April 30 » J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.
May 26 » Dracula, a Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
June 16 » A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.
August 21 » Oldsmobile, an American automobile manufacturer and marque, is founded.
December 9 » Activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper La Fronde in Paris.
December 30 » The British Colony of Natal annexes Zululand.
Day of death January 23, 1959
The temperature on January 23, 1959 was between 1.8 °C and 8.7 °C and averaged 4.2 °C. There was 6.0 mm of rain during 5.5 hours. There was 5.4 hours of sunshine (63%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 4 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the west-southwest. Source: KNMI
January 30 » MSHans Hedtoft, said to be the safest ship afloat and "unsinkable" like the RMSTitanic, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard.
February 28 » Discoverer 1, an American spy satellite that is the first object intended to achieve a polar orbit, is launched but fails to achieve orbit.
July 27 » The Continental League is announced as baseball's "3rd major league" in the United States.
August 14 » Founding and first official meeting of the American Football League.
October 7 » The Soviet probe Luna 3 transmits the first-ever photographs of the far side of the Moon.
December 13 » Archbishop Makarios III becomes the first President of Cyprus.
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/I1760.php : accessed October 6, 2026), "Sjouke Bergsma (1897-1959)".
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