January 10 » The first great Texas oil gusher is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas.
June 11 » The boundaries of the Colony of New Zealand are extended by the UK to include the Cook Islands.
July 4 » William Howard Taft becomes American governor of the Philippines.
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.
October 12 » President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House.
October 29 » In Amherst, Massachusetts, nurse Jane Toppan is arrested for murdering the Davis family of Boston with an overdose of morphine.
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
March 16 » General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.
August 21 » James Anderson Jr. posthumously receives the first Medal of Honor to be awarded to an African American U.S. Marine.
September 15 » The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
October 14 » Jim Hines becomes the first man ever to break the so-called "ten-second barrier" in the 100-meter sprint with a time of 9.95 seconds.
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.
December 10 » Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", is carried out in Tokyo.
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 11, 2026), "Johannes Gerhardus Dreyer (1901-1968)".
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