January 28 » The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
January 30 » The first Anglo-Japanese Alliance is signed in London.
March 7 » Second Boer War: Boers, led by Koos de la Rey, inflict the biggest defeat upon the British since the beginning of the war, at Tweebosch.
April 18 » The 7.5 Mw Guatemala earthquake shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800–2,000.
May 8 » In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.
May 17 » Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.
Day of death August 17, 1948
The temperature on August 17, 1948 was between 10.6 °C and 19.8 °C and averaged 15.2 °C. There was 0.1 mm of rain. There was 5.8 hours of sunshine (40%). The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the west. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from July 3, 1946 to August 7, 1948 the cabinet Beel I, with Dr. L.J.M. Beel (KVP) as prime minister.
From August 7, 1948 till March 15, 1951 the Netherlands had a cabinet Drees - Van Schaik with the prime ministers Dr. W. Drees (PvdA) and Mr. J.R.H. van Schaik (KVP).
April 1 » Faroe Islands gain autonomy from Denmark.
April 22 » Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces.
May 12 » Wilhelmina, Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, cedes the throne.
September 9 » Kim Il-sung declares the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).
September 13 » Deputy Prime Minister of India Vallabhbhai Patel orders the Army to move into Hyderabad to integrate it with the Indian Union.
October 29 » Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Safsaf massacre: Israeli soldiers capture the Palestinian village of Safsaf in the Galilee; after, between 52 and 64 villagers are massacred by the IDF.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Bob Smith, "Family tree Smith", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-smith/I24509.php : accessed March 16, 2026), "Johannes Louis Ferdinand Best (1902-1948)".
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