January 25 » The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old Province of Quebec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
March 2 » Long-distance communication speeds up with the unveiling of a semaphore machine in Paris.
June 21 » King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family begin the Flight to Varennes during the French Revolution.
September 14 » The Papal States lose Avignon to Revolutionary France.
September 30 » France's National Constituent Assembly is dissolved, to be replaced the next day by the National Legislative Assembly
December 15 » The United States Bill of Rights becomes law when ratified by the Virginia General Assembly.
Day of marriage May 17, 1818
The temperature on May 17, 1818 was about 12.0 °C. Wind direction mainly west-northwest. Weather type: betrokken regen. Source: KNMI
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De Republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden werd in 1794-1795 door de Fransen veroverd onder leiding van bevelhebber Charles Pichegru (geholpen door de Nederlander Herman Willem Daendels); de verovering werd vergemakkelijkt door het dichtvriezen van de Waterlinie; Willem V moest op 18 januari 1795 uitwijken naar Engeland (en van daaruit in 1801 naar Duitsland); de patriotten namen de macht over van de aristocratische regenten en proclameerden de Bataafsche Republiek; op 16 mei 1795 werd het Haags Verdrag gesloten, waarmee ons land een vazalstaat werd van Frankrijk; in 3.1796 kwam er een Nationale Vergadering; in 1798 pleegde Daendels een staatsgreep, die de unitarissen aan de macht bracht; er kwam een nieuwe grondwet, die een Vertegenwoordigend Lichaam (met een Eerste en Tweede Kamer) instelde en als regering een Directoire; in 1799 sloeg Daendels bij Castricum een Brits-Russische invasie af; in 1801 kwam er een nieuwe grondwet; bij de Vrede van Amiens (1802) kreeg ons land van Engeland zijn koloniën terug (behalve Ceylon); na de grondwetswijziging van 1805 kwam er een raadpensionaris als eenhoofdig gezag, namelijk Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck (van 31 oktober 1761 tot 25 maart 1825).
February 12 » Bernardo O'Higgins formally approves the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.
March 16 » In the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada, Spanish forces defeated Chileans under José de San Martín.
April 4 » The United States Congress, affirming the Second Continental Congress, adopts the flag of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (20 at that time).
April 20 » The case of Ashford v Thornton ends, with Abraham Thornton allowed to go free rather than face a retrial for murder, after his demand for trial by battle is upheld.
July 29 » French physicist Augustin Fresnel submits his prizewinning "Memoir on the Diffraction of Light", precisely accounting for the limited extent to which light spreads into shadows, and thereby demolishing the oldest objection to the wave theory of light.
December 3 » Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state.
Day of death January 15, 1868
The temperature on January 15, 1868 was about 8.0 °C. The air pressure was 15 kgf/m2 and came mainly from the west-southwest. The airpressure was 76 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 86%. Source: KNMI
From June 1, 1866 till June 4, 1868 the Netherlands had a cabinet Van Zuijlen van Nijevelt - Heemskerk with the prime ministers Mr. J.P.J.A. graaf Van Zuijlen van Nijevelt (AR) and Mr. J. Heemskerk Azn. (conservatief).
From June 4, 1868 till January 4, 1871 the Netherlands had a cabinet Van Bosse - Fock with the prime ministers Mr. P.P. van Bosse (liberaal) and Mr. C. Fock (liberaal).
January 3 » Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Chōshū seize power.
March 23 » The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
May 26 » The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson ends with his acquittal by one vote.
May 30 » Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day") is observed in the United States for the first time after a proclamation by John A. Logan, head of the Grand Army of the Republic (a veterans group).
August 13 » The 8.5–9.0 Mw Arica earthquake struck southern Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), causing 25,000+ deaths and a destructive basin wide tsunami that affected Hawaii and New Zealand.
September 28 » The Battle of Alcolea causes Queen Isabella II of Spain to flee to France.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: René de Wildt, "Family tree Kim de Wildt", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/kims-stamboom/I40.php : accessed January 21, 2026), "Willem Gielen (1791-1868)".
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