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The first recorded use of the name Amsterdam was when a document exempting fishermen in Amsterdam from tolls. It went on to become the capital of the Netherlands in later times.
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Over the night on November 18th to November 19th in 1421, the Saint Elizabeth Flood struck. Since November 19th is Saint Elizabeth Day, the flood was named the Saint' Elizabeth Flood. Most of the areas that were flodded remain flooded today.
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In 1433, the Duke of Burgundy had united most of what would become the Netherlands and Belgium. This is when the people of the Netherlands began to identify themselves as 'people of the Netherlands,' as opposed to which city or province they came from, has had been done before.
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The Eighty Years' War was a war for independence from Spain in the beginning. It started in 1568, continuing all the way until 1648. Although the first 50 years were just a war between Spain and the Netherlands, it became part of the European war known as the Thirty Years War in 1618, until 1648.
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The first Dutch fort in the Americas was built in present-day Guyana., on the Essequibo River. Here, they established sugar plantations.
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Between 1636 and 1637, recently after tulips had been introduced to the Netherlands, tulips stocks rocketed up. Dutchmen bought and sold like crazy, although the prices of a single tulip were often more than a year's worth of work. In February of 1637, the market suddenly crashed. The cause isn't entirely clear, altough there are many different theories.
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Signed between May and October of 1648, the Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties that ended the Thirty Years War and the Eighty Years' War. Spain now recognized the Netherlands as an independent country.
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After the British passed a new law that hurt Dutch trading interests, Dutch Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp refused to follow the law. After this incident, the Commonwealth of England declared war on the Netherlands. It ended in 1654 by the Treaty of Westminster.
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The Second Anglo-Dutch began due to similar reasons as the first. The British were attempting to pass laws that hurt Dutch trading interests, and this sparked a war. It ended with another peace treaty on July 31st, 1667.
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Although the British didn't want to get involved in another war, France attacked the Netherlands, and the British had to help them invade because of a treaty. After they failed miserably, the British forced the French into writing a peace treaty in 1674.
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The Dutch, full of resentment towards the British about their growing economy, began to support American rebels. This led to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. It ended in 1784 with the Treaty of Paris.
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In 1811, when Napoleon had annexed the Netherlands, he made it a requirement for Dutch people to have surnames. Some people thought it was temporary, and choose some very silly names.
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Wilhelmine of Prussia took the throne after her husband, William of the netherlands. She was not a popular queen. In 1820, her health began declining until she eventually died in 1837.
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Slavery is abolished in the main Dutch slave colony Surinam and the Antilles. Although technically free, though, slaves were required to work another 10 years for their owners under a contract. Today, July 1st is a national holiday called Keti Koti, which means 'the chains have broken.'
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Although the Netherlands made a point of declaring its neutrality when WWII began, Germany invaded on May 10th, 1940. It didn't go as smoothly as expected, as the Dutch forces put up more of a fight than the Germans thought they could It looked god for the Netherlands until Germany bombed Rotterdam, one of the Netherlands biggest cities.. In the end, the Netherlands surrendered.
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Areas south of the Rhine river were liberated from Germany from September to October in 1944. But the British, American, and Polish forces were unable to capture a bridge that would allow them to liberate the rest of the Netherlands.
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In the winter of 1944-1945, the German occupied half of the Netherlands had their food supply from the Germans deliberately cut off. It was a very cold winter, and many people starved.
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The northern half of the Netherlands that could not be liberated earlier was freed this day. Now May 5th is celebrated as Liberation Day in the Netherlands.
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In 2001, same-sex marriage was finally legalized after many years of anticipation from gay rights activists. Although there are still many restrictions, such as being required to be citizens of the Netherlands. It is not legal in some Dutch territories.
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Queen Beatrix announced her decision to abdicate a few monthes before, and Prince Willem-Alexander became king. He is the first king of the Netherlands in over 100 years.
