January 12 » The National Trust is founded in the United Kingdom.
February 9 » William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball.
April 3 » The trial in the libel case brought by Oscar Wilde begins, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
April 24 » Joshua Slocum, the first person to sail single-handedly around the world, sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts aboard the sloop "Spray".
May 25 » Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
September 3 » John Brallier becomes the first openly professional American football player, when he was paid US$10 by David Berry, to play for the Latrobe Athletic Association in a 12-0 win over the Jeanette Athletic Association.
Day of death April 23, 1959
The temperature on April 23, 1959 was between 3.9 °C and 17.1 °C and averaged 10.7 °C. There was 6.8 hours of sunshine (47%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) 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 2 » Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
January 4 » Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
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 27 » The Continental League is announced as baseball's "3rd major league" in the United States.
October 21 » President Eisenhower approves the transfer of all US Army space-related activities to NASA, including most of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency.
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/I16762.php : accessed January 24, 2026), "Hester Magaretha Schoeman (1877-1959)".
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