January 23 » Second Boer War: The Battle of Spion Kop between the forces of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State and British forces ends in a British defeat.
April 2 » The United States Congress passes the Foraker Act, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule.
April 5 » Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discover a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writing in a script they call Linear B.
May 29 » N'Djamena is founded as Fort-Lamy by the French commander Émile Gentil.
June 21 » Boxer Rebellion. China formally declares war on the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan, as an edict issued from the Empress Dowager Cixi.
July 29 » In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
Day of death May 17, 1941
The temperature on May 17, 1941 was between 2.6 °C and 17.2 °C and averaged 10.7 °C. There was 10.1 hours of sunshine (64%). The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the west-southwest. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from September 3, 1940 to July 27, 1941 the cabinet Gerbrandy I, with Prof. dr. P.S. Gerbrandy (ARP) as prime minister.
In The Netherlands , there was from July 27, 1941 to February 23, 1945 the cabinet Gerbrandy II, with Prof. dr. P.S. Gerbrandy (ARP) as prime minister.
January 2 » World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.
April 10 » World War II: The Axis powers establish the Independent State of Croatia.
May 8 » World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby.
July 26 » World War II: In response to the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, the United States, Britain and the Netherlands freeze all Japanese assets and cut off oil shipments.
September 5 » Whole territory of Estonia is occupied by Nazi Germany.
October 22 » World War II: French resistance member Guy Môquet and 29 other hostages are executed by the Germans in retaliation for the death of a German officer.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: A.R. Servaes, "Family tree Servaes, Maastricht/Venlo/Straelen/Neuss/Düsseldorf", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-servaes/I5743.php : accessed February 16, 2026), "Johann Heinrich Geerkens (1900-1941)".
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