February 21 » An Englishman raised in Australia, Bob Fitzsimmons, fought an Irishman, Peter Maher, in an American promoted event which technically took place in Mexico, winning the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship in boxing.
March 1 » Henri Becquerel discovers radioactive decay.
April 6 » In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I.
June 15 » The deadliest tsunami in Japan's history kills more than 22,000 people.
August 30 » Philippine Revolution: After Spanish victory in the Battle of San Juan del Monte, eight provinces in the Philippines are declared under martial law by the Spanish Governor-General Ramón Blanco y Erenas.
September 21 » Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan: British forces under the command of Horatio Kitchener take Dongola.
Day of death July 20, 1959
The temperature on July 20, 1959 was between 11.0 °C and 23.7 °C and averaged 17.6 °C. There was 14.3 hours of sunshine (89%). The almost cloudless was. The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the north-northwest. Source: KNMI
January 1 » Cuban Revolution: Fulgencio Batista, dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces.
January 4 » Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
May 30 » The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor-General Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham.
June 20 » A rare June hurricane strikes Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence killing 35.
September 15 » Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.
November 2 » The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway.
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/I16703.php : accessed February 4, 2026), "Marthinus Christoffel Fourie (1876-1959)".
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