May 29 » Rhode Island becomes the last of North America's original Thirteen Colonies to ratify the Constitution and become one of the United States.
July 9 » The Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian Baltic fleet.
July 14 » French Revolution: Citizens of Paris celebrate the unity of the French people and the national reconciliation in the Fête de la Fédération.
July 31 » The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
October 9 » A severe earthquake in northern Algeria causes severe damage and a tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea and kills three thousand.
November 1 » Edmund Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France, in which he predicts that the French Revolution will end in a disaster.
Day of death May 8, 1866
The temperature on May 8, 1866 was about 17.2 °C. The air pressure was 7 kgf/m2 and came mainly from the west-southwest. The airpressure was 76 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 49%. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from February 1, 1862 to February 10, 1866 the cabinet Thorbecke II, with Mr. J.R. Thorbecke (liberaal) as prime minister.
In The Netherlands , there was from February 10, 1866 to June 1, 1866 the cabinet Fransen van de Putte, with I.D. Fransen van de Putte (liberaal) as prime minister.
From June 1, 1866 till June 4, 1868 the Netherlands had a cabinet Van Zuijlen van Nijevelt - Heemskerk with the prime ministers Mr. J.P.J.A. graaf Van Zuijlen van Nijevelt (AR) and Mr. J. Heemskerk Azn. (conservatief).
January 18 » Wesley College is established in Melbourne, Australia.
February 21 » Lucy Hobbs Taylor becomes the first American woman to graduate from dental school.
July 24 » Reconstruction: Tennessee becomes the first U.S. state to be readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War.
July 27 » The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable is successfully completed, stretching from Valentia Island, Ireland, to Heart's Content, Newfoundland.
August 23 » Austro-Prussian War ends with the Treaty of Prague.
October 19 » In accordance with the Treaty of Vienna, Austria cedes Veneto and Mantua to France, which immediately awards them to Italy in exchange for the earlier Italian acquiescence to the French annexation of Savoy and Nice.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Harry Westerman, "Family tree Westerman", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-westerman/X5276.php : accessed February 6, 2026), "Bernardus Roelfs (-1866)".
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