Dreyer Tree » Johan Frederick Dreyer (1904-1961)

Day of death December 31, 1961

• The temperature on December 31, 1961 was between 0.4 °C and 5.0 °C and averaged 2.8 °C. There was 14.8 mm of rain during 12.6 hours. The almost completely overcast was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the north-northwest. Source: KNMI
• Koningin Juliana (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from September 4, 1948 till April 30, 1980 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from May 19, 1959 to July 24, 1964 the cabinet De Quay, with Prof. dr. J.E. de Quay (KVP) as prime minister.
• In the year 1961: Source: Wikipedia
  • The Netherlands had about 11.6 million citizens.
  • January 3 » The SL-1 nuclear reactor is destroyed by a steam explosion in the only reactor incident in the United States to cause immediate fatalities.
  • March 24 » Quebec Board of the French Language is established.
  • April 20 » Cold War: Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US-backed Cuban exiles against Cuba.
  • May 28 » Peter Benenson's article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
  • June 16 » While on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union.
  • December 17 » Niterói circus fire: Fire breaks out during a performance by the Gran Circus Norte-Americano in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing more than 500.

Source: Wikipedia

• 1953 » Albert Plesman, Dutch businessman, founded KLM (b. 1889)
• 1964 » Ólafur Thors, Icelandic lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1892)
• 1964 » Bobby Byrne, American baseball and soccer player (b. 1884)
• 1964 » Henry Maitland Wilson, English field marshal (b. 1881)
• 1968 » George Lewis, American clarinet player and composer (b. 1900)
• 1970 » Cyril Scott, English composer, writer, and poet (b. 1879)