February 7 » Dreyfus affair: Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse…!.
April 21 » Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date.
June 13 » Yukon Territory is formed, with Dawson chosen as its capital.
June 22 » Spanish–American War: In a chaotic operation, 6,000 men of the U.S. Fifth Army Corps begins landing at Daiquirí, Cuba, about 16 miles (26km) east of Santiago de Cuba. Lt. Gen. Arsenio Linares y Pombo of the Spanish Army outnumbers them two-to-one, but does not oppose the landings.
August 23 » The Southern Cross Expedition, the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, departs from London.
August 28 » Caleb Bradham's beverage "Brad's Drink" is renamed "Pepsi-Cola".
Day of death October 16, 1959
The temperature on October 16, 1959 was between 5.3 °C and 20.0 °C and averaged 11.9 °C. There was 9.0 hours of sunshine (84%). The average windspeed was 4 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the south east. Source: KNMI
January 3 » Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
January 4 » Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
September 18 » Vanguard 3 is launched into Earth orbit.
October 2 » Rod Serling's anthology series The Twilight Zone premieres on CBS. The first episode is “Where Is Everybody?”
October 30 » Piedmont Airlines Flight 349 crashes on approach to Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport in Albemarle County, Virginia, killing 26 of the 27 on board.
November 2 » The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Peeters Mathieu, "FutureHistory", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-riske/I5121.php : accessed August 29, 2026), "Alfons de Meirleir (1898-1959)".
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