January 22 » Edward VII is proclaimed King after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.
March 2 » United States Steel Corporation is founded as a result of a merger between Carnegie Steel Company and Federal Steel Company which became the first corporation in the world with a market capital over $1 billion.
August 5 » Peter O'Connor sets the first IAAF recognised long jump world record of 24ft 11.75in (7.6137m), a record that would stand for 20 years.
September 6 » Leon Czolgosz, an unemployed anarchist, shoots and fatally wounds US President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
September 17 » Second Boer War: Boers capture a squadron of the 17th Lancers at the Battle of Elands River.
December 3 » In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word speech to the House of Representatives asking Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits".
Day of death August 17, 1968
The temperature on August 17, 1968 was between 10.2 °C and 17.1 °C and averaged 13.8 °C. There was 5.8 mm of rain during 4.5 hours. There was 2.5 hours of sunshine (17%). The partly or heavily clouded was. The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the southwest. Source: KNMI
February 16 » In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.
March 18 » Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
April 23 » Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.
July 1 » Formal separation of the United Auto Workers from the AFL–CIO in the United States.
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.
October 14 » The 6.5 Mw Meckering earthquake shook the southwest portion of Western Australia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing $2.2 million in damage and leaving 20–28 people injured.
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/I518324.php : accessed February 4, 2026), "Johannes Gerhardus Dreyer (1901-1968)".
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