The temperature on October 16, 1959 was between 5.3 °C and 20.0 °C and averaged 11.9 °C. There was 9.0 hours of sunshine (84%). The average windspeed was 4 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the south east. Source: KNMI
February 9 » The R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile, becomes operational at Plesetsk, USSR.
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.
March 30 » Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
May 19 » The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail.
October 21 » President Eisenhower approves the transfer of all US Army space-related activities to NASA, including most of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency.
December 1 » Cold War: Opening date for signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: F. van Dijk, "Family tree Van Dijk", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom_van_dijk/R30462.php : accessed January 23, 2026), "Franciscus Smeekens (1880-1959)".
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