February 1 » Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
April 24 » Joshua Slocum, the first person to sail single-handedly around the world, sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts aboard the sloop "Spray".
May 25 » Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
June 27 » The inaugural run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
November 5 » George B. Selden is granted the first U.S. patent for an automobile.
November 27 » At the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.
Day of marriage February 7, 1918
The temperature on February 7, 1918 was between 7.3 °C and 8.6 °C and averaged 7.9 °C. There was 12.5 mm of rain. The average windspeed was 5 Bft (very strong wind) and was prevailing from the southwest. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from August 29, 1913 to September 9, 1918 the cabinet Cort van der Linden, with Mr. P.W.A. Cort van der Linden (liberaal) as prime minister.
In The Netherlands , there was from September 9, 1918 to September 18, 1922 the cabinet Ruys de Beerenbrouck I, with Jonkheer mr. Ch.J.M. Ruys de Beerenbrouck (RKSP) as prime minister.
March 19 » The US Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time.
March 21 » World War I: The first phase of the German Spring Offensive, Operation Michael, begins.
July 4 » Mehmed V died at the age of 73 and Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne.
November 18 » Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
November 25 » Vojvodina, formerly Austro-Hungarian crown land, proclaims its secession from Austria–Hungary to join the Kingdom of Serbia.
December 16 » Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas declares the formation of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic; it is dissolved in 1919.
Day of death July 18, 1973
The temperature on July 18, 1973 was between 11.9 °C and 19.2 °C and averaged 15.6 °C. There was 0.5 mm of rain during 0.2 hours. There was 3.0 hours of sunshine (19%). The partly or heavily clouded was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the west. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from Thursday, July 20, 1972 to Friday, May 11, 1973 the cabinet Biesheuvel II, with Mr. B.W. Biesheuvel (ARP) as prime minister.
In The Netherlands , there was from Friday, May 11, 1973 to Monday, December 19, 1977 the cabinet Den Uyl, with Drs. J.M. den Uyl (PvdA) as prime minister.
January 8 » Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
January 27 » The Paris Peace Accords officially end the Vietnam War. Colonel William Nolde is killed in action becoming the conflict's last recorded American combat casualty.
April 3 » Martin Cooper of Motorola makes the first handheld mobile phone call to Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs.
June 9 » In horse racing, Secretariat wins the U.S. Triple Crown.
June 20 » Snipers fire upon left-wing Peronists in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in what is known as the Ezeiza massacre. At least 13 are killed and more than 300 are injured.
August 22 » The Congress of Chile votes in favour of a resolution condemning President Salvador Allende's government and demands that he resign or else be unseated through force and new elections.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Wim van Giessen, "Family tree Van Giessen", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-van-giessen/I2832.php : accessed February 27, 2026), "Karel de Graaf (1895-1973)".
Copy warning
Genealogical publications are copyright protected. Although data is often retrieved from public archives, the searching, interpreting, collecting, selecting and sorting of the data results in a unique product. Copyright protected work may not simply be copied or republished.
Please stick to the following rules
Request permission to copy data or at least inform the author, chances are that the author gives permission, often the contact also leads to more exchange of data.
Do not use this data until you have checked it, preferably at the source (the archives).
State from whom you have copied the data and ideally also his/her original source.