January 5 » Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.
February 1 » Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
April 3 » The trial in the libel case brought by Oscar Wilde begins, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
April 24 » Joshua Slocum, the first person to sail single-handedly around the world, sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts aboard the sloop "Spray".
December 28 » The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines.
December 28 » Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.
Day of death May 21, 1939
The temperature on May 21, 1939 was between 2.1 °C and 18.2 °C and averaged 11.6 °C. There was 11.3 hours of sunshine (71%). The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the northeast. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from June 24, 1937 to July 25, 1939 the cabinet Colijn IV, with Dr. H. Colijn (ARP) as prime minister.
In The Netherlands , there was from July 25, 1939 to August 10, 1939 the cabinet Colijn V, with Dr. H. Colijn (ARP) as prime minister.
In The Netherlands , there was from August 10, 1939 to September 3, 1940 the cabinet De Geer II, with Jonkheer mr. D.J. de Geer (CHU) as prime minister.
June 17 » Last public guillotining in France: Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is executed in Versailles outside the Saint-Pierre prison.
September 1 » Switzerland mobilizes its forces and the Swiss Parliament elects Henri Guisan to head the Swiss Armed Forces (an event that can happen only during war or mobilization).
September 1 » World War II: Nazi Germany and Slovakia invade Poland, beginning the European phase of World War II.
November 4 » World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents.
December 12 » HMSDuchess sinks after a collision with HMSBarham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
December 27 » Winter War: Finland holds off a Soviet attack in the Battle of Kelja.
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/I202386.php : accessed October 21, 2026), "Bernard Zetsma (1895-1939)".
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