January 24 » Second Boer War: Boers stop a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
February 14 » British forces begin the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
March 7 » The German liner SSKaiser Wilhelm der Grosse becomes the first ship to send wireless signals to shore.
March 13 » British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, during the Second Boer War.
May 17 » Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
June 25 » The Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China.
Day of death December 24, 1978
The temperature on December 24, 1978 was between -1.6 °C and 5.8 °C and averaged 1.4 °C. There was 9.8 mm of rain during 8.4 hours. The almost completely overcast was. The average windspeed was 4 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the south east. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from Monday, December 19, 1977 to Friday, September 11, 1981 the cabinet Van Agt I, with Mr. A.A.M. van Agt (CDA/KVP) as prime minister.
January 24 » Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
March 11 » Coastal Road massacre: At least 37 are killed and more than 70 are wounded when Fatah hijack an Israeli bus, prompting Israel's Operation Litani.
July 7 » The Solomon Islands becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
July 11 » Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists.
November 27 » The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is founded in the city of Riha (Urfa) in Turkey.
December 4 » Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor.
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/I21431.php : accessed February 6, 2026), "Martha Johanna du Preez (1900-1978)".
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