January 22 » Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C.
February 9 » US president Grover Cleveland signs a bill elevating the United States Department of Agriculture to a Cabinet-level agency.
June 26 » Bangui is founded by Albert Dolisie and Alfred Uzac in what was then the upper reaches of the French Congo.
August 4 » The Great Fire of Spokane, Washington destroys some 32 blocks of the city, prompting a mass rebuilding project.
October 24 » Henry Parkes delivers the Tenterfield Oration, effectively starting the federation process in Australia.
November 2 » North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
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.
April 27 » Operation Moolah offers $50,000 to any pilot who defected with a fully mission-capable Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 to South Korea. The first pilot was to receive $100,000.
August 12 » The 7.2 Ms Ionian earthquake shakes the southern Ionian Islands with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 445 and 800 people are killed.
September 21 » Lieutenant No Kum-sok, a North Korean pilot, defects to South Korea with his jet fighter.
October 1 » A Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea is concluded in Washington, D.C.
October 29 » BCPA Flight 304 DC-6 crashes near San Francisco.
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 25, 2026), "Jacobus Johannes van Niekerk (1889-1953)".
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