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.
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.
July 26 » Anglo-Afghan War: The Pashtun fakir Saidullah leads an army of more than 10,000 to begin a siege of the British garrison in the Malakand Agency of the North West Frontier Province of India.
August 21 » Oldsmobile, an American automobile manufacturer and marque, is founded.
September 1 » The Tremont Street Subway in Boston opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America.
November 1 » The first Library of Congress building opens its doors to the public; the library had previously been housed in the Congressional Reading Room in the U.S. Capitol.
Day of death October 20, 1978
The temperature on October 20, 1978 was between 7.3 °C and 13.0 °C and averaged 10.5 °C. There was 1.2 mm of rain during 1.8 hours. The almost completely overcast was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the west-southwest. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from Monday, December 19, 1977 to Friday, September 11, 1981 the cabinet Van Agt I, with Mr. A.A.M. van Agt (CDA/KVP) as prime minister.
January 18 » The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom's government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
April 14 » Tbilisi Demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.
May 4 » The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people.
May 8 » The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
September 8 » Black Friday, a massacre by soldiers against protesters in Tehran, results in 700–3000 deaths, it marks the beginning of the end of the monarchy in Iran.
December 27 » Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of fascist dictatorship.
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/I22593.php : accessed October 10, 2026), "Janke Vaatstra (1897-1978)".
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