January 4 » Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company records the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy's death.
January 9 » Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
June 16 » The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.
September 11 » The first race at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin is held. It is the oldest major speedway in the world.
September 27 » The Wreck of the Old 97, an American rail disaster that became the subject of a popular ballad.
December 17 » The Wright brothers make the first controlled powered, heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Day of death April 20, 1938
The temperature on April 20, 1938 was between -0.6 °C and 11.1 °C and averaged 5.2 °C. There was 8.5 hours of sunshine (60%). The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the north. Source: KNMI
January 28 » The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9mph).
May 26 » In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
August 20 » Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd career grand slam, a record that stood for 75 years until it was broken by Alex Rodriguez.
October 14 » The first flight of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter plane.
October 30 » Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing anxiety in some of the audience in the United States.
December 13 » The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Hans Dunning, "Family tree Dunning", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-dunning/R298.php : accessed January 28, 2026), "Gezina Dekker (1883-1938)".
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