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.
June 15 » The deadliest tsunami in Japan's history kills more than 22,000 people.
August 17 » Bridget Driscoll became the first recorded case of a pedestrian killed in a collision with a motor car in the United Kingdom.
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 22 » Queen Victoria surpasses her grandfather King George III as the longest reigning monarch in British history.
November 17 » The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which later became the first ice hockey league to openly trade and hire players, began play at Pittsburgh's Schenley Park Casino.
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
February 11 » The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
April 8 » A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.
June 14 » Disneyland Monorail System, the first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere, opens to the public in Anaheim, California.
August 3 » Portugal's state police force PIDE fires upon striking workers in Bissau, Portuguese Guinea, killing over 50 people.
November 15 » The murders of the Clutter Family in Holcomb, Kansas were discovered, inspiring Truman Capote's non-fiction book In Cold Blood.
November 21 » American disc jockey Alan Freed, who had popularized the term "rock and roll" and music of that style, is fired from WABC-AM radio over allegations he had participated in the payola scandal.
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 3, 2026), "Marthinus Christoffel Fourie (1876-1959)".
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