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.
August 2 » Anglo-Afghan War: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand states.
August 31 » Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.
September 12 » Tirah Campaign: In the Battle of Saragarhi, ten thousand Pashtun tribesmen suffer several hundred casualties while attacking 21 Sikh soldiers in British service.
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 March 20, 1957
The temperature on March 20, 1957 was between 7.6 °C and 15.2 °C and averaged 10.7 °C. There was 2.5 mm of rain during 1.4 hours. There was 3.6 hours of sunshine (30%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 5 Bft (very strong wind) and was prevailing from the south-southwest. Source: KNMI
January 3 » The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
July 6 » John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles.
July 11 » Prince Karim Husseini Aga Khan IV inherits the office of Imamat as the 49th Imam of Shia Imami Ismai'li worldwide, after the death of Sir Sultan Mahommed Shah Aga Khan III.
September 22 » In Haiti, François Duvalier is elected president.
October 10 » The Windscale fire results in Britain's worst nuclear accident.
November 8 » Pan Am Flight 7 disappears between San Francisco and Honolulu. Wreckage and bodies are discovered a week later.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Hans Pruckmuller, "Family tree Van Willigen", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/van-willigen-stamboom/I8507.php : accessed January 23, 2026), "Pieter van Wijk (1897-1957)".
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