May 24 » Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
June 5 » Second Boer War: British soldiers take Pretoria.
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.
July 9 » The Governor of Shanxi province in North China orders the execution of 45 foreign Christian missionaries and local church members, including children.
July 27 » Kaiser Wilhelm II makes a speech comparing Germans to Huns; for years afterwards, "Hun" would be a disparaging name for Germans.
December 19 » Hopetoun Blunder: The first Governor-General of Australia John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appoints Sir William Lyne premier of the new state of New South Wales, but he is unable to persuade other colonial politicians to join his government and is forced to resign.
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 1 » Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Arabian Sea, due to instrument failure, spatial disorientation, and pilot error, off the coast of Bombay, India, killing all 213 people on board.
March 14 » The Israel Defense Forces launch Operation Litani, a seven-day campaign to invade and occupy southern Lebanon.
March 28 » The US Supreme Court hands down 5–3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.
May 8 » The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
June 15 » King Hussein of Jordan marries American Lisa Halaby, who takes the name Queen Noor.
December 16 » Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first major American city to default on its financial obligations since the Great Depression.
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 7, 2026), "Martha Johanna du Preez (1900-1978)".
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