January 2 » American statesman and diplomat John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
February 7 » A Chinese immigrant in San Francisco falls ill to bubonic plague in the first plague epidemic in the continental United States.
April 14 » The Exposition Universelle begins.
May 24 » Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
June 20 » Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army begins a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing, China.
October 19 » Max Planck discovers Planck's law of black-body radiation.
Day of death August 16, 1968
The temperature on August 16, 1968 was between 12.3 °C and 18.1 °C and averaged 15.3 °C. There was 1.0 mm of rain during 0.8 hours. There was 6.0 hours of sunshine (41%). The partly or heavily clouded was. The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the southwest. Source: KNMI
January 7 » Surveyor Program: Surveyor 7, the last spacecraft in the Surveyor series, lifts off from launch complex 36A, Cape Canaveral.
February 1 » Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan is recorded on motion picture film, as well as in an iconic still photograph taken by Eddie Adams.
March 7 » Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnamese military begin Operation Truong Cong Dinh to root out Viet Cong forces from the area surrounding Mỹ Tho.
August 20 » Cold War: Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring. East German participation is limited to a few specialists due to memories of the recent war. Only Albania and Romania refuse to participate.
September 2 » Operation OAU begins during the Nigerian Civil War.
November 27 » Penny Ann Early became the first woman to play major professional basketball for the Kentucky Colonels in an ABA game against the Los Angeles Stars.
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/I510607.php : accessed May 1, 2025), "Willem Pretorius (1900-1968)".
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