Elizabeth van der Merwe ? (1909-1972)".
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