February 14 » The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).
July 19 » Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France.
July 20 » The Ford Motor Company ships its first automobile.
July 23 » The Ford Motor Company sells its first car.
August 18 » German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright brothers.
October 1 » Baseball: The Boston Americans play the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of the modern World Series.
Day of death May 12, 1917
The temperature on May 12, 1917 was between 10.1 °C and 27.0 °C and averaged 19.2 °C. There was 7.8 hours of sunshine (50%). The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the east. 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.
April 2 » World War I: United States President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
April 16 » Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia, from exile in Switzerland.
October 4 » World War I: The Battle of Broodseinde is fought between the British and German armies in Flanders.
November 7 » The Gregorian calendar date of the October Revolution, which gets its name from the Julian calendar date of 25 October. On this date in 1917, the Bolsheviks storm the Winter Palace.
November 7 » World War I: Third Battle of Gaza ends: British forces capture Gaza from the Ottoman Empire.
November 25 » World War I: German forces defeat Portuguese army of about 1,200 at Negomano on the border of modern-day Mozambique and Tanzania.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Nico Blesgraaf, "Family tree Blesgraaf", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-blesgraaf/I778.php : accessed January 21, 2026), "Theodorus Wilhelmus de Graaff (1903-1917)".
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