May 18 » The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the "separate but equal" doctrine is constitutional.
June 4 » Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.
June 15 » The deadliest tsunami in Japan's history kills more than 22,000 people.
August 17 » Bridget Driscoll became the first recorded case of a pedestrian killed in a collision with a motor car in the United Kingdom.
September 22 » Queen Victoria surpasses her grandfather King George III as the longest reigning monarch in British history.
November 17 » The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which later became the first ice hockey league to openly trade and hire players, began play at Pittsburgh's Schenley Park Casino.
Day of death July 10, 1897
The temperature on July 10, 1897 was about 21.5 °C. The airpressure was 77 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 69%. Source: KNMI
February 1 » Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul.
April 30 » J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.
May 26 » Dracula, a Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
August 21 » Oldsmobile, an American automobile manufacturer and marque, is founded.
November 1 » The first Library of Congress building opens its doors to the public; the library had previously been housed in the Congressional Reading Room in the U.S. Capitol.
December 30 » The British Colony of Natal annexes Zululand.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Pauline Berens BC, "Local Heritage Book Barger-Compascuum", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/ofb-barger-compascuum/I21491.php : accessed January 24, 2026), "Gerardus Henderikus Westen (1896-1897)".
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