January 24 » Second Boer War: Boers stop a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
February 18 » Second Boer War: Imperial forces suffer their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday, the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg.
March 14 » The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing the United States currency on the gold standard.
April 30 » Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
July 2 » Jean Sibelius' Finlandia receives its première performance in Helsinki with the Helsinki Philharmonic Society conducted by Robert Kajanus.
September 17 » Philippine–American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham Jr. at Mabitac.
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
May 30 » Charles de Gaulle reappears publicly after his flight to Baden-Baden, Germany, and dissolves the French National Assembly by a radio appeal. Immediately after, less than one million of his supporters march on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. This is the turning point of May 1968 events in France.
August 2 » An earthquake hits Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines killing more than 270 people and wounding 261.
August 21 » Cold War: Nicolae Ceaușescu, leader of Communist Romania, publicly condemns the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, encouraging the Romanian population to arm itself against possible Soviet reprisals.
September 2 » Operation OAU begins during the Nigerian Civil War.
November 5 » Richard Nixon is elected as 37th President of the United States.
December 25 » Kilvenmani massacre: Forty-four Dalits (untouchables) are burnt to death in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit laborers.
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 March 6, 2026), "Willem Pretorius (1900-1968)".
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