January 8 » Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the 'Art of Applying Statistics' — his punched card calculator.
January 22 » Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C.
February 22 » President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
April 1 » The University of Northern Colorado was established, as the Colorado State Normal School.
July 11 » Tijuana, Mexico, is founded.
August 4 » The Great Fire of Spokane, Washington destroys some 32 blocks of the city, prompting a mass rebuilding project.
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
May 4 » Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
July 26 » Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment repel a number of Chinese assaults against a key position known as The Hook during the Battle of the Samichon River, just hours before the Armistice Agreement is signed, ending the Korean War.
July 27 » Cessation of hostilities is achieved in the Korean War when the United States, China, and North Korea sign an armistice agreement. Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, refuses to sign but pledges to observe the armistice.
September 21 » Lieutenant No Kum-sok, a North Korean pilot, defects to South Korea with his jet fighter.
October 1 » Andhra State is formed, consisting of a Telugu-speaking area carved out of India's Madras State.
November 17 » The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, Kerry, Ireland, are evacuated to the mainland.
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 23, 2026), "Jacobus Johannes van Niekerk (1889-1953)".
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