February 1 » La bohème premieres in Turin at the Teatro Regio (Turin), conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini.
February 21 » An Englishman raised in Australia, Bob Fitzsimmons, fought an Irishman, Peter Maher, in an American promoted event which technically took place in Mexico, winning the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship in boxing.
July 9 » William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
August 16 » Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
December 30 » Canadian ice hockey player Ernie McLea scores the first hat-trick in Stanley Cup play, and the Cup-winning goal as the Montreal Victorias defeat the Winnipeg Victorias 6–5.
Christening day March 11, 1897
The temperature on March 11, 1897 was about 1.8 °C. The airpressure was 76 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 100%. Source: KNMI
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.
July 11 » Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen to attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon. He later crashes and dies.
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.
September 1 » The Tremont Street Subway in Boston opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America.
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 February 25, 1956
The temperature on February 25, 1956 was between -15.1 °C and -2.1 °C and averaged -9.1 °C. There was 9.4 hours of sunshine (89%). The average windspeed was 4 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the north-northeast. Source: KNMI
April 2 » As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.
April 3 » Hudsonville–Standale tornado: The western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is struck by a deadly F5 tornado.
June 28 » in Poznań, workers from HCP factory go to the streets, sparking one of the first major protests against communist government both in Poland and Europe.
October 15 » FORTRAN, the first modern computer language, is first shared with the coding community.
October 28 » Elvis Presley receives a polio vaccination on national TV.
November 4 » Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution against the Soviet Union that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Gert Esterhuizen, "Family tree Eric Esterhuizen", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-eric-esterhuizen/I10002.php : accessed February 24, 2026), "Robert Albertus PRETORIUS (1896-1956)".
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