He was born DE in Gerrit Johannes Baptised: 1790, den 10 Januarij Father: Jacobus van Zijl Mother: Jannetje Laberschagnie Witnesses: Gerrit Olivier en Johannes van Zijl en Helena de Jager Source: Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente (NGK), Tulbagh, Western Cape.
March 4 » France is divided into 83 départements, cutting across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on ownership of land by the nobility.
May 29 » Rhode Island becomes the last of North America's original Thirteen Colonies to ratify the Constitution and become one of the United States.
July 16 » The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.
August 2 » The first United States Census is conducted.
November 1 » Edmund Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France, in which he predicts that the French Revolution will end in a disaster.
December 6 » The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia.
Day of death October 16, 1863
The temperature on October 16, 1863 was about 12.1 °C. The air pressure was 4 kgf/m2 and came mainly from the southwest. The airpressure was 76 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 86%. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from February 1, 1862 to February 10, 1866 the cabinet Thorbecke II, with Mr. J.R. Thorbecke (liberaal) as prime minister.
April 30 » A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fights a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.
May 17 » Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language.
July 9 » American Civil War: The Siege of Port Hudson ends, giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi River.
August 8 » American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (which is refused upon receipt).
August 17 » American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter.
November 26 » United States President Abraham Lincoln proclaims November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November. Following the Franksgiving controversy from 1939 to 1941, it has been observed on the fourth Thursday in 1942 and subsequent years.
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/I530529.php : accessed February 6, 2026), "Gerrit Johannes (Gert Johannes) van Zijl (-1863)".
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