April 2 » "Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles.
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 20 » Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the country's first President.
July 17 » Willis Carrier creates the first air conditioner in Buffalo, New York.
August 9 » Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Day of death January 31, 1962
The temperature on January 31, 1962 was between -6.8 °C and 0.4 °C and averaged -2.6 °C. There was 4.9 hours of sunshine (54%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the south. Source: KNMI
January 15 » Netherlands New Guinea Conflict: Indonesian Navy fast patrol boat RI Macan Tutul commanded by Commodore Yos Sudarso sunk in Arafura Sea by the Dutch Navy.
March 4 » A Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Cameroon, killing 111 - the worst crash of a DC-7.
August 5 » Apartheid: Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990.
August 27 » The Mariner 2 unmanned space mission is launched to Venus by NASA.
September 30 » James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, defying racial segregation rules.
November 24 » The influential British satirical television programme That Was the Week That Was is first broadcast.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Hans Weening, "Family tree Weening", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-weening/I114152.php : accessed October 16, 2026), "Durk de Vries (1902-1962)".
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