June 16 » A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.
July 26 » Anglo-Afghan War: The Pashtun fakir Saidullah leads an army of more than 10,000 to begin a siege of the British garrison in the Malakand Agency of the North West Frontier Province of India.
August 10 » German chemist Felix Hoffmann discovers an improved way of synthesizing acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin).
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 6 » London becomes the world's first city to host licensed taxicabs.
December 30 » The British Colony of Natal annexes Zululand.
Day of death May 5, 1979
The temperature on May 5, 1979 was between 1.6 °C and 7.2 °C and averaged 4.5 °C. There was 0.5 mm of rain during 0.9 hours. There was 1.0 hours of sunshine (7%). The heavily clouded was. The average windspeed was 1 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the north-northeast. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from Monday, December 19, 1977 to Friday, September 11, 1981 the cabinet Van Agt I, with Mr. A.A.M. van Agt (CDA/KVP) as prime minister.
February 20 » An earthquake cracks open the Sinila volcanic crater on the Dieng Plateau, releasing poisonous H2S gas and killing 149 villagers in the Indonesian province of Central Java.
March 28 » The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against James Callaghan's government by 1 vote, precipitating a general election.
May 25 » John Spenkelink, a convicted murderer, is executed in Florida; he is the first person to be executed in the state after the reintroduction of capital punishment in 1976.
June 2 » Pope John Paul II starts his first official visit to his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.
June 20 » ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime.
September 13 » South Africa grants independence to the "homeland" of Venda (not recognised outside South Africa).
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Charles Olson, "Olson's Tree", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/olsons-tree/P5482.php : accessed March 7, 2026), "James Abercrombie Burden III (1897-1979)".
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