January 5 » Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.
February 9 » William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball.
August 31 » German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his navigable balloon.
October 22 » In Paris an express train derails after overrunning the buffer stop, crossing almost 30 metres (100ft) of concourse before crashing through a wall and falling 10 metres (33ft) to the road below.
November 8 » While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.
December 28 » The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines.
Day of marriage February 14, 1917
The temperature on February 14, 1917 was between -7.6 °C and 5.4 °C and averaged -0.5 °C. There was 0.2 mm of rain. There was 6.2 hours of sunshine (63%). The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the north-northeast. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from August 29, 1913 to September 9, 1918 the cabinet Cort van der Linden, with Mr. P.W.A. Cort van der Linden (liberaal) as prime minister.
February 3 » First World War: The American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
February 23 » First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution (March 8 in the Gregorian calendar).
February 24 » World War I: The U.S. ambassador Walter Hines Page to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.
March 31 » According to the terms of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, the islands become American possessions.
May 18 » World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
November 28 » The Estonian Provincial Assembly declares itself the sovereign power of Estonia.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Sim Mostert, "Genealogy Pot en Smit", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/genealogie_pot_smit/I4255.php : accessed February 8, 2026), "DIRK WILLEM van der GIESSEN (1895-????)".
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