March 23 » The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, British India.
April 22 » At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
June 3 » The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.
June 26 » Bangui is founded by Albert Dolisie and Alfred Uzac in what was then the upper reaches of the French Congo.
August 13 » William Gray of Hartford, Connecticut is granted United States Patent Number 408,709 for "Coin-controlled apparatus for telephones."
October 24 » Henry Parkes delivers the Tenterfield Oration, effectively starting the federation process in Australia.
Day of death October 15, 1953
The temperature on October 15, 1953 was between 11.7 °C and 14.5 °C and averaged 13.0 °C. There was 0.1 mm of rain. The almost completely overcast was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the north. Source: KNMI
January 5 » The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett receives its première in Paris.
January 20 » Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th President of the United States of America.
May 29 » Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on Tenzing Norgay's (adopted) 39th birthday.
June 2 » The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the Commonwealth, the first major international event to be televised.
July 7 » Ernesto "Che" Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.
October 1 » Andhra State is formed, consisting of a Telugu-speaking area carved out of India's Madras State.
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/I8393.php : accessed January 20, 2026), "Jacobus Johannes van Niekerk (1889-1953)".
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