January 13 » First Italo-Ethiopian War: the war's opening battle, the Battle of Coatit, occurs; it is an Italian victory.
February 1 » Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
May 25 » The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Jingsong as its president.
October 4 » Horace Rawlins wins the first U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship.
October 21 » The Republic of Formosa collapses as Japanese forces invade.
November 5 » George B. Selden is granted the first U.S. patent for an automobile.
Day of death March 17, 1968
The temperature on March 17, 1968 was between 5.6 °C and 9.1 °C and averaged 6.9 °C. There was 5.9 mm of rain during 3.2 hours. There was 7.4 hours of sunshine (62%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 5 Bft (very strong wind) and was prevailing from the west-southwest. Source: KNMI
January 22 » Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space.
July 1 » Formal separation of the United Auto Workers from the AFL–CIO in the United States.
August 20 » Cold War: Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring. East German participation is limited to a few specialists due to memories of the recent war. Only Albania and Romania refuse to participate.
September 2 » Operation OAU begins during the Nigerian Civil War.
October 2 » Mexican President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz orders soldiers to suppress a demonstration of unarmed students, ten days before the start of the 1968 Summer Olympics.
December 24 » Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures.
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/I8671.php : accessed January 25, 2026), "Wilhelmus van de Burgt (1895-1968)".
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