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Dateline
- circa 1200 Fishermen establish a settlement at the mouth of the Amstel River, which is dammed in an effort to control periodic flooding of the low-lying land; the settlement takes the name "Aemstelledamme."
- circa 1204 Count Gijsbrecht II van Aemstel builds a castle at the settlement.
- 1275 Count Floris V of Holland grants Aemstelledamme freedom from tolls on travel and trade through his lands. This first documented reference is considered Amsterdam's foundation date.
- 1300 The Bishop of Utrecht grants Amsterdam (pop. 1,000) its first town charter.
- 1334 City records list the Oude Kerk (Old Church) as Amsterdam's first parish church.
- 1345 The "Miracle of the Host" attracts pilgrims from around Europe.
- 1452 Fire destroys the town's timber buildings.
- 1514 With a population of 12,000, Amsterdam is Holland's largest town.
- 1566 Protestant services are held in public for the first time; rioters sack Catholic churches in the Beeldenstorm (Iconoclastic Fury).
- 1567 Philip II of Spain sends the Duke of Alba to the Low Countries to confront the Protestant Reformation.
- 1578 Amsterdam abandons the Catholic cause. Calvinists take over during the Alteratie (Alteration).
- 1579 The Union of Utrecht unites the seven northern provinces of the Low Countries. In 1581, they declare independence from Spain.
- 1602 Foundation of the United East India Company (V.O.C.), destined to become a powerful force in Holland's Golden Age of discovery, exploration, and trade.
- 1613 Construction begins on the three concentric waterways of the grachtengordel (canal belt): Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht.
- 1621 West India Company is chartered in Amsterdam for trade with the Americas.
- 1631 Rembrandt, at age 25, moves to Amsterdam from his native Leiden. Athenaeum Illustre, precursor to the city's first university, opens.
- 1634-37 Tulip Mania. Tulip bulb prices soar to crazy levels before finally crashing.
- 1642 Rembrandt paints The Night Watch.
- 1795 Velvet Revolution. French troops occupy Holland with the aid of Dutch revolutionaries and establish the Batavian Republic.
- 1806-10 Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, reigns as king of Holland; from 1808, he resides at the palace on the Dam.
- 1814 Amsterdam becomes capital of the liberated Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- 1839 Holland's first rail line opens, between Amsterdam and Haarlem.
- 1885 The Rijksmuseum opens.
- 1889 Centraal Station opens.
- 1920 Dutch airline KLM launches the world's first scheduled air service, between Amsterdam and London.
- 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.
- 1932 The Afsluitdijk (Enclosure Dike) at the head of the Zuiderzee is completed, transforming the sea on which Amsterdam stands into the freshwater IJsselmeer lake.
- 1940 May 10: Nazi Germany invades the Netherlands, which surrenders 4 days later.
- 1941 Dockworkers and others launch the February Strike against Nazi persecution and deportation of the city's Jewish community.
- 1942 Anne Frank and her family, along with Jewish friends, go into hiding.
- 1944 The Frank family refuge is betrayed and its occupants deported. Anne dies the following year at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
- 1944-45 Thousands die during the "Hunger Winter," when Nazi occupation forces blockade western Holland. May 7, 1945: Allied troops from the Canadian Second Army enter Amsterdam.
- 1945 KLM inaugurates an Amsterdam-New York air service, using a 36-seat Douglas DC-4, cruising speed 320kmph (200 mph). Trip time, including stopovers in Scotland and Newfoundland: 25 1/2 hours.
- 1947 The Diary of Anne Frank is published.
- 1960s The city takes on the mantle of Europe's hippie capital.
- 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono do a two-week "Bed-In For Peace" at the Hilton Amsterdam.
- 1973 The Van Gogh Museum opens.
- 1975 Amsterdam's 700th anniversary. Cannabis use is decriminalized.
- 1987 The Homomonument, the world's first public memorial to persecuted gays and lesbians, is unveiled.
- 1998 The city hosts the world's first Gay Games.
- 2001 The world's first same-sex marriage with a legal status identical to heterosexual matrimony takes place in Amsterdam.
- 2002 The euro replaces the guilder.
- 2004 Controversial film director Theo van Gogh, 47, is stabbed and shot to death on the streets of Amsterdam. He had received death threats after making a film critical of Muslims' treatment of women. Holland begins expelling noncitizens suspected of having ties to Islamist terror groups.
- 2005 A fire in the detention center at Schiphol Airport kills 11 detainees and injures 15. The Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, a modern-music hall that's a paean to high-tech architecture, opens on the waterfront.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
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