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Maastricht's name derives from Mosae Trajectum, which in
Latin means the crossing on the Mosa (Meuse, Maas) River.
   (SFEM, 10/12/97, p.40)
Holland’s official second language is Frisian. The country was once
called Zeeland.
   (WSJ, 5/13/98, p.A20)(SFEC, 3/28/99, Z1 p.8) 160BC–220CE   The
Weerdinge Couple, 2 men dating to this period, were found in a
Holland bog in 1904.
   (AM, 7/97, p.66)
53BCÂ Â Â Â Â Â Caesar claimed to have
wiped out the Celtic Eburones after they conspired with other groups
in an attack that killed 6,000 Roman soldiers. The Eburones lived in
an area that later came be known as part of Belgium, Germany and the
Netherlands.
   (AP,
11/14/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eburones)
50BCEÂ Â Â Maastricht, Netherlands, began as a Roman
settlement.
   (SSFC, 2/20/05, p.F2)
1-100ADÂ Â Â A Teutonic tribe known as the Frisians (or
Friesians) settled in what is now the Netherlands in the first
century A.D.
   (HNQ, 3/5/00)
180CEÂ Â Â A Roman military transport ship was built
about this time, as Marcus Aurelius passed the throne to the emperor
Commodus. It later sank in the Rhine. In 2003 archeologists in the
Netherlands unveiled the preserved ship.
   (AP, 5/15/03)
600-700Â Â Â In the seventh century the Frisians
clashed with the Franks and resisted Christianity, but succumbed to
Frankish rule and accepted Christianity a century later. Citizens of
the Netherlands’s province of Friesland are still called Frisians
and the Frisian language is still spoken there.
   (HNQ, 3/5/00)
727Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, Hubertus (72),
bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht, saint, died.
   (MC, 5/30/02)
739Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 7, Willibrord (81),
[Clemens], 1st bishop of Utrecht (695-739) and saint , died.
   (MC, 11/7/01)
830Â Â Â Â Â Â The Utrecht Psalter was
produced in the Netherlands. Its 166 ink drawings illustrated
passages in the psalms. In the eleventh century an English copy was
made that became known as the Harley Psalter.
   (Econ, 6/13/09,
p.86)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrecht_Psalter)
918Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Balderik became
bishop of Utrecht.
   (SC, 3/1/02)
953Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, Otto I, the Great,
granted Utrecht fishing rights.
   (MC, 4/21/02)
988Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, Dirk II, West
Frisian count of Holland, died.
   (MC, 5/6/02)
1010Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, Ansfried (~69), 9th
bishop of Utrecht (995-1010), saint, died.
   (MC, 5/3/02)
1076Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, Godfried III, with
the Hump, duke of Lower Lorraine, was murdered. [see Feb 26]
   (MC, 2/22/02)
1076Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, Godfried III with
the Hump, duke of Netherlands-Lutheran, was murdered. [see Feb 24]
   (SC, 2/26/02)
1099Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, Conrad, bishop of
Utrecht, was stabbed to death.
   (MC, 4/14/02)
1100Â Â Â Â Â Â Wittem Castle in Limburg
dates to this time.
   (SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T13)
1121Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Dirk VI became
count of Holland.
   (SC, 3/2/02)
1122Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Floris II, the fat
one, count of Holland, died.
   (SC, 3/2/02)
1190Â Â Â Â Â Â Emo of Friesland entered
Oxford and was later remembered as Oxford’s first recorded foreign
student.
   (Econ, 8/7/10, p.13)
1219Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, Floods followed a
storm in Northern Netherlands and thousands were killed.
   (MC, 1/16/02)
1235Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Henry I, duke of
Brabant, died. Brabant was a duchy later divided between Netherlands
and Belgium.
   (WUD, 1994 p.177)(MC, 9/5/01)
1258Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, Floris the
Guardian, count-regent of Holland, died.
   (SS, 3/26/02)
1280Â Â Â Â Â Â Muiden Castle, 10 miles
east of Amsterdam, dates to this time.
   (SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T13)
1287Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 14, The Zuider Zee
seawall collapsed with the loss of 50,000 lives.
   (MC, 12/14/01)
1294Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, Jan I, duke of
Brabant (Belgium-Netherlands), Limburg, poet, died.
   (MC, 5/3/02)
1299Â Â Â Â Â Â The Count of Holland
gained control of the County of Zeeland, which had been under
contention between Holland and Flanders.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland)
1300Â Â Â Â Â Â The Oude Kerk church in
Amsterdam dates to this time.
   (SSFC, 1/7/01, p.T9)
1301Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Battle at
Breukelen: Holland vs. Lichtenberg.
   (Maggio)
1345Â Â Â Â Â Â The Frisian victory over
the Dutch on the beach at Warns was their last before the Dutch took
over.
   (WSJ, 5/13/98, p.A20)
1366Â Â Â Â Â Â Records indicate that
cheese was weighed in Alkmaar at this time.
   (SFEC, 6/7/98, p.T10)
1400Â Â Â Â Â Â Roger Van Der Weyden
(d.1464), Flemish painter, was born.
   (AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.1624)(Econ, 10/3/09,
p.107)
1404Â Â Â Â Â Â Netherlands experienced a
severe flood.
1421Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18-1421 Nov 19, In the
St. Elizabeth flood the Southern sea flooded 72 villages
killing some 10,000 in Netherlands.
  Â
(www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/SK-A-3147-B?lang=en)
1432Â Â Â Â Â Â Zeeland became part of the
Low Countries possession of Phillip the Good (1396-1467) of
Burgundy.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland)
1433Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, Liduina van
Schiedam (53), Dutch mystic (Christ's Bride), saint, died.
   (MC, 4/14/02)
c1450-1516Â Â Â Hieronymus Bosch, painter was born.
Hieronymus van Aken was born in the small Dutch Brabant city of
‘s-Hertogenbosch in Flanders.
   (AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.172)(WSJ, 8/25/98,
p.A12)(WSJ, 10/11/01, p.A19)
1451Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, Cardinal Nicholas
of Cusa ordered the Jews of Holland to wear a badge.
   (MC, 9/21/01)
1459Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Adrian VI [Adriaan
F Boeyens], Pope (1522-23), was born in the Netherlands.
   (SC, 3/2/02)
1460Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, In the Netherlands
the courtyard Episcopal palace at Atrecht had witch burnings.
   (MC, 5/9/02)
1464Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, Roger Van Der
Weyden (b.1400), Flemish painter, died. He had mastered the new
technique of oil painting and served as the official painter to the
city of Brussels.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogier_van_der_Weyden)(Econ, 10/3/09,
p.107)
1466Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 26, Desiderius Erasmus
(d.1536), scholar and author (In Praise of Folly), was born in
Rotterdam. He was of illegitimate birth, but became a priest and a
monk. He excelled in philology, the study of ancient languages,
namely Latin and Greek and worked on a new translation of the New
Testament. The more he studied it, the more he came to doubt the
accuracy of the Vulgate, St. Jerome's translation into Latin, dating
from around 400. "In Praise of Folly" is his most famous work... In
it Erasmus had the freedom to discourse, in the ironic style of
Lucian (the Greek author whose works he translated), concerning all
the foolishness and misguided pompousness of the world.
   (V.D.-H.K.p.159-160)(MC, 10/26/01)
1477Â Â Â Â Â Â Future Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I, a member of the Habsburg family of Austria, married
Mary of Burgundy, heiress of all the Netherlands. Maximilian had
given Mary a diamond engagement ring, a practice that soon spread.
In 1996 Andrew Wheatcroft wrote a history of the Habsburgs: "The
Habsburgs."
   (WSJ, 1/19/96, p.A-12)(SFEM, 6/28/98, p.6)(SFC,
5/28/08, p.G2)
1477Â Â Â Â Â Â The Seventeen Provinces, a
personal union of states in the Low Countries in the 16th century,
became the property of the Habsburgs. They roughly covered the
current Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a good part of the North
of France (Artois, Nord) and a small part of Germany.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland)
1483Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Raphael (Raffaello
Sanzio, d.1520), Dutch painter (Sistine Madonna) , was born to an
unremarkable painter in the Duchy of Urbino. He went on to paint
famous works in the Vatican. After an apprenticeship in Perugia, he
went to Florence, having heard of the work da Vinci and Michelangelo
were doing. His last 12 years were spent on numerous commissions in
Rome. He died on his 37th birthday, his funeral mass being
celebrated in the Vatican. .
   (HN, 4/6/98)(HNQ, 11/17/00)
1487Â Â Â Â Â Â Hans Memling
(c.1440-1494), Flemish painter, painted the diptych “Virgin and
Child” and “Maarten van Nieuwenhove” (1463-1500), who was his
patron.
   (SFC, 10/18/05, p.D2)(SFC, 12/23/06, p.E12)
1489-1490Â Â Â The plague ravaged the Netherlands.
   (WSJ, 10/12/98, p.A17)
1492Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, Cheese and Bread
rebellion: German mercenaries killed 232 Alkmaarse.
   (MC, 5/15/02)
1496Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, Spain’s Juana of
Castile (1479-1555) married Philip the Handsome, the Duke of
Burgundy, in Lier (later a part of Belgium). Philip's parents were
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife, Duchess Mary of
Burgundy. Juana had sailed from Spain with 15,000 men to the
Habsburg Netherlands. Between 1498 and 1507, she gave birth to six
children: two emperors and four queens.
   (Econ, 4/13/13,
p.55)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_of_Castile)
1500s      Holland and Saxony began
to protect the rights of inventors to their creations.
   (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)
1507Â Â Â Â Â Â Margaret of Austria was
appointed Regent by the States-General (parliament) of the
Netherlands until the Archduke Charles came of age.
   (TL-MB, p.9)
1509Â Â Â Â Â Â Erasmus (1466-1536), a
Dutch philosopher and Christian scholar, lectured at Cambridge and
dedicated his "In Praise of Folly," a witty satire on church
corruption and scholastic philosophy, to Thomas More. The essay was
first printed in June, 1511.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Praise_of_Folly)
1510Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, Nicolaas van
Nieuwland, corrupt 1st bishop of Harlem, was born.
   (MC, 6/9/02)
1511Â Â Â Â Â Â Portuguese traders reached
the Banda Islands, including Run, and broke the Venetian monopoly
over nutmeg. Over the next century the Dutch muscled in an almost
cornered the nutmeg market. The history of the nutmeg trade was
documented in 1999 by Giles Milton in his: "Nathaniel's Nutmeg."
   (WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W7)
1512Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, Jemme Herjuwsma,
Fries rebel, was beheaded.
   (MC, 11/16/01)
1512Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, Kempo Roeper,
Frisian rebel, was quartered.
   (MC, 11/17/01)
1516Â Â Â Â Â Â The "Education of a
Christian Prince" by Desiderius Erasmus was dedicated to Prince
Charles, who later became Habsburg Emperor Charles V. Erasmus argued
that the king is a servant of the people and must rule according to
the principles of honor and sincerity.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Education_of_a_Christian_Prince)(Econ.,
12/19/20, p.63)
1516 Â Â Â Â Â Â "Novum Instrumentum
omne," the first published New Testament in Greek, was prepared by
Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) and printed by Johann Froben
(1460–1527) of Basel. Erasmus began by copying manuscripts
found in monasteries and given to him by his friend Thomas More. His
Latin translation and commentary and an improved Greek text differed
in many places from the Vulgate of St. Jerome, and was immediately
recognized as the most accurate translation so far. The first
printed Greek New Testament was the Complutensian Polyglot (1514),
it was the second to be published (1516). The title was changed to
Novum Testamentum omne with the second edition (1519).
   {Netherlands, Bible}
  Â
(V.D.-H.K.p.159)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Instrumentum_omne)(Econ.,
12/19/20, p.63)
1517Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, The 1st burning of
Protestants at stake in Netherlands.
   (MC, 7/1/02)
1517Â Â Â Â Â Â Archduke Charles left the
Netherlands for Spain and entered Valladolid in triumph.
   (TL-MB, p.11)
1519Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, Charles of Spain
was elected Holy Roman emperor in Barcelona. The Catholic heir to
the Hapsburg dynasty, Charles V, was elected Holy Roman Emperor,
combining the crowns of Spain, Burgundy (with the Netherlands),
Austria and Germany. He was the grandson of Ferdnand and Isabella of
Spain.
   (V.D.-H.K.p.162)(NH, 9/96, p.18)(HN, 7/6/98)
1520Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, The 1st public
burning of books took place in Louvain, Netherlands.
   (MC, 10/7/01)
1521Â Â Â Â Â Â May 28, Willem van Croij
(~62), duke of Soria, died.
   (MC, 5/28/02)
1521Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 25, Emperor Charles V
banned wooden buildings in Amsterdam.
   (MC, 10/25/01)
1522Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Emperor Charles V
named Frans van Holly inquisitor-gen of Netherlands.
   (MC, 4/29/02)
1523Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, Amsterdam banned
the assembly of heretics.
   (MC, 11/30/01)
1523Â Â Â Â Â Â Hans Holbein completed the
first of several portraits of Erasmus. He also began the design of
51 plates on the "Dance of Death," which reflected ideas of the
Reformation.
   (TL-MB, p.12)
1524Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, Pope Clemens VII
fired the Netherlands inquisitor-general French Van de Holly.
   (MC, 4/19/02)
1524Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, Henry Van Zutphen,
Dutch Protestant martyr, was burned at stake.
   (MC, 12/11/01)
1525Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, Church reformer
John Pistorius was caught in the Hague.
   (MC, 5/10/02)
1525Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Jan de Bakker
(26), Roman Catholic priest also known under the name Pistorius, was
burned during the Reformation in the Netherlands.
   (http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/p/pistorius_joh.shtml)
1527Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, Wendelmoet
"Weyntjen" Claesdochter, became the 1st Dutch woman to be burned as
heretic.
   (MC, 11/20/01)
1528Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, Great Wierd, Dutch
Gelderland army commander, was beheaded.
   (MC, 11/30/01)
1530Â Â Â Â Â Â In Antwerp William Tyndale
published his translation into English of the Pentateuch, the first
five books of the Old Testament, and shipped copies to England.
   (WSJ, 12/22/94, A-20)(ON, 11/04, p.2)
1530Â Â Â Â Â Â Erasmus (1469-1536), Dutch
Renaissance humanist, authored “On Good Manners for Boys” (De
civilitate morum puerorum).
   (Econ, 10/8/11, p.102)
1531Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, "Women's Revolt"
in Amsterdam: wool house in churchyard.
   (MC, 5/31/02)
1531Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, John Volkertsz
Trimaker, Dutch Anabaptist leader, was beheaded.
   (MC, 12/6/01)
1534Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, Pope Paul III was
affirmed George van Egmond as bishop of Utrecht.
   (PTA, 1980, p.440)(SC, 2/26/02)
1534Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, Lübeck, Hanseatic
League port in the Baltic, accepted free Dutch ships into East Sea.
   (SS, 3/26/02)(WUD, 1994 p.851)
1535Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 10, 12 nude
Anabaptists ran through the streets of Amsterdam. [see 1534]
   (MC, 2/10/02)
1535Â Â Â Â Â Â May 21, Imperial
authorities in Antwerp captured and imprisoned William Tyndale for
heresy over his translation of the Bible into English.
   (WSJ, 12/22/94,
A-20)(www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b2tyndalew.htm)
1535Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, Francis of Waldeck
overcame the Anabaptists of Munster. Fanatic leader John of Leyden
and others were tortured and executed in Jan 1536.
   (MC, 6/24/02)(PC, 1992, p.179)
1535Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, Jacob Van Campen,
Anabaptist bishop of Amsterdam, was beheaded.
   (MC, 7/10/02)
1536Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, Desiderius Erasmus
(b.1469 in Rotterdam) died, humanist, priest (Novum instrumentum
omne), died. His most famous works included "In Praise of Folly" and
a Greek text of the New Testament. In 1999 Prof. Charles Trinkaus
published "Collected Works of Erasmus: Controversies," an
examination of the religious conflict between humanism and the
Reformation.
   (V.D.-H.K.p.159-160)(SFC, 9/27/99, p.A26)(WSJ,
1/31/03, p.W13)(MC, 7/12/02)
1540Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, Emperor Charles V
entered Ghent without resistance and executed the rebels. He
brutally beat down an uprising against taxes for an expansionist
war. Nine leaders were beheaded and another hanged. City burgers
were forced to walk the streets barefoot with rope hanging round
their necks. The "Gentse Feesten" annual festival re-enacts this
event every mid-July.
   (SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T10)(MC, 2/14/02)
1550Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, Powers of Dutch
inquisition were extended.
   (MC, 4/28/02)
1550Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Emperor Charles V
gave inquisitors additional authority.
   (MC, 4/29/02)
1555Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 25, Emperor Charles V
put his son Philip II in charge of Netherlands, Naples, and Milan.
   (MC, 10/25/01)
1556-1620Â Â Â Adriaen de Vries, sculptor. He was born
in The Hague and worked in Florence under the sculptor Giovanni
Bologna. His work included "Juggling Man" (c1610-1615), a bust of
Emp. Rudolf II (1603), and the Neptune Fountain (1615-1618).
   (WSJ, 1/6/98, p.A20)(WSJ, 12/7/99, p.A24)
1557Â Â Â Â Â Â Pieter Breughel the Elder
created his painting "The Drunkard Pushed Into the Pigsty." [see
Flanders]
   (WSJ, 9/6/02, p.W14)
1558Â Â Â Â Â Â Hendrick Goltzius
(d.1617), Dutch Master painter, was born.
   (WSJ, 8/14/03, p.D8)
1564Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 31, Willem of Orange
demanded freedom of conscience and religion.
   (MC, 12/31/01)
1564-1651Â Â Â Abraham Bloemaert, artist and teacher of
Hendrick ter Brugghen.
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.13)
1566Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, Iconoclastic fury
began in the Dutch province of Utrecht. Fanatical Calvinists
instigated religious riots in the Netherlands.
   (chblue.com, 8/25/01)(TL-MB, 1988, p.21)
1566-1638Â Â Â Joachim Wytawael (Wtewael), Dutch
mannerist painter.
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.13)(SFEM, 9/17/00, p.96)
1566-1640Â Â Â Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, Dutch painter.
   (SFC, 4/4/01, p.C1)
1567Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, Dutch Prince
William of Orange fled from Antwerp to Breda.
   (MC, 4/11/02)
1567Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Michiel Jansz van
Mierevelt, Dutch royal painter, was born.
   (MC, 5/1/02)
1567Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, The Duke of Alba
became guardian of the Netherlands. Spain’s Duke of Alba arrived in
Brussels at the head of a 10,000 troops to quell the iconoclastic
riots.
   (MC, 10/6/01)(WSJ, 7/1/04, p.D8)
1568Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 24, In Netherlands
Duke of Alba declared (future King) William of Orange an outlaw.
   (MC, 1/24/02)
1568Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, A sentence of the
Holy Office condemned all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to
death as heretics. From this universal doom only a few persons,
especially named, were acquitted.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighty_Years%27_War)
1568Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, Willem of Orange's
army occupied Brabant.
   (MC, 10/5/01)
1568-1648Â Â Â The Eighty Years' War, or Dutch Revolt
was the secession war in which the proto-Netherlands first became an
independent country and in which the region now known as Belgium
became established. It was carried on by the Calvinist and
predominantly mercantile Dutch provinces.
   (TL-MB, 1988,
p.21)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighty_Years%27_War)
1569Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Pieter Breughel,
South Netherlands (Flemish) painter, died at about 44.
   (MC, 9/5/01)
1570Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Spain’s King Philip
II banned foreign Dutch students.
   (SC, 3/4/02)
1570Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 2, A tidal wave in the
North Sea destroyed the sea walls from Holland to Jutland. Over a
thousand people are killed.
   (HN,
11/2/98)(www.metoffice.com/education/secondary/students/flood.html)
1572Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, The Sea Beggars
under Guillaume de la Marck landed in Holland and captured the small
town of Briel.
   (HN, 4/1/99)
1572Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, Willem van Orange's
army occupied Gelderland.
   (MC, 6/9/02)
1572Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, Adrianus van
Gouda, lay brother, was hanged along with Cornelis van Diedt,
Daniell van Arendonck (clergyman), Joannes van Naarden (priest) and
Ludovicus Voets (priest).
   (MC, 6/24/02)
1572Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, In Gorinchem,
Netherlands, 19 Catholics were executed during the Dutch war for
independence. They became known as “The Martyrs of Gorkum.”
   (SFC, 3/5/11,
p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Gorkum)
1572Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, William of Orange
was recognized as viceroy of Holland, Friesland and Utrecht.
   (MC, 7/18/02)
1572Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec, The Dutch town of
Naarden surrendered to Imperial Spanish troops under the Duke of
Alba (1507-1582). The town was then burned and the entire population
massacred. Alba’s attempt to impose a 10% sales tax on commodities
stirred resistance that led to the Dutch independence. In 2004 Henry
Kamen authored ”The Duke of Alba.”
   (WSJ, 7/1/04, p.D8)
1572Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutch warships, Beggars of
the Sea, effectively harried Spanish shipping in the English Channel
and fueled the Dutch War of Independence.
   (TL-MB, 1988, p.22)
1572Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch used carrier
pigeons during the Spanish siege of Haarlem.
   (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)
1573Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Lancelot of
Brederode (Netherlands), water beggar, was beheaded.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1574Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1-2 A storm broke a
Leiden dike and 20,000 Spanish soldiers drowned. Spanish forces in
the Netherlands besieged Leyden, but William the Silent (Willem of
Orange) breached the dykes to flood the land. This allowed his ships
to sail up to the walls and lift the siege.
   (TL-MB, 1988, p.22)(PCh, 1992, p.198)(MC,
10/1/01)
1575Â Â Â Â Â Â The Bols family arrived in
Amsterdam to open ‘het Lootsje’ where they would distill liqueurs.
This was the starting point of what would become the world’s oldest
distillery. Bols began producing Genever, a Dutch style of gin, in
1664. In 2007 it opened a House of Bols museum in the museum quarter
in the Dutch capital. It was dedicated to the history of Jenever
(also known as genever or jeniever), the juniper-flavored alcoholic
liquor from which gin evolved. The museum is housed on two floors of
the Bols headquarters at 14 Paulus Potterstraat. Originally sold as
a remedy for lumbago muscular pain, the traditional Dutch and
Flemish drink was allegedly invented at the end of the 16th century
by Sylvius de Bouve, a chemist, alchemist, renowned scholar and
professor at the university of Leyden.
  Â
(http://amsterdam.wantedineurope.com/news/news.php?id_n=2999)(www.lucasbols.com/index.asp)(WSJ,
5/31/08, p.A12)
  Â
1576Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, All 17 provinces of
the Netherlands united in the Pacification of Ghent in the face of
Spanish occupation. The 17 provinces of the Netherlands formed a
federation to maintain peace.
   (TL-MB, 1988, p.22)(HN, 11/6/98)
1576Â Â Â Â Â Â Mutinous Spanish forces
sacked Antwerp in "the Spanish Fury."
   (TL-MB, 1988, p.22)
1577Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, The Eternal Edict
was concluded by Don Juan of Austria, the new Spanish governor of
the Netherlands, and the States General in Marche-en-Famenne
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_1577)
1577Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, Pietro Paul Rubens
(d.1640), Flemish painter, was born in Germany, the child of
protestants exiled from Antwerp. His work included "Helene Fourment"
and "The Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus."
   (AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.1250)(HN, 6/28/01)
(Econ, 5/15/04, p.81)
1577Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, William of Orange
made his triumphant entry into Brussels, Belgium.
   (HN, 9/23/98)
1578Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, Cornelis Haga,
Dutch lawyer, ambassador to Constantinople (1611-39), was born.
   (MC, 1/28/02)
1578Â Â Â Â Â Â Don John of Austria died
of fever. He was succeeded as Governor of the Netherlands by
Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma.
   (TL-MB, 1988, p.22)
1579Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, The Union of
Atrecht (French: Arras) was an accord signed in Atrecht (Arras),
under which the southern states of the Spanish Netherlands, today in
Wallonia and the Nord-Pas-de-Calais (and Picardy) regions in France,
expressed their loyalty to the Spanish king Philip II and recognized
the landlord, Don Juan de Austria. It is to be distinguished from
the Union of Utrecht, signed later in the same month. The Peace of
Arras ensured that the southern provinces of The Netherlands were
reconciled to Philip II. It joined the Low Country Walloons
(Catholics) with those of Hainaut and Artois.
  Â
(http://en.allexperts.com/e/u/un/union_of_atrecht.htm)(PCh, 1992,
p.200)
1579Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 25, The Union of
Utrecht brought together seven northern, Protestant provinces of the
Netherlands against the Catholics. Known as the United Provinces,
they become the foundation of the Dutch Republic. The Treaty of
Utrecht was signed, marking the beginning of the Dutch Republic.
   (TL-MB, 1988, p.22)(AP, 1/25/98)
1579Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, Friesland joined
the Union of Utrecht.
   (SS, 3/23/02)
1580Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, States of Utrecht
outlawed Catholic worship.
   (MC, 6/18/02)
c1581Â Â Â Â Â Â Franz Hals (d.1666),
painter, was born.
   (WUD, 1994 p.640)(SFEC, 9/3/00, p.T7)
1581Â Â Â Â Â Â The seven northern
provinces of the Netherlands renounced their allegiance to Philip II
of Spain.
   (TL-MB, p.23)
1582Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, Maurice of Nassau,
the son of William of Orange, became the governor of Holland,
Zeeland and Utrecht.
   (HN, 11/1/98)
1583Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 10, Hugo Grotius
(d.1645) of Holland, father of international law, was born. Huig de
Groot (Latinized as Hugo Grotius), Dutch jurist and statesman, is
generally regarded as the founder of international law because of
his influential work "On the Law of War and Peace" published in
1625. He became a member of a diplomatic mission to France at age 15
and began practicing law at 16. A liberal Protestant, de Groot
became involved in religious disputes in the Netherlands and was
arrested in 1618 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He escaped in
1621 and fled to Paris. He served the Swedish government as
ambassador to France from 1634-1644.
   (HN, 4/10/98)(HNQ, 3/15/00)
1584Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, This was the last
day of the Julian calendar in Bohemia & Holy Roman empire. The
1582 Gregorian (or New World) calendar was adopted by this time in
Belgium, most of the German Roman Catholic states and the
Netherlands.
   (SFEC, 10/3/99, Par p.27)(MC, 1/7/02)
1584Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, William of Orange
(1533-1584), Prince of Orange (1544-1584), Count of Nassau
(1559-1584), and first stadholder of the United Provinces of the
Netherlands, was assassinated by Burgundian Balthasar Gerard (25)
with a handgun. Philip II of Spain had called for a volunteer
assassin due to William’s reluctance take a public stand on
religious issues. William was succeeded by his 17-year-old son,
Maurice of Nassau. In 2006 Lisa Jardine authored “The Awful End of
Prince William the Silent.”
   (TL-MB, 1988, p.23)(WSJ, 4/5/06, p.D8)
1584Â Â Â Â Â Â A Dutch trading post was
established at the Russian port of Archangel.
   (TL-MB, p.23)
1585Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, Clemens Crabbeels
became bishop of Hertogenbosch.
   (MC, 4/5/02)
1585Â Â Â Â Â Â Antwerp was sacked by the
Duke of Parma, resulting in long-lasting loss of trade for that
port.
   (TL-MB, p.24)
1585Â Â Â Â Â Â Simon Stevin, Dutch
mathematician and military and civil engineer, introduces decimals
into the mathematical calculations of his physics in Die Thiende.
   (TL-MB, p.24)
1585Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch used the first
time-bombs in floating mines actuated by clockwork at the siege of
Antwerp.
   (TL-MB, p.24)
1587Â Â Â Â Â Â Giles Everard, a Dutch
doctor, authored “Panacea,” extolling the virtues of tobacco. The
Latin version was made available in English in 1659.
   (WSJ, 11/22/08, p.W11)
1588-1629Â Â Â Hendrick ter Brugghen was an artist of
the Utrecht School. His paintings included: "St. Sebastian Tended by
Irene." He traveled to Rome and was influenced by the work of
Caravaggio.
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.8)
1590Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Mauritius of
Nassau's ship reached Breda, Netherlands.
   (SC, 3/4/02)
1592-1656Â Â Â Gerard van Honthorst was an artist of
the Utrecht School. His paintings included "The Denial of St. Peter"
(1620-1626), and "Saint Sebastian" from (c1620/1623). He traveled to
Rome and was influenced by the work of Caravaggio.
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.8,12)
1594Â Â Â Â Â Â Willem Barents, Dutch
explorer, sailed to the Arctic pursuing the dream of a warm northern
ocean first posited by the Greeks.
   (Econ., 1/9/21, p.73)
1595Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, Cornelis de
Houtman's ships departed to Asia around Cape of Good Hope.
   (MC, 4/2/02)
c1595-1624Â Â Â Dirck van Baburen was an artist of the
Utrecht School. He traveled to Rome and was influenced by the work
of Caravaggio.
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.8)
1596Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Willem Barents
left Amsterdam for Novaya Zemlya (Nova Zembla).
   (SC, 5/18/02)(Econ., 1/9/21, p.73)
1596Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, Willem Barents, Dutch
explorer, and his crew resigned themselves to overwintering in the
Arctic after their ship froze fast. 13 of 17 men survived an 8-month
ordeal. In 2021 Andrea authored "Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge
of the World," an account of Barents' three missions to the Arctic.
   (Econ., 1/9/21, p.73)
1597Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, Willem Barents,
Dutch explorer who discovered Spitsbergen & Bereneil, died at
sea. In 1995 Rayner Unwin authored “A Winter Away from Home,” an
account of Barents’ Arctic voyages.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Barentsz)(SSFC, 12/10/00,
p.C17)
1597Â Â Â Â Â Â In Amsterdam the Spinhuis
(spinning house) was opened as a workhouse for fallen women.
   (SSFC, 1/7/01, p.T9)
1597-1665Â Â Â Pieter Saenredam, Haarlem painter of
architectural motifs.
   (WSJ, 7/2/02, p.D7)
1597/8-1671Â Â Â Jan van Bijlert, painter. He traveled
to Rome and was influenced by the work of Caravaggio.
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.13)
1598Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, A 5-ship Dutch
expedition to Japan departed Rotterdam with Will Adams, English ship
pilot, as chief navigator.
   (ON, 11/02, p.8)
1599Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch East India
Company dates to this time. [see 1602]
   (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)
1600Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, The Dutch ship
Liefde, piloted by Will Adams, reached Japan with a crew of 24 men.
6 of the crew soon died. 4 other ships in the expedition were lost.
   (ON, 11/02, p.8)
1600Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 31, The British East
India Company (d.1874) was chartered by Queen Elizabeth I in London
to carry on trade in the East Indies in competition with the Dutch,
who controlled nutmeg from the Banda Islands.
   (WUD, 1994, p.449)(WSJ, 1/11/99,
p.R49)(www.theeastindiacompany.com/history.html)
1600-1700Â Â Â Britain waged wars against the Dutch.
The English fleet sailed in three segments, the 3rd of which was
commanded by a Rear Admiral. [see 1780-1783]
   (SFEC, 8/3/97, Z1 p.2)
1600-1700Â Â Â Cognac 1st appeared when Dutch sea
merchants found that they could better preserve white wine shipped
from France to northern Europe by distilling it. They then learned
the wine got better as it aged in wooden barrels.
   (WSJ, 7/14/03, p.A1)
1600-1700Â Â Â West Timor was seized by the
Netherlands.
   (SFC, 3/3/98, p.A6)
1600-1800Â Â Â A mass migration of nearly 1 million
people in the 17th and 18th century led to the decline of this small
nation.
   (SFC, 3/31/98, p.F4)
1601Â Â Â Â Â Â Joachim Wtewael painted
"Mars and Venus Discovered by Vulcan."
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.8)
1602Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, The Dutch East
India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) was chartered to
carry on trade in the East Indies. The VOC traded to 1798 whereupon
its possessions were dissolved into the Dutch empire. In 2010 a
student found a share in the company issued to an official named
Pieter Harmenz dating to Sep 9, 1606. As a result, continuous trade
in company stock emerged on the Amsterdam Exchange.
   (SFC, 9/10/10,
p.A2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_market)(Econ, 2/25/12,
SRp.4)
1602Â Â Â Â Â Â Japan’s Shogun Ieyasu
seized the Dutch ship Liefde and granted its crew allowances to live
in Japan.
   (ON, 11/02, p.9)
1603Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch East India
Company seized a Portuguese ship laden with raw silk and gold near
the straight of Malacca and hired Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius
(1583-1645) to defend its action. In 1625 Grotius authored “Mare
Liberum” (The Free Sea) arguing that the seas were international
territory and should be open to all.
   (Econ, 11/15/14, SR p.11)
1604Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, After a two-year
siege, the Spanish retook Ostend [NW Belgium], the Netherlands, from
the Dutch.
   (WUD, 1994, p.1019)(HN, 9/20/98)
1604-1667Â Â Â Christiaen van Couwenbergh, Dutch
painter.
   (SFC, 4/4/01, p.C1)
1605Â Â Â Â Â Â Japan’s Shogun Ieyasu
allowed some of the Dutch crew of the ship Liefde to return home,
but kept Will Adams in Japan. Adams soon married Magoma Oyuki, a
young noblewoman.
   (ON, 11/02, p.10)
1606Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, The painter
Rembrandt (d.1669) Harmenszoom van Rizn (Rijn), was born in Leiden,
Netherlands. His paintings included "Old Woman Cutting Her Nails,"
"Night Watch," "Self Portrait Leaning Forward" (1628), "Two Studies
of Saskia Asleep" (1635-1637), "Jupiter and Antiope" (1659) and
"Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer." He started making
etchings in the 1620s when the medium was barely a 100 years old.
   (WSJ, 10/1/96, p.A20)(SFC, 10/12/96, p.E3)(SFC,
5/17/97, p.E1)(AP, 7/15/97)
1608Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 2, Jan Lippershey,
spectacle maker, formally offered to the Estates of Holland his new
spyglass for warfare. He was the 1st to file a patent claim for a
spyglass.
   (www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9048449)(CW,
Spring ‘99, p.33)
1608Â Â Â Â Â Â The Oudemannenhuis
almshouse was built in Haarlem.
   (SFEC, 9/3/00, p.T7)
1609Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, Joseph Justus
Scaliger (b.1540), French Calvinist religious leader and scholar,
died in Leiden, Netherlands. He is known for expanding the notion of
classical history from Greek and ancient Roman history to include
Persian, Babylonian, Jewish and ancient Egyptian history. He spent
the last sixteen years of his life in the Netherlands. The Julian
period was the brainchild of the 16th century historian Joseph
Justus Scaliger and begins on Jan. 1, 4713 B.C.E. This date is one
where several cycles coincide:Â the 28-year solar cycle in the
Julian calendar, after which the days of the year fall on the same
days of the week; the 19-year Metonic cycle, when lunar phases recur
on the same days of the year; and the 15 year indiction cycle, the
tax cycle of the Roman Empire, which was another method for
recording dates.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Justus_Scaliger)(Astronomy
Magazine, 12/2021)
1609Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, Henry Hudson
embarked on an exploration for Dutch East India Co.
   (MC, 3/25/02)
1609Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, English
explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the river that now bears his name.
Hudson sailed for the Dutch East India Company in search of the
Northwest Passage, a water route linking the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans, when he sailed up the present-day Hudson River.
   (AP, 9/12/97)(HNQ, 7/23/00)
1609Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutchman Huig de Groot
authored a treatise titled “Mare Liberum” (The Open Sea) in which he
argued that seas were open to anyone.
   (Econ, 1/18/14, p.80)
1610Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch ousted the
Portuguese from Indonesia by this time, but the Portuguese retained
the eastern half of Timor.
   (SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)
1610Â Â Â Â Â Â The first cargo of Asian
tea arrived in Amsterdam
   (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1610-1650Â Â Â Painters from Utrecht worked in the
style of Caravaggio.
   (WSJ, 10/20/97, p.A19)
1611Â Â Â Â Â Â Joachim Wtewael painted
"Andromeda." He and Bloemaert helped transmit the Italian mannerist
influence and a preference for figure painting over landscape
   (SFC, 9/12/97, p.C8)
1613Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, Gerard Dou, Dutch
painter (Night School), was born.
   (MC, 4/7/02)
1613-1675Â Â Â Gerrit Dou, Dutch artist. He was a
student of Rembrandt.
   (SFC, 5/25/00, p.A24)
1614Â Â Â Â Â Â Crispijn de Passe the
Younger published "Hortus Floridus" in Holland.
   (WSJ, 7/7/98, p.A14)
1615Â Â Â Â Â Â Joachim Wtewael painted
the "Judgement of Paris."
   (SFC, 9/12/97, p.C8)
1616Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 25, Nathaniel
Courthope, a British merchant-adventurer under direct orders from
James I, landed his ship Swan at the Banda Island of Run. He
persuaded the islanders to enter an alliance with the British for
nutmeg. He fortified the 1 by 2 mile island and with 30 men
proceeded to hold off a Dutch siege for 1,540 days.
   (WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W7)
1616Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch became the first
to establish colonies in Guyana with Essequibo. Berbice followed in
1627, and then Demerara in 1752.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyana)
1616-1691/92Â Â Â Emanuel de Witte, Dutch painter.
   (SFC, 4/4/01, p.C1)
1617Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 4, Louis Elsevier
(~76), Dutch publisher, died.
   (MC, 2/4/02)
1617Â Â Â Â Â Â The Pilgrims decided to
leave the Netherlands. They formed a partnership in a joint-stock
company with a group of London merchants in a company called John
Pierce & Assoc. They received a grant for a plantation in the
Virginia colony but ended up landing in Massachusetts. Each adult
was to receive a share in the company but earnings would not be
divided for 7 years.
   (WSJ, 11/26/97, p.A14)
1618Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, Hugo Grotius,
attorney general of Holland, was arrested on the orders of Prince
Maurice of Nassau, ruler of the United Provinces of the Netherlands,
for conspiring to undermine the authority of the government.
   (ON, 10/04, p.1)
1618Â Â Â Â Â Â Hendrick Goltzius
(b.1558), Dutch Master painter, died. His work included "Danaë."
   (WSJ, 8/14/03, p.D8)
1619Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, Johan van
Oldenbarnevelt (b.1547), Dutch lands advocate, was beheaded.
   (MC, 5/13/02)
1619Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Hugo the Great
(1582-1645), Hugo de Groot or Grotius, Dutch scholar, the "Father of
Int’l. Law" and author of the 1st treatise on the law of the sea,
Mare liberum," was sentenced to life in prison.
   (SC, 5/18/02)(Internet)
1619Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, Hugo Grotius was
taken to Loevestein Castle to begin his life sentence. His wife and
5 children were allowed to stay with him.
   (ON, 10/04, p.1)
1619Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, Jan Pieterszoon
Coen, a top officer of the Dutch East India Company, decided to
expand a Dutch fort into a larger fortress. On Oct 7 he sent plans
for Batavia Castle to the Netherlands. The region which became
Batavia was built on the ruins of the former Jayakarta.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Pieterszoon_Coen)
1619Â Â Â Â Â Â Amsterdam opened a stock
exchange.
   (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)
1620Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, The Pilgrims set
out from Holland destined for the New World. The Speedwell sailed to
England from the Netherlands with members of the English Separatist
congregation that had been living in Leiden, Holland. Joining the
larger Mayflower at Southampton, the two ships set sail together in
August, but the Speedwell soon proved unseaworthy and was abandoned
at Plymouth, England. The entire company then crowded aboard the
Mayflower, setting sail for North America on September 16, 1620.
   (HNQ, 3/4/00)(MC, 7/22/02)
1621      Jan 21, In Indonesia
a new city built on the site of a Dutch fort was officially named as
Batavia. Jan Pieterszoon Coen, recognized as the founder of Batavia
(now Jakarta).
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jakarta)
1621Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, The Dutch West
India Company received a charter for New Netherlands, now known as
New York. The Dutch West India Co. was formed to trade with America
and West Africa.
   (AP, 6/3/97)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)
1621Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan Pieterszoon
Coen, a top officer of the Dutch East India Company, led a bloody
assault on a group of islands in order to secure a monopoly on
spices grown there. He was later reviled as the “butcher of Banda.”
In 2020 protests called for the removal of his statue in Hoorn.
   (AP, 6/19/20)
1621-1622Â Â Â Dutch artist Dirck van Baburen painted
"The Mocking of Christ."
   (SFC, 9/12/97, p.C8)
1622Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, Rembrandt Carel
Fabritius (d.1654), Dutch painter, was born.
   (SFC, 4/4/01, p.C1)(MC, 2/27/02)
1622Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, Hugo Grotius
escaped from Loevestein Castle.
   (ON, 10/04, p.2)
1622Â Â Â Â Â Â Dirck van Baburen painted:
"The Procuress."
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.8)
1622Â Â Â Â Â Â In Aklmaar the cheese
market officially opened. [see 1366]
   (SFEC, 6/7/98, p.T10)
1623Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, 11 Dutch ships
departed for the conquest of Peru.
   (MC, 4/29/02)
1623Â Â Â Â Â Â Dirck van Baburen painted
"Prometheus Chained."
   (SFC, 9/12/97, p.C1)
1624Â Â Â Â Â Â Cafe Chris opened in
Amsterdam and served the construction workers of the nearby
Westerkerk.
   (SFEC, 3/2/97, p.T5)
1624Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch conquered
Salvador, Brazil.
   (SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T8)
1624Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutchman Cornelius Drebbel
encased a wooden frame in a greased leather sheath and pushed it
underwater to create what’s claimed to be the world’s 1st submarine.
   (SFC, 7/15/00, p.B3)
1625Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, Dutch Gen’l.
Bowdoin Hendrik and his fleet of 17 ships sailed into San Juan,
Puerto Rico, and attacked El Morro. He held the garrison under siege
for 3 weeks and then set the town to flames. This infuriated the
Spanish who attacked and sent the Dutch fleeing.
   (HT, 4/97, p.31-33)(MC, 9/24/01)
1625Â Â Â Â Â Â Hendrick ter Brugghen
painted "Saint Sebastian Attended by Saint Irene."
   (SFC, 9/12/97, p.C8)
1625Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt depicted himself
as a bit player in his painting "The Stoning of St. Stephen."
   (WSJ, 8/11/99, p.A16)
1625Â Â Â Â Â Â Hugo Grotius (1583-1645)
of Holland published his influential work "On the Law of War and
Peace." Huig de Groot (Latinized as Hugo Grotius), Dutch jurist and
statesman, is generally regarded as the founder of international
law. "It is lawful to kill who is preparing to kill."
   (HN, 4/10/98)(HNQ, 3/15/00)(Econ, 11/22/03, p.25)
1626Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, Dutch explorer
Peter Minuit (~1594-1638), director-general of New Netherlands,
bought Manhattan Island for 60 guilders (about $24 in 1839 dollars)
worth of cloth and buttons. Minuit conducted the transaction with
Seyseys, chief of the Canarsees, who were only too happy to accept
valuable merchandise in exchange for an island that was actually
mostly controlled by the Weckquaesgeeks. The Sixty guilders were
valued at approximately $1,060 in 2013. The site of the deal was
later marked by Peter Minuit Plaza at South Street and Whitehall
Street.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Minuit)(AP,
5/4/97)(HN, 5/4/98)(WSJ, 11/19/99, p.W10)
1626Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 7, Peter Schager of
Amsterdam informed the States General that the ship "The Arms of
Amsterdam" had arrived with a cargo of furs and timber from New
Netherlands and that the settlers there had bought the Island of
Manhattan for 60 guilders.
   (WSJ, 11/19/99, p.W10)
1626Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt depicted part of
himself in his painting "History Piece."
   (WSJ, 8/11/99, p.A16)
c1626-1627Â Â Â Hendrick ter Brugghen painted "The
Concert."
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.12)
1626-1679Â Â Â Jan Steen, Dutch painter.
   (SFC, 4/4/01, p.C1)
1627Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Piet Heyn conquered
22 ships in Bay of Salvador, Brazil.
   (SC, 3/3/02)
c1627-1628Â Â Â Hendrick ter Brugghen painted
"Melancholia."
   (SFC, 9/12/97, p.C1)
1628Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 10, Constantine
Huygens Jr., Dutch poet, painter, cartoonist, was born.
   (MC, 3/10/02)
1628Â Â Â Â Â Â Abraham Bloemaert painted
his "Virgin and Child."
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.13)
1628Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt Harmenszoom van
Rizn (Rijn) (1606-1669), Dutch painter, painted "Self Portrait
Leaning Forward."
   (AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.1213)(WSJ, 10/1/96,
p.A20)
1628Â Â Â Â Â Â Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish
painter, was called upon to broker a peace between Catholic Spain
and Protestant England.
   (Econ, 5/15/04, p.81)
1629Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, Christian Huygens
(d.1695), Dutch astronomer, discoverer of Saturn's rings, was born.
He invented the pendulum and along with Newton showed that any body
revolving around a center is actually accelerating constantly toward
that center, even though the rate of rotation remains constant.
   (TNG, Klein,
p.30)(http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_huygens.htm)
1629Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, Piet Heyn (51),
lt.-admiral (Spanish silver fleet), died in battle.
   (MC, 6/18/02)
1629Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, Dutch West Indies
Co. granted religious freedom in West Indies.
   (MC, 10/13/01)
1629Â Â Â Â Â Â The Batavia, a Dutch East
India ship, struck a reef off the western coast of Australia. Some
300 survivors made it to a tiny island in the Houtman Abrolhos
archipelago, where Jeronimus Cornelisz, a junior officer, took power
after a vicous struggle. He ran a regime of murder, rape and torture
for 3 months when helped arrived from the Dutch colony on Java. 70
of the 300 initial survivors were still alive. Cornelisz was quickly
tried and executed. In 2005 Simon Leys authored “The Wreck of the
Batavia.”
   (WSJ, 1/10/06, p.D8)
1629-1684Â Â Â Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter of
contemplative scenes of everyday life.
   (WSJ, 2/2/99, p.A20)
1632Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 24, Antoni van
Leeuwenhoek, Dutch naturalist, was born.
   (HN, 10/24/00)
1632Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 31, [Johannes] Jan
Vermeer (d.1675), tavern keeper and Dutch painter (Procuress,
Astronomer), was born in Delft. Only 35 of his pictures are known to
survive. These include: "Girl With a Pearl Earring" (1665-1666),
"The Little Street" (1657), "Saint Praxedis" (1655), "Allegory of
Faith" (1671) and "The Artist in His Studio." His wife was Catharina
Bolnes.
   (WSJ, 11/15/95, p.A-20)(AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994,
p.1587)(MC, 10/31/01)
1632Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 24, Baruch (Benedict)
de Spinoza (d.1677), Dutch rationalist philosopher, was born in
Amsterdam. "Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear."
   (AP, 9/24/99)(MC, 11/24/01)
1632Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt painted his work
"Europa" and "Portrait of a Lady Aged 62." The portrait sold for
$28.7 million in 2000.
   (WSJ, 3/9/98, p.A16)(SFC, 12/15/00, p.C15)
1632Â Â Â Â Â Â The "Portrait of a Young
Woman" was created in the studio of Remrandt. In 1961 the portrait
was bequethed to Pennsylvania's Allentown Art Museum. In 2020 art
experts declared it to be an authentic Rembrandt.
   (SFC, 2/18/20, p.A6)
1633Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, Willem van de
Velde the Younger, Dutch marine painter, was baptized.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_van_de_Velde_the_Younger)
1633Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt van Rijn painted
the "Portrait of a Bearded Man in a Red Coat." It sold for $9.1
million in 1998.
   (SFC, 2/3/98, p.E3)
1634Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt van Rijn painted
"Portrait of a Woman." It hangs in the Speed Museum of Louisville,
Ky.
   (WSJ, 12/18/97, p.A20)
1634-1637Â Â Â The Dutch tulip craze was known as the
"tulipomania." A futures market was created for tulip bulbs in Dutch
taverns and prices crashed 95% in the end. In 2000 Peter M. Garber
authored "Famous First Bubbles," and restored a sense of proportion
to the inflated notions of the mania.
   (WSJ, 7/7/98, p.A14)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(WSJ,
1/18/00, p.C14)(WSJ, 8/2/00, p.A20)
1635Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, Frans van Mieris,
the Elder, Dutch painter, was born.
   (MC, 4/16/02)
1635-1637Â Â Â Rembrandt Harmenszoom van Rizn (Rijn)
(1606-1669), Dutch painter, painted "Two Studies of Saskia Asleep."
   (AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.1213)(WSJ, 10/1/96,
p.A20)
1636Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 3, The infamous Dutch
tulip bubble burst during an outbreak of the bubonic plague,
illustrating that asset prices can plummet just as quickly as they
soar, leaving only pain behind.
   (Reuters, 1/30/21)
1636Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, University of
Utrecht held its opening ceremony.
   (SS, 3/26/02)
1636Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, Henrique Dias,
Brazilian general, won a decisive battle against the Dutch in
Brazil.
   (HN, 11/17/98)
1636Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt made his etching
"Self-portrait with Saskia."
   (HT, 5/97, p.60)
1636Â Â Â Â Â Â Pieter Saenredam, Haarlem
painter of architectural motifs, spent 3 months in Utrecht where he
drew the interiors of the gothic churches.
   (WSJ, 7/2/02, p.D7)
1636Â Â Â Â Â Â The Caribbean island of
St. Eustatius was colonized by the Dutch. It became an important
transit port for the regional trade in sugar and slaves from West
Africa.
   (SFC, 6/2/21, p.A4)
1637Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, John van der
Heyden, Dutch painter, inventor (fire extinguisher), was born.
   (MC, 3/5/02)
1637Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, Peter Minuit &
1st Dutch and Swedish immigrants to Delaware sailed from Sweden.
Peter later purchased Manhattan Island for 60 guilders.
   (MC, 11/20/01)
1637Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch tulip bulb craze
crashed as futures prices became too high for speculators to pay off
and take delivery.
   (WSJ, 7/7/98, p.A14)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(WSJ,
1/18/00, p.C14)
1637Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch attacked and
captured Elmina (Ghana), which up to that point was the centre of
Portuguese activity in West Africa.
   (www.moxon.net/ghana/cape_coast.html)
1638Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, Frederik Ruysch,
Dutch anatomist, was born.
   (SS, 3/23/02)
1638Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, Jonas Bronck of
Holland became the 1st European settler in the Bronx.
   (MC, 8/9/02)
1638Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt painted the
"Portrait of Willem Bartolsz Ruyter," a Dutch actor.
   (SFC, 10/12/96, p.E3)
1638Â Â Â Â Â Â Joachim Wytawael (Wtewael,
b.1566) , Dutch mannerist painter, died. His work included "The
Adoration of the Shepherds."
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.13)(SFEM, 9/17/00, p.96)
1640Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt painted his
"Portrait of a Man Seated in an Armchair" about this time.
   (WSJ, 11/3/95, p.A-12)
1641Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, Adrian "Aart" van
Wijck, theologian, was born. He fought Jansenism.
   (MC, 9/23/01)
1641Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch pushed the
Portuguese out of Malacca and renamed Our Lady of the Hill church to
St. Paul’s.
   (Econ, 11/15/14, SR p.5)
1642Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, Christian Huygens
discovered the Martian south polar cap.
   (MC, 8/13/02)
1642Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, Dutch navigator
and explorer Abel Janszoon sighted present-day New Zealand. He fled
after Maori cannibals feasted on the “friendship party” he sent
ashore.
   (NG, Aug., 1974, p.196)(SFEC, 10/4/98, p.T4)(AP,
12/13/07)
1642Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt van Rijn painted
"Night Watch."
    (WSJ, 3/904, p.D8)
1642Â Â Â Â Â Â Curacao became a colony of
the Netherlands.
   (Econ, 6/19/04, p.72)
1645Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Hugo Grotius,
Dutch jurist and politician, died. In 1917 Hamilton Vreeland
authored “Hugo Grotius: The Father of Modern Science and
International Law.”
   (RTH, 8/28/99)(ON, 10/04, p.4)
1646Â Â Â Â Â Â Akzo Nobel, a Dutch
multinational firm, traced its origins to a foundry established this
year in the Swedish countryside by Paul Hossman. Milestone mergers
and divestments led to the formation of AKZO in 1969 and the merger
with Nobel Industries in 1994 to form Akzo Nobel.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AkzoNobel)Â Â Â (Econ,
4/22/17, p.58)
1647Â Â Â Â Â Â May 11, Peter Stuyvesant
(37) arrived in New Amsterdam to become governor of New Netherland.
The one-legged professional soldier was sent from the Netherlands to
head the Dutch trading colony at the southern end of Manhattan
Island. Stuyvesant lost a leg in a minor skirmish in the Caribbean
in 1644.
   (ON, 4/00, p.1)(AH, 10/04, p.74)(AP, 5/11/08)
1647Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, Pierre Bayle
(d.1706), French-Dutch theologian, philosopher, and writer, was
born. He authored the "Historical and Critical Dictionary." "If an
historian were to relate truthfully all the crimes, weaknesses and
disorders of mankind, his readers would take his work for satire
rather than for history."
   (WUD, 1994, p.128)(AP, 11/19/97)(WSJ, 12/2/97,
p.A20)(MC, 11/8/01)
1647Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, The all Dutch-held
area of New York was returned to English control by the treaty of
Westminster.
   (HN, 11/10/98)
1648Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, The independence
of the Netherlands was finally recognized with the Dutch and Spanish
ratification of the Treaty of Munster, initially signed on January
30.
  Â
(www.oldandsold.com/articles36/netherlands-18.shtml)
1648Â Â Â Â Â Â Van Ruisdael painted
"Dunes at Haarlem." His work this year also included his print
"Christ Preaching (The Hundred Guilder Print).
   (SFEC, 9/3/00, p.T7)(WSJ, 3/904, p.D8)
1649Â Â Â Â Â Â Salomon van Ruysdael
(1602-1670), Dutch landscape artist, created his painting “Ferry on
a River.”
   (WSJ, 7/2/08,
p.D7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruisdael)
1649Â Â Â Â Â Â The Prins Willem was built
in Middelburg, Netherlands, as the flagship of the Dutch East India
Company. The 3-masted ship, launched on Jan 1, 1650, sank in 1662
off Madagascar.
   (AP, 7/30/09)(http://tinyurl.com/mteqbf)
1650Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, William III, Prince
of Orange and King of England, was born. [see Nov 14]
   (HN, 11/4/98)
1650Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 14, William III, King
of England (1689-1702), was born. [see Nov 4]
   (HN, 11/14/98)
c1650Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan Baptist Weenix
painted "Mother and Child in an Italian Landscape."
   (SFEM, 8/31/97, p.12)
1652Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, The Dutch
established settlement at Cape Town, South Africa.
   (HN, 4/7/97)
1652Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, English Admiral
Robert Blake drove out the Dutch fleet under Lieutenant-Admiral
Tromp.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1652Â Â Â Â Â Â Michael Sweerts, Flemish
artist, painted "Plague in an Ancient City" in Rome. In 1998 it held
by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
   (SFEC, 1/11/98, p.D7)
1652Â Â Â Â Â Â War broke out between the
Netherlands and England.
   (ON, 4/00, p.2)
1653Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Carel Reyniersz
(48), Governor-General of Netherlands and East Indies, died.
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1653Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt painted his
"Aristotle With a Bust of Homer."
   (WSJ, 11/3/95, p.A-12)
1654Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, Carel Fabritius
(b.1622), Dutch painter, died in a gunpowder explosion in Delft. He
was one of Rembrandt’s most gifted pupils.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carel_Fabritius)(WSJ, 7/20/01,
p.W11)(Econ, 10/26/13, p.93)
1654Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt van Rijn painted
a portrait of poet-businessman Jan Six, one of the richest
Amsterdammers of his time. His work this year also included "A Woman
Bathing in a Stream" and "Flora." His work this year also included
the etching and drypoint “The Descent From the Cross by Torchlight.”
   (WSJ, 6/19/00, p.A42)(WSJ, 3/904, p.D8)(SFC,
1/28/06, p.E4)(Econ, 6/23/07, p.96)
1654-1656Â Â Â Rembrandt van Rijn painted a medallion
portrait of Muhammed Adil Shah of Bijapur.
   (SFEM, 2/1/98, p.16)(SFC, 2/7/98, p.E8)
1655Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, Dutch West Indies
Co. denied Peter Stuyvesant's desire to exclude Jews from New
Amsterdam.
   (MC, 4/26/02)
1655Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, Peter Stuyvesant
recaptured Dutch Ft. Casimir from Swedish in Delaware.
   (MC, 9/26/01)
1655Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt painted "Polish
Rider."
   (WSJ, 12/5/96, p.A16)
1655Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan Steen painted "A
Burgher of Delft and His Daughter." In 2004 it sold for $14.6
million to the Dutch National Museum.
   (SFC, 4/4/01, p.C1)(SFC, 8/21/04, p.E12)
1655Â Â Â Â Â Â Vermeer painted his Saint
Praxedis. [see Vermeer, 1632-1675]
   (WSJ, 11/15/95, p.A-20)
1655Â Â Â Â Â Â Pieter de Hooch moved to
Delft and painted there for 5 years.
   (WSJ, 7/20/01, p.W11)
1655Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, Christiaan
Huygens, Dutch inventor and astronomer, discovered Titan, Saturn's
largest satellite.
   (www.xs4all.nl/~carlkop/huyglens.html)
1655-1660Â Â Â Rembrandt painted his picture called
"The Auctioneer."
   (WSJ, 11/3/95, p.A-12)
1656Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, Oldest surviving
commercial newspaper began in Haarlem, Netherlands.
   (MC, 1/8/02)
1656Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, Rembrandt declared
he is insolvent.
   (MC, 7/26/02)
1656Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Christian Huygens
invented the first pendulum clock, as described in his 1658 article
"Horologium". It was built by Solomon Coster and was later put on
exhibit at the Time Museum in Rockford, Ill. The time-pieces
previously in use had been balance-clocks, Chris Huygens' pendulum
clock was regulated by a mechanism with a "natural" period of
oscillation and had an error of less than 1 minute a day.
  Â
(http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_huygens.htm)(SF
E&C, 1/15/1995, T-10)
1657Â Â Â Â Â Â Vermeer painted his "The
Little Street" about this time (1658-1660).
   (WSJ, 11/15/95, p.A-20)(SFC, 4/4/01, p.C1)
1658Â Â Â Â Â Â Vermeer (1632-1675), Dutch
artist, completed his painting “The Milkmaid” about this time.
   (Econ, 9/19/09, p.98)
1659Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt Harmenszoom van
Rizn (Rijn) (1606-1669), Dutch painter, made "Jupiter and Antiope"
(1659).
   (AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.1213)(WSJ, 10/1/96,
p.A20)
1659Â Â Â Â Â Â Christian Huygens of
Holland used a 2-inch telescope lens and discovered that the Martian
day is nearly the same as an Earth day.
   (SFC, 11/29/96, p.A16)
1660Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, Isaack B. Fubine of
Savoy, in The Hague, patented macaroni.
   (MC, 5/7/02)
1660Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt painted "The Old
Woman Cutting Her Nails" about this time.
   (WSJ, 11/3/95, p.A-12)
c1660Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch crafted an
early version of a boat they called a "yacht."
   (SFC, 7/18/98, p.E3)
1660Â Â Â Â Â Â Pieter Claesz (b.ca.1597),
Dutch still-life painter, died.
   (WSJ, 11/22/05, p.D8)
1661Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, Holland sold Brazil
to Portugal for 8 million guilders.
   (MC, 8/6/02)
1661Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt depicted himself
in the painting "Self-Portrait as St. Paul." His work this year also
included "James the Apostle."
   (WSJ, 8/11/99, p.A16)(SFEC, 1/16/00, BR p.5)(WSJ,
3/904, p.D8)
1662Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, The Prins Willem,
built in 1643 as flagship of the Dutch East India Company, sank off
Madagascar. A replica, built in the 1980s, burned down at Den Helder
in 2009.
   (AP, 7/30/09)(http://tinyurl.com/mteqbf)
1662Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, Netherlands and
France signed a treaty of alliance in Paris.
   (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1767012)
1662Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt depicted himself
in a painting as the fifth-century Greek painter Zeuxis. His work
this year also included “The Syndics of the Clothmakers' Guild.”
   (WSJ, 8/11/99, p.A16)(Econ, 6/23/07, p.96)
1662Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutch fortune seekers
killed over 400 members of the Nayar warrior caste in Kerala, India.
   (SFEM, 7/18/99, p.12)
1663Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt depicted himself
as a bit player in his painting "The Raising of the Cross."
   (WSJ, 8/11/99, p.A16)
1663Â Â Â Â Â Â The Amsterdam attic
church, later known as the Museum Amstelkring, was built after the
monarchy banned the public practice of Catholicism.
   (SFEC, 6/18/00, p.T11)
1663Â Â Â Â Â Â Abraham Blauvelt, Dutch
pirate, died about this time. In the early 1630's He explored the
coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua. Afterwards, he went to England and
with a proposal for a settlement at site in Nicaragua, which is near
the town and river of Bluefields, Nicaragua.
   (www.thepirateking.com/bios/blauvelt_abraham.htm)
1664Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, Adam Willaerts,
Dutch seascape painter, died.
   (MC, 4/4/02)
1664Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, Adriaen
Pieck/Gerrit de Ferry patented a wooden fire spout in Amsterdam.
   (MC, 8/29/01)
1664Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, After days of
negotiation, the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam surrendered to
the British, who would rename it New York. The citizens of New
Amsterdam petitioned Peter Stuyvesant to surrender to the English.
The "Articles of Capitulation" guaranteed free trade, religious
liberty and a form of local representation. In 2004 Russell Shorto
authored "The Island At the Center of the World," a history of New
York's Dutch period.
   (HN, 9/5/98)(ON, 4/00, p.3)(WSJ, 3/16/04, p.D6)
1664Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, The Dutch formally
surrendered New Amsterdam to 300 English soldiers. The British soon
renamed it New York.
   (AP, 9/8/97)(ON, 4/00, p.3)
1664-1667Â Â Â The Second Anglo-Dutch War.
   (HN, 6/21/98)
1665Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, English King
Charles II declared war on Netherlands.
   (SC, 3/4/02)
c1665Â Â Â Gerrit Dou painted "Woman at the Clavichord"
and a "Self-Portrait" in which he resembled Rembrandt.
   (WSJ, 5/24/00, p.A24)
1665Â Â Â Â Â Â Jacob van Ochtervelt
(1634-1682), Dutch artist, painted his “Street Musicians in the
Doorway of a House.”
   (WSJ, 1/30/09,
p.W2)(http://wwar.com/masters/o/ochtervelt-jacob.html)
1665Â Â Â Â Â Â The British briefly
recaptured the Banda Island of Run from the Dutch.
   (WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W7)
1665Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutch artist Johannes
Vermeer painted his "Girl With a Pearl Earring" about this time.
[see Vermeer, 1632-1675] In 1999 Tracy Chevalier authored the novel
"Girl With a Pearl Earring," a fictionalization based on one of
Vermeer's models.
   (WSJ, 11/15/95, p.A-20)(SFEC, 1/2/00, BR
p.3)(SFC, 1/24/13, p.E1)
1666Â Â Â Â Â Â Franz Hals (b.1581?),
painter, died in the Oudemannenhuis almshouse in Haarlem. The
almshouse later became the Frans Hals Museum.
   (SFEC, 9/3/00, p.T7)
1667Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, The Dutch fleet
sailed up the Thames and threatened London. They burned 3 ships and
captured the English flagship in what came to be called the Glorious
Revolution, in which William of Orange replaced James Stuart.
   (HN, 6/18/98)(WSJ, 3/14/00, p.A28)
1667Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, The Peace of Breda
ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War and ceded Dutch New Amsterdam to
the English. The South American country of Surinam, formerly Dutch
Guiana, including the nutmeg island of Run was ceded by
England to the Dutch in exchange for New York in 1667 after the
second Anglo-Dutch War.
   (WUD, 1994, p.961)(HN, 7/21/98)(HNQ,
8/21/98)(WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W7)Â Â Â
1668Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, The Netherlands,
England and Sweden concluded an alliance directed against Louis XIV
of France.
   (HN, 2/7/99)
1669Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, Rembrandt H. van
Rijn (b.1606), painter and etcher (Steel Masters, Night Watch),
died. In 1999 Simon Schama published the biography "Rembrandt's
Eyes."
   (WSJ, 11/24/99, p.A16)(MC, 10/4/01)
1669Â Â Â Â Â Â Vermeer painted "The Art
of Painting." The 3' by 4' work was larger than most of his
paintings.
   (SFC, 11/24/99, p.E8)
1670Â Â Â Â Â Â Vermeer painted his "A
Young Woman Standing at a Virginal" and "A Young Woman Seated at a
Virginal." Estimates for auction in 2004 for the seated one reached
$5.4 million.
1670Â Â Â Â Â Â Spinoza (1632-1677), Dutch
philosopher, authored "Tractatus Theologico-Politicus" an
enlightened assessment of the Old Testament and a plea for religious
toleration. Spinoza, revived Erasmian tradition and put the notion
of skepticism at the heart of his treatise.
   (WSJ, 12/15/05, p.D8)(Econ., 12/19/20, p.64)
1671Â Â Â Â Â Â Vermeer painted his
"Allegory of Faith." [see Vermeer, 1632-1675]
   (WSJ, 11/15/95, p.A-20)
1672Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, King Louis XIV of
France invaded the Netherlands. A French army of 100,000 crossed the
Rhine and invaded the Dutch Republic. The Dutch Golden Age fell
apart when England, France and a pair of German principalities
teamed up to attack the Netherlands and seize its colonies.
   (HN, 4/29/99)(PC, 1992ed., p.255)(Econ, 4/18/20,
p.38)
1672Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, The Sluices were
opened in Holland to save Amsterdam from the French.
   (HT, 6/15/00)
1672Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, States of Holland
declared "Eternal Edict" void.
   (Maggio)
1672Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, Jan de Witt, Dutch
politician and mathematician, was assassinated by a carefully
organized lynch "mob" after visiting his brother Cornelis de Witt in
prison. He was killed by a shot in the neck; his naked body was
hanged and mutilated and the heart was carved out to be exhibited.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_de_Witt)
1672Â Â Â Â Â Â Christian Huygens of
Holland discovered the southern polar caps on Mars.
  Â
(http://chapters.marssociety.org/toronto/Education/TL1500.shtml)
1673Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, Adam Pijnacker
(51), Dutch landscape painter, etcher, was buried.
   (MC, 3/28/02)
1673Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, Cornelis van
Bijnkershoek, lawyer, president of High Council, was born.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1673Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, French commander
Charles de Batz (b.1611), known as D’Artagnan, was slain in the
service of Louis XIV. He died at the Siege of Maastricht in the
Franco-Dutch War and was one of the musketeers who inspired Dumas’
fiction.
   (SSFC, 4/13/08,
p.E4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D'Artagnan)
1673Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, Dutch recapture NY
from English. It was regained by English in 1674.
   (MC, 8/9/02)
1673Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 28, Joan Blaeu (77),
Dutch cartographer, publisher (Atlas Major), died.
   (MC, 12/28/01)
1673Â Â Â Â Â Â The most important of
Christian Huygens' written works, the "Horologium Oscillatorium,"
was published in Paris. It discussed the mathematics surrounding
pendulum motion and the law of centrifugal force for uniform
circular motion.
  Â
(http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_huygens.htm)
1674Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, English reconquered
NY from Netherlands.
   (MC, 2/9/02)
1674Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 19, Netherlands and
England signed the Peace of Westminster. NYC became English.
   (MC, 2/19/02)
1674Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, Dutch formally
ceded New Netherlands (NY) to English. [see 1664]
   (MC, 11/10/01)
1675Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, Christian Huygens,
Dutch scientist, transformed a theoretical insight on springs into a
practical mechanism with the 1st sketch of a watch balance regulated
by a coiled spring.
  Â
(www.princeton.edu/~mike/articles/huygens/timelong/timelong.html)(Econ,
2/4/06, p.73)
1675Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Prince William III
was installed as Governor of Overijssel.
   (SC, 3/2/02)
1675Â Â Â Â Â Â Johannes Vermeer (b.1632),
Dutch painter, died in poverty. In 2001 Anthony Bailey authored
"Vermeer: A View of Delft."
   (WSJ, 11/15/95, p.A-20)(SSFC, 3/25/01, BR p.5)
1676Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Michiel A. de
Ruyter (69), Dutch rear-admiral, (Newport), was killed.
   (MC, 4/29/02)
1676Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, The Swedish ship
Svardet, armed with 86 bronze canons and under command of Claes
Uggla, went under when Sweden was defeated by a Danish-Dutch fleet
in the Battle of Öland. In 2011 Deep Sea Productions said it
believed it had found the ship off the island of Oland.
   (AP,
11/16/11)(www.ocean-discovery.org/thesword.htm)
1677Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, King Charles II
reported an anti-French covenant with Netherlands.
   (MC, 2/15/02)
1677Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, [Benedictus]
Baruch Spinoza (b.1632), Dutch philosopher, died. In 2003 Antonio
Damasio authored "Looking for Spinoza," a look at contemporary
neurological research in contrast with the opposing philosophical
views of Spinoza and Descartes. In 2005 Matthew Stewart authored
“The Courtier and the Heretic: Leibniz, Spinoza, and the Fate of God
in the Modern World.
   (WUD, 1994 p.1371)(SSFC, 2/2/03, p.M4)(WSJ,
12/15/05, p.D8)
1677Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, William and Mary
were married in England. William of Orange married his cousin Mary
(daughter to James, Duke of York and the same James II who fled in
1688).
   (HN, 11/4/98)(HNQ, 12/28/00)
1683Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, Antonie van
Leeuwenhoek reported the existence of bacteria.
   (MC, 9/17/01)
1683-1707Â Â Â Adriaen Coorte (b.1665), a Dutch Golden
Age painter of still lifes, signed his work during this period. His
work included “Still Life With Sea Shells” (1698).
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriaen_Coorte)
1688Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, William of Orange
set sail for England at the head of a fleet of 500 ships and 30,000
men. He intended too oust his father-in-law King James II. The Dutch
parliament, the States General, funded William with 4 million
guilders. Amsterdam financiers provided another 2 million. Some of
this was used to print 60,000 copies of his “Declaration” (of the
reasons inducing him to appear in arms in the Kingdom of England),
which were distributed in England. In 2008 Lisa Jardine authored
“Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland’s Glory.”
   (WSJ, 8/28/08, p.A13)
1688Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, William of Orange
landed in southern England and marched with his army nearly
unopposed to London.
   (WSJ, 8/28/08, p.A13)
1688Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, Louis XIV declared
war on the Netherlands.
   (HN, 11/26/98)
1688Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 10, King James II fled
London as "Glorious Revolution" replaced him with King William (of
Orange) and Queen Mary. [see Dec 11]
   (MC, 12/10/01)
1688Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, James II abdicated
the throne because of William of Orange landing in England.
   (HN, 12/11/98)
1688Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 28, William of Orange
made a triumphant march into London as James II fled in the
"Glorious Revolution." William of Orange—son of William II, Prince
of Orange and Mary, daughter of Charles I of England—was fourth in
line to the English throne.
   (HN, 12/28/98)(HNQ, 12/28/00)(WSJ, 2/6/02, p.A16)
1689Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, England’s King
William III joined the League of Augsburg and the Netherlands. The
"Grand Alliance" was formed to counter the war of aggression
launched by Louis XIV against the Palatinate states in Germany. This
is known as The War of the League of Augsburg (1689-97) also The
Nine Years' War, and the War of the Grand Alliance.
  Â
(www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/king_william.htm)
  Â
1690Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, Led by Marshall
Luxembourg, the French defeated the forces of the Grand Alliance at
Fleurus in the Netherlands.
   (HN, 7/1/98)
1690Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, There was a revolt
in Haarlem, Holland, after a public ban on smoking.
   (MC, 10/23/01)
1691Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, The 1st African
slaves arrived to North America on a Dutch ship. It docked in
Jamestown, Virginia, with twenty human captives among its cargo.
   (MC, 8/20/02)
1691Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, English and Dutch
armies occupied Limerick, Ireland.
   (MC, 10/3/01)
1692Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, Peter
Musschenbroek, Dutch physician, physicist (Leyden jar), was born.
   (MC, 3/14/02)
1692Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, King Maximilian
was installed as land guardian of South Netherlands.
   (SS, 3/26/02)
1692Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, Battle at La
Hogue: An English & Dutch fleet beat France.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1692Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, French forces under
Marshal Luxembourg defeated the English at the Battle of Steenkerke
in the Netherlands.
   (HN, 8/3/98)
1693Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Battle at
Boussu-lez-Walcourt: French-English vs. Dutch army.
   (Maggio)
1693Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, The Army of the
Grand Alliance was destroyed by the French at the Battle of
Neerwinden in the Netherlands.
   (HN, 7/29/98)
1694Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, The Bank of
England received a royal charter as a commercial institution.Â
It had been set up by William III, the ruler of Britain and the
Netherlands, in the midst of a war against France. The mission of
the bank was to provide war finance. Financiers agreed to lend the
crown £1.2 million in return for a partial monopoly on the issue of
currency.
   (SFC, 5/7/97, p.C2)(AP, 7/27/97)(Econ, 1/10/09,
p.49)(Econ, 11/5/11, p.92)(Econ, 4/29/17, p.56)
1695Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, Christian Huygens
(66), Dutch inventor, astronomer, died. He generally wrote his name
as Christiaan Hugens, and it is also sometimes written as Huyghens.
In his book “Cosmotheros,” published in 1698, he speculated on life
on other planets.
  Â
(http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_huygens.htm)
1695Â Â Â Â Â Â Portugal established
colonial rule in the eastern half of Timor Island. The western side
was incorporated into the Dutch East Indies.
   (SFC, 5/18/02, p.A15)
1696Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31, An uprising of
undertakers took place after funeral reforms in Amsterdam.
   (MC, 1/31/02)
1696Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, English King
William III departed Netherlands.
   (MC, 3/7/02)
1697Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, The Treaty of
Ryswick was signed in Holland. It ended the War of the Grand
Alliance (aka War of the League of Augsburg,1688-1697) between
France and the Grand Alliance. Under the Treaty France’s King Louis
XIV (1638-1715) recognized William III (1650-1702) as King of
England. The Dutch received trade concessions, and France and the
Grand Alliance members (Holland and the Austrian Hapsburgs) gave up
most of the land they had conquered since 1679. The signees included
France, England, Spain and Holland. By the Treaty of Ryswick, a
portion of Hispaniola was formally ceded to France and became known
as Saint-Domingue. The remaining Spanish section was called Santo
Domingo.
  Â
(www.caribbeanguides.net/hispaniola.htm)(www.jacobite.ca/documents/1697ryswick.htm)
1700Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, Gerard van Swieten,
Dutch botanist, was born.
   (MC, 5/7/02)
1701Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, England, Austria,
and the Netherlands formed an Alliance against France.
   (HN, 9/7/98)
1702Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, William III of
Orange (51), Dutch King of England (1689-1702), died after falling
from his horse and catching a chill. Anne Stuart (37), his
sister-in-law, succeeded to the throne of England, Scotland and
Ireland and reigned until 1714.
   (PCh, 1992, p.272)(MC, 3/8/02)(AP, 3/8/98)
1703Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Dutch and English
troops occupied Cologne.
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1704Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, In the War of
Spanish Succession, an Anglo-Dutch fleet captured Gibraltar.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Gibraltar)(AP, 9/19/06)
1707Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Willem Van de Velde
(b.1633) the Younger, Dutch marine painter, died. His work included
“fishing Boats by the Shore in a Calm” (1660-1605).
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_van_de_Velde_the_Younger)(SFC,
7/9/11, p.E1)
1708Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, The French were
defeated at Oudenarde, Malplaquet, in the Netherlands by the Duke of
Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy.
   (HN, 7/11/98)
1709Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, Marlborough and
Eugene of Savoy took Mons in the Netherlands.
   (HN, 10/20/98)
1712Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, Utrecht banished
poor Jews.
   (MC, 10/4/01)
1714Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, the Treaty of
Rastatt ended the war between Austria and Spain. It complemented the
Treaty of Utrecht, which had, the previous year, ended hostilities
with Britain and the Dutch Republic. The Spanish Netherlands became
the Austrian Netherlands, and Spain gave up her possession in Italy,
Luxembourg and Flanders. A third treaty, the Treaty of Baden (Sep 7,
1714), was required to end the hostilities between France and the
Holy Roman Empire.
   (PCh, ed. 1992,
p.279)(http://tinyurl.com/b8uxbje)
1714Â Â Â Â Â Â Bernard de Mandeville,
Dutch philosopher, achieved widespread fame with his lengthy poem
"The Fable of the Bees: Private Vice, Publick Benefits."
   (NH, 7/02, p.74)
1718Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutch planters introduced
coffee to their Suriname colony.
   (ON, 10/2010, p.12)
1722Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, On Easter Sunday
Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovered a Polynesian Island 1400
miles from the coast of South America and named it Easter Island. He
noted that the island was treeless and wondered how its massive
statues were erected. Much of the population was later wiped out and
the island became a possession of Chile. An indigenous script called
rongorongo survived but by 2002 was still not deciphered. In 2005
Steven Roger Fischer authored “Island at the End of the World: The
Turbulent History of Easter Island.”
   (WSJ, 1/7/05,
p.W1)(http://islandheritage.org/eihistory.html)(Econ, 7/23/05, p.77)
1723Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, Anton van
Leeuwenhoek (b.1632), Dutch biologist, inventor (microscope), died
in Delft, Netherlands. [some sources say Aug 30]
  Â
(http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Catalog/Files/leewnhok.html)
1724Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Johann K. Amman
(54), Swiss-Dutch doctor for deaf-mutes, died.
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1726Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, Maximilian II, M.
Emanuel, elector of Bavaria, governor of Netherlands, died.
   (SC, 2/26/02)
1729Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Jean de Neufville,
Dutch-US merchant (started 4th English war), was born.
   (SC, 5/25/02)
1730Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, States of Holland
put a death penalty on "sodomy."
   (MC, 7/21/02)
1731Â Â Â Â Â Â Luis Berrueco, Mexican
painter, painted “The Martyrs of Gorkum,” a detailed work depicting
the 1572 martyrdom of 19 Catholics in Gorinchem, Netherlands, during
the Dutch war for independence.
   (SFC, 3/5/11, p.E2)(http://tinyurl.com/5s8wnz2)
1732Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, Pieter Vuyst, Dutch
gov-gen. of Ceylon, was executed.
   (MC, 6/3/02)
1736Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, Iman Willem Falck,
Dutch Governor of Ceylon (1765-83), was born.
   (SS, 3/23/02)
1736Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, Gabriel Daniel
Fahrenheit (b.1686), Gdansk-born German physicist, died in the
Netherlands. He discovered that water boils at 212F and freezes at
32F.
   (www.britannica.com)
1741Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, Dutch people
protested the bad quality of bread.
   (MC, 4/13/02)
1744-1828Â Â Â Eisa Eisinga, knitting-wool processor.
He devoted his spare time to astronomy and mathematics and built a
small planetarium in Franeker (1781).
   (NH, 6/00, p.10)
1745Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, England, Austria,
Saxony and the Netherlands formed an alliance against Russia.
   (HN, 1/8/99)
1745Â Â Â Â Â Â May 11, French forces
defeated an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army at Fontenoy.
   (HN, 5/11/98)
1745Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, The Leyden jar,
capable of storing static electricity, was invented by German cleric
Ewald Georg von Kleist. Also about this time Dutch scientist Pieter
van Musschenbroek of Leiden (Leyden) independently came up with the
same idea.
   (ON, 2/12,
p.11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyden_jar)
1747Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, Marshall Saxe led
the French forces to victory over an Anglo-Dutch force under the
Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Lauffeld.
   (HN, 7/2/98)
1747Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, The French
captured Bergen-op-Zoom, consolidating their occupation of Austrian
Flanders in the Netherlands.
   (HN, 9/16/98)
1747Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, England and
Netherlands signed a military treaty.
   (MC, 12/9/01)
1748Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, A riot followed a
public execution in Amsterdam and over 200 were killed.
   (MC, 6/28/02)
1749Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, Jan van Huysum
(66), Dutch still life painter, died.
   (MC, 2/8/02)
1751Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, Amsterdam refused
to establish a Jewish ghetto.
   (MC, 9/12/01)
1751Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, Henry Kobell,
Dutch painter and cartoonist, was born.
   (MC, 9/13/01)
1756Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, Anthony van
Hoboken, Rotterdam merchant-ship owner, was born.
   (MC, 11/4/01)
1757Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 13, John C. Hespe,
Dutch journalist, politician, was born.
   (MC, 2/13/02)
1761Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, John W. de Winter,
Dutch Vice-Admiral (Battle at Kamperduin), was born.
   (SS, 3/23/02)
1761Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, Adrian Loosjes Pzn
(1818, Dutch publisher, writer (Mauritius Lijnslager), was born.
   (MC, 5/13/02)
1765Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, David H. Chass,
Dutch baron, general (fought Napoleon at Waterloo), was born.
   (MC, 3/18/02)
1770Â Â Â Â Â Â The "Histoire de deux
Indes," an encyclopedia on commerce between Europe and the Far East,
Africa and the Americas, was published anonymously in Amsterdam, by
Denis Diderot and Guillaume Raynal. The third edition, published in
1781, was censored in France.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histoire_des_deux_Indes)(Econ.,
12/12/20, p.84)
1772Â Â Â Â Â Â May 11, Joseph Kerckhoff,
Limburg surgeon, robber captain, was hanged.
   (MC, 5/11/02)
1774Â Â Â Â Â Â A Dutch merchant cobbled
together the earliest mutual-style fund, Eendragt Maakt Magt (Unity
creates Strength). The first modern mutual fund was launched in
Boston in 1924.
   (Econ, 4/21/07, p.83)
1776Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, Joan M. Kemper,
Dutch lawyer (designed civil code law book), was born.
   (MC, 4/26/02)
1776Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch built a slave
house on Goree Island off the coast of Senegal.
   (SFC, 7/9/03, p.A10)
1779Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Henry M. Baron de
Kock, Dutch officer, politician, was born.
   (SC, 5/25/02)
1780-1783Â Â Â A 4-year war with England was fought.
   (SFC, 3/31/98, p.F4)
1781Â Â Â Â Â Â Eisa Eisinga (1744-1828),
knitting-wool processor, built a small planetarium in Franeker.
   (NH, 6/00, p.10)
1782Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, Netherlands
recognized the United States.
   (HN, 4/19/97)
1783Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 10, Hortense E. de
Beauharnais, French queen of Netherlands (1806-10), was born.
   (MC, 4/10/02)
1784Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, Peace of
Versailles ended the war between France, England, and Holland.
   (HN, 5/20/98)
1784Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, Holland forbade
orange clothes.
   (MC, 6/16/02)
1784Â Â Â Â Â Â The Teyler Museum opened
as the country’s first public collection.
   (SFEC, 9/3/00, p.T7)
1786Â Â Â Â Â Â Capt. Francis Light landed
in Penang (Malaysia) and built Fort Cornwallis. Light, acting on
behalf of the East India Company, swindled the island from the
ruling sultan with a promise of protection. The British usurped the
land to break the Dutch monopoly on the spice trade.
   (SFEC, 8/3/97, p.T8)(SFEM, 12/19/99, p.8)(SFC,
12/8/05, p.E7)
1788Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, An alliance
between Britain, Prussia and the Netherlands was ratified at the
Hague.
   (HN, 9/15/99)
1791Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, Etta Palm, a Dutch
champion of woman's rights, set up a group of women's clubs called
the Confederation of the Friends of Truth.
   (HN, 3/23/99)
1793Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, France declared war
on Britain and the Netherlands.
   (HN, 2/1/99)
1793Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, French troops
conquered Geertruidenberg, Netherlands.
   (SC, 3/4/02)
1795Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, The Capitulation
of Rustenburg: A Dutch garrison at the Cape of Good Hope surrendered
to a British fleet under Adm. George Elphinstone.
   (EWH, 4th ed, p.884)
1795Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutch progressives backed
by revolutionary France drove out the Oranges, who took refuge in
England.
   (Econ., 1/9/21, p.44)
1796Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, The 1st National
Meeting was held in the Hague.
   (SC, 3/1/02)
1799Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch East India
Company liquidated and the Dutch government took control over the
islands of Indonesia.
   (SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)
1801Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, Napoleon Bonaparte
imposed a new constitution on Holland.
   (HN, 10/6/98)
1803Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, The British return
the Cape of Good Hope to the Dutch (Batavian Republic) under the
Treaty of Amiens.
   (EWH, 4th ed, p.884)
1803Â Â Â Â Â Â Barend Cornelis Koekkoek,
artist, came from a renowned family of artists. He considered the
painting of nature the only true calling of an artist.
   (WSJ, 12/10/99, p.W16)
1806Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, The Capitulation
of Papendorp: The Dutch in Cape Town surrendered to a British fleet.
   (EWH, 4th ed, p.884)
1814Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, The First Treaty
of Paris was declared, after Napoleon's first abdication. It
returned France to its 1792 borders and secured for the British
definite possession of the Cape of Good Hope. [see Aug 13]
   (HN, 5/30/98)(HN, 5/30/99)(EWH, 4th ed, p.884)
1814Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, Treaty of
London-Netherland was signed to stop the transport of slaves. By
agreement Britain paid the Dutch £6 million in compensation for the
Cape of Good Hope. [see May 30]
   (EWH, 4th ed, p.884)(MC, 8/13/02)
1815Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Sunday observance
in Netherlands was regulated by law.
   (SC, 3/1/02)
1815Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 16, William I
(1772-1843), prince of Orange-Nassau, proclaimed the Netherlands a
kingdom at the urging of the powers gathered at the Congress of
Vienna. In 1813 he had proclaimed himself 'Sovereign Prince' of the
"United Netherlands."
   (Econ, 4/13/13, p.55)
1815Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, British General
Arthur Wellesley, duke of Wellington, began assembling troops at
Brussels, Belgium. 73,000 British troops were joined by 33,000
German, Dutch and Belgian troops preparing to face Napoleon.
Prussian Gen. Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher gathered an army of
120,000 southeast of Brussels.
   {Belgium, Britain, France, Prussia, Netherlands}
   (ON, 4/06, p.1)
1815Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, Cornelis de
Gijselaar (64), politician, patriot, died.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1815Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, A French attack at
the crossroads called Quatre Bras badly mauled Anglo-Dutch army
under Wellington, but failed to rout it or to take the crossroads.
Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte had marched into Belgium to find himself
confronted by two allied armies, which he tried to split apart.
Although similarly battered at Ligny that day, the Prussian army
also retired intact. Both armies would face Napoleon again two days
later at Waterloo.
   (HNPD, 6/16/99)(Econ, 5/23/15, p.71)
1817Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 19, William III, King
of the Netherlands, was born.Â
   (HN, 2/19/98)
1817Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch and French
agreed on a final pact to divide the control of St. Martin Island.
The southern Dutch half comprises the Eilandgebied Sint Maarten
(Island Territory of St. Maarten) and is part of the Netherlands
Antilles. The northern French half comprises the Collectivité de
Saint-Martin (Collectivity of St. Martin) and is an overseas
collectivity of France.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Martin)
1819Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, Willem A. Scholten,
Dutch potato flour manufacturer, was born.
   (MC, 10/6/01)
1819Â Â Â Â Â Â The British claimed
Malacca from the Dutch. They used St. Paul’s church as an ammunition
dump and put a lighthouse in front.
   (Econ, 11/15/14, SR p.5)
1820Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, Dutch city of
Leeuwarden forbade Jews to go to synagogues on Sundays.
   (MC, 3/5/02)
1824Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 29, ABN AMRO
incorporated in the Hague. Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij
(Netherlands Trading Society, NTS) was established by Royal Decree
of King Willem I. With effect from 3 October 1964 after the merger
with Twentsche Bank, NTS changed her name to Algemene Bank Nederland
(ABN Bank). After the merger with Amro Bank in 1991, ABN changed its
name to ABN AMRO.
   (www.abnamro.com/about/history/historyfaq.cfm)
1825Â Â Â Â Â Â A disastrous breach of
Dutch coastal defenses occurred.
  Â
(www.metoffice.com/education/secondary/students/flood.html)
1828Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, Casparus van Wooden
patented chocolate milk powder (Amsterdam).
   (MC, 4/4/02)
1830Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, Belgium rebelled
against Netherlands. Among the reasons for rebelling were heavy
taxes on beer.
   (chblue.com, 8/25/01)(Econ, 12/17/11, p.125)
1831Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, Protocols were
signed in London that recognized Belgium as an independent nation.
Belgium became a nation and combined French and Flemish-speaking
lands. The Rothschild banking empire financed the founding of
Belgium.
   (SFC, 7/12/96, p.A11)(SSFC, 2/24/02,
p.C5)(http://tinyurl.com/3335jt)
1831Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, The Dutch army,
headed by the Dutch princes, invaded Belgium, in the so-called "Ten
Days Campaign", and defeated Belgian forces near Hasselt and Leuven.
Only the appearance of a French army under Marchal Gerard caused the
Dutch to stop their advance.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Revolution)
1836Â Â Â Â Â Â A Dutch regiment entered
the kingdom of the Ashanti tribe (later Ghana). Holland had taken
this land as a colony to mine gold and sell slaves. Slavery was
outlawed but African men were enlisted as troops in a form of
indentured servitude. The Ashanti king sent his son and nephew,
Kwasi and Kwame Boachi, to Holland for a European education in
exchange for providing troops. In 2001 Arthur Japin authored the
novel "The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi."
   (SSFC, 1/21/01, BR p.5)
1837Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, Alexander F. de
Savornin Lohmann, Dutch minister, party leader (CHU), was born.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1838Â Â Â Â Â Â In Ghana Asante King Nana
Badu Bonsu II had his head cut off by Maj. Gen. Jan Verveer in
retaliation for Bonsu's killing of two Dutch emissaries, whose heads
were then displayed as trophies. In 2008 Dutch author Arthur Japin
discovered Bonsu’s head in a jar of formaldehyde at Leiden Univ.
Medical Center. In 2009 the Dutch government returned the head of
Bonsu’s descendants.
   (SFC, 3/21/09, p.A2)(SFC, 7/24/09, p.A2)
1839Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands the
locomotive named "De Arend" was the first and pulled a train from
Amsterdam to Haarlem with a top speed of 23 mph.
   (SFC, 6/18/99, p.D4)
1840Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, King William I of
Holland abdicated.
   (HN, 10/8/98)
1840Â Â Â Â Â Â Niels Gade, Dutch
composer, wrote the overture "Echoes of Ossian."
   (SFC, 3/24/00, p.B1)
1841Â Â Â Â Â Â Barend Cornelis Koekkoek,
Dutch artist, authored "Thoughts and Recollections of a Landscape
Artist."
   (WSJ, 12/10/99, p.W16)
1841Â Â Â Â Â Â The brothers Clemens and
August Brenninkmeyer founded the Dutch textile shop C&A, which
sold, unusually for that time, ready-made clothes. The two brothers,
peddlers originally from the small village Mettingen in Westphalia
traveled each year to Friesland to sell their textiles to the
farmers.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenninkmeijer_family)
1844Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Louis Napoleon
(b.1779), French king of the Netherlands (1806-10), died.
  Â
(www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Louis-Napoleon-Bonaparte)
1846Â Â Â Â Â Â Barend Cornelis Koekkoek
painted his "Portrait of a Young Lady."
   (WSJ, 12/10/99, p.W16)
1849Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Andreas Michiels
(52), Dutch Military Governor of West Sumatra, died in battle.
   (SC, 5/25/02)
1850Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands Zwarte
Piet (Black Pete), a Dutch version of St. Nicholas, made his debut
as an African servant in a book. By 2012 he was being described as a
racist caricature of a black person. In 2013 Amsterdam officials
were asked to revoke a permit for a children’s festival that
featured the caricature.
   (AP, 12/4/12)(SFC, 10/18/12, p.A2)
1851Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, The
Amsterdam-Nieuwediep telegraph connection linked.
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1853Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Pope Pius IX
recovered Catholic hierarchy in Netherlands.
   (SC, 3/4/02)
1853Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Vincent Van Gogh
(d.1890), Dutch artist, was born in Zundert, Neth. His work included
"The Drawbridge and Sunflowers in a Vase," and "Harvest in
Prevance," which was done both in oil and as a watercolor. The
watercolor sold in 1997 for $14.7 mil. He produced an estimated 900
paintings and 1200 drawings but sold virtually none of them. In 1997
it was reported that more than 100 of his paintings and drawings
might be fakes. 300 of his canvasses were painted in the last 15
months of his life.
   (AAP,1964)(WUD,1994, p.606)(SFC, 6/26/97,
p.A21)(SFC, 7/5/97, p.A8)(SFEC, 1/4/98, Z1p.8)(HN, 3/30/98)
1853-1890Â Â Â Theo Van Gogh, the younger brother of
Vincent Van Gogh. Theo's widow Johanna Van Gogh-Bonger inherited the
paintings of Vincent that had been in Theo's hands.
   (SFC, 1/18/99, p.B2)
1857Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, Hendrik
Zwaardemaker, Dutch physiologist (olefactometer), was born.
   (MC, 5/10/02)
1858Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, Gerard L.F.
Philips, Dutch engineer and manufacturer, was born.
   (MC, 10/9/01)
1863Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, The Dutch abolished
slavery in Suriname. The Dutch were among the last Europeans to
abolish slavery.
   (AP, 7/2/03)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Jan P. Veth
Bayern, Dutch painter, etcher, lithographer, art historian, was
born.
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1860Â Â Â Â Â Â May 21, Willem Einthoven,
Dutch physiologist, inventor of the electro-cardiogram, was born.
   (HN, 5/21/01)(MC, 5/21/02)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Jan P. Veth
Bayern, Dutch painter, etcher, lithographer, art historian, was
born.
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, A.H. Borgesius,
Dutch amateur astronomer, was born.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, British, French
& Dutch fleets attacked Japan in Shimonoseki Straits.
   (MC, 9/5/01)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â Gerard Adriaan Heineken
founded a beer brewery. In 2002 it was the world’s 3rd largest
brewery.
   (SFC, 1/5/02, p.A22)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Pieter Zeeman,
Dutch physicist (Zeeman effect, Nobel 1902), was born.Â
   (SC, 5/25/02)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â A native reportedly
slipped Bolivian cinchona seeds to a British trader. The Dutch
government got hold of them and, after 30 years, figured out how to
grow them in Indonesia. By 1900 the Dutch were producing more than
5,000 tons of quinine a year.
   (Econ., 12/19/20, p.35)
1870Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11(Jun 11), 1st-stone
Amstel Brewery opened in Amsterdam.
   (MC, 7/11/02)
1871Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, Willem Mengelberg,
conductor (NY Philharmonic 1922-30), was born in Utrecht, Neth.
   (MC, 3/28/02)
1872 Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, Piet Mondrian
(d.1944), Dutch abstract painter, was born. He was born in
Amersfoort, near Amsterdam. His two principal styles date from
before and after 1907. His Red Tree in 1908 reflects the stance of a
Van Gogh. In 1911 he went to Paris and quickly changed his
style in response to Cubism. He emigrated to New York in 1940. His
Broadway Boogie Woogie was done in 1942-1943. He was labeled as a
degenerate by the Nazis and was sent to New York to continue
working. He went through a number of styles i.e. fauvist,
neoimpressionist Dutch landscapes, to total abstractions in a manner
of his own that he called neoplasticism. He was a pioneer of
abstract painting.
   (WSJ, 6/6/95, p.A-14)(WSJ, 10/3/95, p.A-18)(SFC,
10/4/97, p.E1)(HN, 3/7/98)
1873Â Â Â Â Â Â From the Netherlands the
Holland America cruise line began operations.
   (SFEC, 1/18/98, p.T5)
1873Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch began
colonization efforts in Aceh province (Indonesia), which led to a
decades-long war.
   (SFEC, 11/7/99, p.A30)(SFCM, 11/2/03, p.8)
1876Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Margaretha Zelle
(aka Mata Hari) was born in the Netherlands. Mata Hari, otherwise
known as Margaretha G. Macleod, passed secrets to the Germans in
World War I.
   (WSJ, 1/16/97, p.A16)(HN, 8/7/98)
1877Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, Carel S. Adama van
Scheltema, Dutch poet, writer (socialism), was born.
   (SC, 2/26/02)
1877Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, John Lothrop
Motley (63), (History of United Netherlands), died.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1880Â Â Â Â Â Â Vincent Van Gogh ended his
career as a theology student and began painting.
   (WSJ, 3/14/00, p.A28)
1880-1962Â Â Â Queen Wilhelmina Of Netherlands (b.Aug
31, d.Nov 28 at 82), reigned 1890-1947.
   (DT internet 11/28/97)
1881Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Apr 1, Kingdom post office in Netherlands opened.
   (OTD)
1882Â Â Â Â Â Â Vincent Van Gogh painted
"The Wounded Veteran.'
   (WSJ, 3/14/00, p.A28)
1882Â Â Â Â Â Â In Indonesia the Eijkman
institute was established by Dutch pathologist Christiaan Eijkman,
who later won a Nobel Prize. It was closed for several decades but
reopened in the early 1990s. In 2022 it was planned to be absorbed
into BRIN, a National Research and Innovation Agency.
   (Reuters, 1/14/22)
1883Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, WFLC Marianne
princess of Orange-Nassau, died.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1885Â Â Â Â Â Â Vincent Van Gogh painted
"The Potato Eaters" and "A Pair of Shoes."
   (SFC, 1/14/98, p.D3)(WSJ, 8/14/01, p.A12)
1885Â Â Â Â Â Â The façade of the
Rijksmuseum was completed.
   (WSJ, 1/8/99, p.C13)
1886-1888Â Â Â Vincent Van Gogh made his Paris sojourn.
   (WSJ, 3/14/00, p.A28)
1887Â Â Â Â Â Â Van Gogh painted "The
Courtesan." It was inspired by an 1820 work by the Japanese artist
Keisai Eisen who pictured an intricately coifed woman that later
appeared on the cover of a French magazine
   (SFC, 11/16/98, p.E3)(WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A20)
1887-1888Â Â Â Van Gogh painted "Self-Portrait with
Felt Hat" and "Self-Portrait as an Artist."
   (WSJ, 10/30/98, p.W11)(SFC, 1/18/99, p.B2)
1888Â Â Â Â Â Â Vincent van Gogh painted
the "Portrait of a Young Man in a Cap." The painting is up for
auction and may fetch as much as $8 mil. In 1990 Robert Altman
directed a film titled "Vincent and Theo" about Van Gogh and his
brother. Van Gogh also painted his "Boats at Saintes-Maries," "The
Bedroom" and "Self Portrait as an Artist" in this year. He cut his
ear in this year with a razor during a quarrel with painter Paul
Gauguin.
   (WSJ, 4/27/95, p.C-18)(WSJ, 11/10/95, p.
A-10)(SFC, 4/13/96, p.E3)(SFC, 1/14/98, p.D3)(SFEC, 10/25/98, Z1
p.12)
1889Â Â Â Â Â Â Van Gogh painted "The
Gardener," while a patient in St. Remy. He also did "Wheatfield with
a Reaper" and "Crab on Its Back" in this year.
   (SFC, 5/21/98, p.A14)(SFC, 1/18/99, p.B1)(WSJ,
8/14/01, p.A12)
1890Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Anthony Herman
Gerard Fokker (d.1939), aircraft pioneer, was born in Java.
   (www.britannica.com)
1890Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, Artist Vincent van
Gogh died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers, France, while
painting "Wheatfield with Crows." Earlier in the year he painted his
"Garden at Auvers" and "Portrait of Dr. Gachet," which sold to a
Japanese tycoon in 1990 for $82.5 mil. In 1939 Irving Stone wrote a
novel about Van Gogh titled "Lust for Life," which spawned a 1956
movie.
   (WSJ, 2/8/96, p.A-12)(SFC, 5/26/96, Zone 1
p.2)(AP, 7/29/97)(SFEC, 6/14/98, BR p.9)
1890Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg separated from the Netherlands.
   (AP, 11/23/02)
1890Â Â Â Â Â Â The Royal Dutch Petroleum
Co. was founded.
   (WSJ, 11/2/04, p.A14)
1891Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, Gerard and Anton
Philips began their Philips & Co. operations in Eindhoven,
Holland, with the production of light bulbs.
   (www.vedpuriswar.org/book/PHILIPS.htm)(WSJ,
1/7/04, p.A1)
1891Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Robert W.P.
Peereboom, Dutch editor in chief (Haarlem Newspaper), was born.
   (SC, 5/25/02)
1894Â Â Â Â Â Â Ferdinand Hodler
(1853-1918), Swiss painter, created a painting 10 meters high for
the Exposition in Antwerp. It depicted the story of the 1865 descent
of Edward Whymper (1840-1911) after he became the first man to climb
the Matterhorn. Four of his party died. Hodler allowed the painting
to be cut up and it’s now in a museum in Berne.
   (Econ, 2/18/12,
ILp.26)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Whymper)
1894Â Â Â Â Â Â A disastrous breach of
Dutch coastal defenses occurred.
  Â
(www.metoffice.com/education/secondary/students/flood.html)
1896Â Â Â Â Â Â Numico was founded by
Martinus van der Hagen, a Dutch inventor, after he won the exclusive
right to make infant formula out of cow’s milk.
   (Econ, 9/2/06, p.59)
1897Â Â Â Â Â Â Wolves disappeared from
the Netherlands. In 2011 a wolf was again spotted in the country.
   (Econ, 12/22/12, p.125)
1898Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, Maurits C. Escher,
Dutch graphic artist, was born.
   (MC, 6/17/02)
1898Â Â Â Â Â Â A painting titled "Golden
Carriage," by Nicolaas van der Waay, was given to Queen Wilhelmina
from the people of Amsterdam as a gift. The painting was
intended to recreate the style of the country's 17th-century "Golden
Age," in which Amsterdam became wealthy as the hub of a naval
empire. The work depicts half-naked, brown-skinned women and men in
servile poses bearing gifts to an enthroned white woman.
   (AP, 9/16/11)
1899Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, The First Hague
Peace Conference opened in the Netherlands as 26 nations met on
World Goodwill Day. The destruction or seizure of enemy property
with no military value was banned at the convention. The czar of
Russia had called for a disarmament conference that, for reasons of
diplomatic niceties and international rivalries, ended up in The
Hague.
   (AP, 5/18/99)(SFC, 8/11/00, p.A15)(AP, 4/17/06)
1899Â Â Â Â Â Â Western powers set up the
Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. It was established by
the first Hague Peace Conference under Articles 20 to 29 of the 1899
Hague Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International
Disputes. It was later designated by the UN as as an arbiter of
disputes under its Law of the Sea Convention.
   (http://tinyurl.com/jx4jukn)(Econ, 8/6/16, p.67)
1902Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Isaac D. France van
de Putte (79), Dutch premier (1866), died.
   (SC, 3/3/02)
1902Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, Dutch State Mine
law formed.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1902Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, Charles W.J.
Mengelberg, Dutch composer, conductor, was born.
   (MC, 7/18/02)
1903Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, Harry Houdini
escaped from police station Halvemaansteeg in Amsterdam.
   (MC, 1/21/02)
1903Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, American Hotel
opened in Amsterdam.
   (SS, 3/26/02)
1904Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, Willem de Kooning
(d.1997), abstract impressionist artist, was born in Rotterdam.
   (SFC, 3/20/97, p.A1,6,E1)(HN, 4/24/01)
1904Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, Dutch newspaper
Volk fired gay journalist Jacob de Cock.
   (MC, 8/10/02)
1904Â Â Â Â Â Â The Weerdinge Couple, 2
men, were found in a Holland bog and dated from 160BC - 220AD.
   (AM, 7/97, p.66)
1905Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, Jan [Johannes]
Teulings, Dutch actor, director (That Joyous Eve), was born.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1905Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, Gerard Kuiper,
Dutch-US astronomer (moons of Uranus, Neptune), was born.
   (MC, 12/7/01)
1906Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, Bartholomeus J
"Bart" Bok, Dutch-US astronomer (Milky Way), was born.
   (MC, 4/28/02)
1907Â Â Â Â Â Â The Hague Convention of
this year prohibited the taking of war booty and instituted what
some considered the first wartime environmental protections.
   (WSJ, 5/29/96, p.A6)(SFC, 8/11/00, p.A15)
1907Â Â Â Â Â Â Royal Dutch combines its
oil operations with Shell Transport & Trading Co.
   (WSJ, 11/2/04, p.A14)
1908Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, The Dutch took two
Venezuelan Coast Guard ships.
   (HN, 12/13/98)
1908Â Â Â Â Â Â The first bus line to link
the Jordaan section with the rest of Amsterdam opened.
   (SFEC, 3/2/97, p.T5)
1908Â Â Â Â Â Â Heike Kamerlingh-Onnes,
Dutch physicist, was the first to liquefy helium. He cooled helium
gas to below its boiling point of -269°C, just 4 degrees above
absolute zero. Three years later he observed the resistance of
mercury vanished when it was cooled by liquid helium, thus
discovering superconductivity.
   (SFC, 10/10/96, p.A15)(Econ, 12/3/11, TQ p.20)
1909Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Juliana, queen of
the Netherlands, was born. She fled during the Nazi occupation and
abdicated in favor of her daughter Beatrix.
   (HN, 4/30/99)
1909Â Â Â Â Â Â The Elfstedentocht, a
125-mile ice skating race, officially began.
   (SFEC, 1/5/97, p.A1,11)
1911Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, Queen Wilhelmina
opened the Rembrandt house in Amsterdam.
   (MC, 6/10/02)
1912Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Maurits Binger
established 2 Dutch movie companies.
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1912Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, John Hanlo, Dutch
poet (Go to the Mosque), was born.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1912Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, Jan Peeters, Dutch
water colors painter, monumental artist, was born.
   (MC, 8/13/02)
1912Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 25, Johannes D. De
Jong, Frisian poet and photographer (Kar £t twa), was born.
   (MC, 11/25/01)
1912Â Â Â Â Â Â A ban on brothels was
enacted. It was overturned in 1999.
   (SFC, 10/27/99, p.A13)
1913Â Â Â Â Â Â May 14, Franz Hals museum
opened in Haarlem, Netherlands.
   (MC, 5/14/02)
1913Â Â Â Â Â Â The Peace Palace was built
at the Hague, Netherlands, by the Carnegie Foundation. It is often
called the seat of international law because it houses the
International Court of Justice (which is the principal judicial body
of the United Nations), the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the
Hague Academy of International Law, and the extensive Peace Palace
Library.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Palace)
1913Â Â Â Â Â Â Kamerlingh Onnes of
Holland won the Nobel Prize for liquefying helium. His major
discovery was superconductivity, the elimination of electrical
resistance at very cold temperatures. In 1999 Tom Shachtman
described the event in his book "Absolute Zero and the Conquest of
Cold."
   (WSJ, 12/10/99, p.W12)
1914Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, H. Colijn, Dutch
Minister of war, was named director of British Petroleum.
   (SC, 3/1/02)
1914Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, German Zeppelins
bombed Antwerp.
   (AH, 1/97)
1914Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, German Zeppelins
again bombed Antwerp.
   (AH, 1/97)
1914Â Â Â Â Â Â In Indonesia by this time
some 340 principalities ruled by Hindu rajas and Muslim sultans had
become protectorates within the Dutch East Indies.
   (Econ., 1/16/21, p.25)
1915Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Petrus de Jong,
Dutch premier (KVP, 1967-71), was born.
   (SC, 3/4/02)
1915Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, Gre [Gerarda D]
Brouwenstijn, Dutch opera soprano, was born.
   (MC, 8/26/02)
1916Â Â Â Â Â Â A disastrous breach of
Dutch coastal defenses occurred.
  Â
(www.metoffice.com/education/secondary/students/flood.html)
1917Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, Hendrik P.G. Quack
(82), lawyer and economist (Bank of Netherlands), died.
   (MC, 1/6/02)
1917Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, Utrecht Harbor,
Netherlands, held its 1st Annual fair.
   (SC, 2/26/02)
1917Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, Ferdinand von
Zeppelin (78), Dutch count, air pioneer, died.
   (MC, 3/8/02)
1917Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Mata Hari, a Dutch
dancer who had spied for the Germans, was executed by a firing squad
outside Paris.
   (WSJ, 1/16/97, p.A16)(AP, 10/15/97)
1917Â Â Â Â Â Â Piet Mondrian and three
other painters founded the movement known as De Stijl, which became
synonymous with Mondrian.
   (HNQ, 7/16/01)
1918Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, The Netherlands
Indian Volksraad was installed in Batavia (later Djakarta).
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1918Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, Retired German
Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to the Netherlands.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_II,_German_Emperor)
1919Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, Anthony Fokker
established an airplane factory at Hamburg and Amsterdam.
   (MC, 7/21/02)
1919Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, Pier Pander
(b.1864), Dutch sculptor, died.
   (http://home.wxs.nl/~bekke412/pier.html)
1919Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, KLM Royal Dutch
Airlines made its debut and served a pre-packaged dinner, believed
to be the 1st in-flight meal, on a flight between London and Paris.
   (SSFC, 12/14/03, p.D2)(WSJ, 5/31/08, p.A12)
1920Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 23, The Dutch
government refused demands from the victorious Allies to hand over
Kaiser Wilhelm II, the dethroned German monarch who had fled to the
Netherlands.
   (AP, 1/23/00)
1920Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, League of nations
established the Int’l. Court of Justice in The Hague.
   (MC, 12/13/01)
1920Â Â Â Â Â Â The plane maker NV Fokker
firm was founded. By 1996 it was in trouble and seeking protection
from its creditors.
   (WSJ, 1/24/96, p.A-12)
1921Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, Alphons Diepenbrock
(b.1862), Dutch composer, died in Amsterdam. His work included
“Wandering Through the Woods” (1910).
   (SFC, 9/1/04, p.B7)
1922Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Dutch 2nd Chamber
agreed to a 48 hour work week over the previous 45 hours.
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1923Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, US Senate rejected
membership in International Court of Justice, The Hague.
   (SC, 3/3/02)
1923Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutch physicist Dirk
Coster (1889-1950) and Hungarian chemist George Charles de Hevesy
(1889-1966) found element 72, Hafnium. It was identified in zircon
(a zirconium ore) from Norway, by means of X-ray spectroscopic
analysis. It was named in honor of the city in which the discovery
was made, from the Latin name "Hafnia" meaning
"Copenhagen."Â Â Â
  Â
(www.chemistryexplained.com/elements/C-K/Hafnium.html)(http://tinyurl.com/kj24t)
1924Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, Nina Foch
(d.2008), film, theater and TV actress, was born in Leyden,
Netherlands. Her films later included “An American in Paris”
(1951).
   (SFC, 12/13/08, p.A5)
1924Â Â Â Â Â Â H. Pander & Son, a
Netherlands’ furniture company, bought an aircraft manufacturing
firm and started making small airplanes. They continued to make
furniture through the mid 1930s.
   (SFC, 11/7/07, p.G6)
1925Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, SDAP-Second-Faction
(Dutch Socialists) of parliament demanded drastic disarmament.
   (SC, 3/2/02)
1926Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, De Geer government
in Netherlands took office.
   (SC, 3/4/02)
1926Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, ACD de Graeff was
appointed Governor-General of Dutch East-Indies.
   (SS, 3/26/02)
1927Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Princess Juliana
got a seat in Dutch Council of State.
   (MC, 4/30/02)
1927Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, Dick Hillenius,
Dutch biologist, writer, was born.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1928Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, The Olympics
opened at Amsterdam. Track and field events opened for women for the
1st time despite objections from Pope Pius IX. Germany was allowed
to participate for the 1st time since WWI.
   (SC, 7/28/02)(NG, 8/04, Geographica)(WSJ,
4/12/08, p.R2)
1928Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, Ray Barbuti saved
the US team from defeat in Amsterdam Olympics track events by
winning 400 m (47.8 sec).
   (SC, 8/3/02)
1928Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, The Univ. of
California crew won the rowing championship at the Olympics in
Holland.
   (SFC, 8/8/03, p.E6)
1928Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, The 9th Olympic
Games closed in Amsterdam. During the games several women collapsed
at the end of the 800-meter run. This led to a 32-year ban on women
running in Olympic races over 200 meters.
   (SC, 8/12/02)(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.F1)
1929Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 12, Anne Frank,
German-Jewish diarist and Holocaust victim, was born in Holland. She
with her family hid from the Nazis in Holland during World War II.
Her diary is world famous
   (HN, 6/12/98)(MC, 6/12/02)
1930 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, The second
conference on war reparations began in the Hague.
   (HN, 1/3/99)
1930Â Â Â Â Â Â British detergent maker
Lever Bros. merged with Margarine Unie of the Netherlands to form
Unilever. William Hulme Lever (1888-1949), 2nd Viscount Leverhulme,
co-founded Unilever. Lever brothers had operated from the Belgian
Congo from 1911.
   (www.ubffoodsolutions.com/company/history)(Econ,
6/3012, p.20)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, A Dutch textile
strike was broken by trade unions.
   (MC, 4/5/02)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, Government of
Netherland declared "Wilhelmus" the national anthem.
   (MC, 5/10/02)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Netherlands passed a
blasphemy law that mandated a maximum sentence of three months in
prison for a convicted "scornful blasphemer."
   (AP, 5/24/11)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Han van Meegeren sold his
Vermeer forgery “Lady and Gentleman at the Spinnet” for 40 thousand
guilders. In 2007 this would represent about $225,000.
   (ON, 12/07, p.10)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â The Afsluitdijk dam was
completed. It sealed the Zuider Zee from the ocean and formed the
freshwater Lake IJssel.
   (SSFC, 3/25/01, p.C1)
1933Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, Elly Ameling,
soprano (Ilya-Idomeneo), was born in Rotterdam, Holland.
   (MC, 2/8/02)
1933Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, Dutch government
forbade a left-wing radio address.
   (MC, 4/22/02)
1933Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, Paul Crutzen, Dutch
chemist, was born.
   (HN, 12/3/00)
1934Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, Marinus van der
Lubbe (24), Dutch communist, was guillotined in Berlin.
   (MC, 1/10/02)
1934Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Jordanians revolted
in Amsterdam after reduction in employment.
   (Maggio, 98)
1934Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, Hendrik Petrus
Berlage (b.1856), the father of modern Dutch architecture,
died at The Hague.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendrik_Petrus_Berlage)(Econ, 9/27/14,
IL p.11)
1935Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Dutch Revolutionary
Socialist Worker's party (RSAP) was formed.
   (SC, 3/3/02)
1935Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands the
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, the Art Deco final masterwork of H.P.
Berlage (1856-1934), was completed.
   (Econ, 9/27/14, IL p.11)
1935Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, Hague local museum
opened.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1936Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, Dutch-born Peter
Debye (1884-1966), won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his studies
on the structure of molecules. In 1938, as Chairman of the German
Physical Society, he had a letter sent out under his name requesting
that the domestic Jewish members voluntarily resign. In 1940 he
moved to the US. In 2006 he emerged in a book, "Albert Einstein in
the Netherlands." which contained evidence of pro-Nazi actions. In
2008 the Terlouw Committee, appointed by the Dutch Ministry of
Education, reviewed the allegations and issued its report clearly
stating that Debye was neither a Nazi collaborator nor a Nazi
sympathizer.
   (AP, 3/3/06)(http://piurl.com/5F)
1936Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch film "The
Trouble With Money" was directed by Max Ophuls.
   (SFEC, 9/5/99, DB p.50)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, Eduard van Beinum
became the 1st conductor of Amsterdam Concert orchestra.
   (MC, 1/10/02)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, In Holland, the
4-day convention at Utrecht ended. A Provisional Constitution for
the World Council of Churches was adopted.
   (SC, internet, 5/12/97)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, Dutch writer
Maurits Dekker was sentenced to 50 days for "offending a friendly
head of state" (Hitler).
   (MC, 5/6/02)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â Alfred Flatow (1869-1942),
Jewish gymnast and three-time, first-place medalist in the 1896
Olympics, fled to the Netherlands. He was later arrested by the
Nazis for possession of guns following their occupation of the
Netherlands. Flatow was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration
camp in 1942 where he was starved to death.
   (SFC, 7/17/14,
p.A10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Flatow)
1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, Dutch hunter shot
English bombers down.
   (MC, 3/28/02)
1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, The Netherland
KNSM passenger ship Simon Bolivar hit a German mine and 86 died.
   (MC, 11/18/01)
1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 23, Anthony H.G.
Fokker (49), Dutch airplane builder (Spider), died in America.
   (www.obituariestoday.com)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, German commandos in
Dutch uniforms crossed the Dutch border to hold bridges for the
advancing German army.
   (HN, 5/8/99)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, German forces
began a blitzkrieg of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg,
skirting France's "impenetrable" Maginot Line. Belgium was invaded
by Germany and maintained resistance for 18 days.
   (WSJ, 8/1/95, p.A-8)(WSJ, 4/29/96, p.C-1)(HN,
5/10/02)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, British bombed a
factory at Breda, Netherlands.
   (MC, 5/13/02)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, Dutch Queen
Wilhelmina fled to England.
   (MC, 5/13/02)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â May 14, The Netherlands
(Holland) surrendered to Nazi Germany after the bombing of Rotterdam
that left 600-900 dead.
   (HN, 5/14/98)(MC, 5/14/02)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, German troops
occupied Amsterdam. Gen Winkelman surrendered.
   (MC, 5/15/02)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, Jacques
Goudstikker, Dutch art dealer, fell on a staircase of the SS
Bodegraven as the ship was refused entry at Dover. He died from a
broken neck. His inventory in Amsterdam totaled some 1,400 works,
which Reichsmarschall Herman Goring, Hitler’s 2nd in command, soon
snapped up.
   (WSJ, 7/2/08, p.D7)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, German forces
under Field Marshal Georg von Kuchler (1881-1968) occupied Antwerp,
Netherlands.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_von_K%C3%BCchler)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, Amsterdam time
became MET (Middle European Time).
   (DTnet, 5/19/97)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, Arthur
Seyss-Inquart was installed as Reich Commissioner of Hague,
Netherlands.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, Princess Juliana
of the Netherlands arrived in Canada as an exile.
   (AP, 6/11/03)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 21, German occupiers
disbanded the Dutch States-General, Council of State.
   (MC, 6/21/02)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Jul, Jan Zwartendijk, a Dutch diplomat, and Chiune Sugihara, a
Japanese diplomat, worked together to save some 2,000 thousand
Polish Jews, who had fled to Lithuania by issuing them visas for
Japan, China and the Dutch colonies in South America. Zwartendijk
wrote out the so called Curacao visas, while Sugihara issued the
transit visas weeks after the Red Army entered the Baltic state. The
Sugihara family was later captured by the Russians and placed in a
concentration camp for 1½ years. None of the refugees actually
arrived in Curacao, but many of them reached free countries or ended
up in Shanghai where they survived the war.
   (www.remember.org/witness/righteous.html)(SFC,
9/7/96, p.A13)(SFC, 9/9/96, p.A16)(AFP, 6/15/18)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, Nazi collaborators
destroyed the pro-Jewish cafe Alcazar Amsterdam. Alcazar had refused
to hang "No Entry for Jews" signs in front.
   (MC, 2/9/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 19, Nazi police were
attacked and driven away from Koco, Amsterdam by young Jews. Nazis
raided Amsterdam and rounded up 429 young Jews for deportation.
   (MC, 2/19/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, Utrecht and
Zaandam struck against raid on Jews.
   (SC, 2/26/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Netherlands
NSB-leader Mussert visited Göring in Berlin.
   (SC, 3/3/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, 18 Geuzen
resistance fighters were sentenced to death in The Hague.
   (SC, 3/4/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, Martial law was
proclaimed in Holland in order to extinguish any anti-Nazi protests.
   (HN, 3/8/98)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, D.A. van den
Bosch, anti-Nazi clergyman (Amersfoort Camp), died.
   (MC, 3/20/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, Dutch Prince
Bernhard became an RAF pilot.
   (MC, 4/24/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, Nazi occupiers in
Netherlands forbade Jewish music.
   (MC, 5/15/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, German occupiers
in Holland forbade bicycle taxis.
   (MC, 5/19/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, Wilhelm II von
Hohenzollern (b.1859), the last German emperor (1888-1918), died in
the Netherlands.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_II,_German_Emperor)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11(Jun 11), The 2nd
great roundup of Jews of Amsterdam took place.
   (MC, 7/11/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, The concentration
camp at Amersfoort, Netherlands, opened.
   (MC, 8/18/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 25, German Jews in
Netherlands were declared stateless.
   (MC, 11/25/01)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, Japan declared war
against the Netherlands, the same day that Japanese forces invaded
the Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia).
   (AP, 1/11/98)(HN, 1/11/99)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, German submarines
attacked an Aruba oil refinery and sank the tanker Pedernales.
   (MC, 2/16/02)(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.C11)
1942 Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, The 3 day Battle
of Java Sea ended as US suffered a major naval defeat. Japanese
troops occupy Kalidjati airport in Java. More than 900 Dutch and 250
Indo-Dutch sailors died during the battle in which the Allied navies
suffered a disastrous defeat by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
   (HN, 3/1/98)(SC, 3/1/02)(AFP, 11/17/16)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, Nazis executed 72
in reprisal in Sachsenhausen, Netherlands. Johan H. Westerveld,
lt.-Col, leader Order Service, was among the executed.
   (MC, 5/3/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â May 17, Dutch SS vowed
loyalty to Hitler.
   (MC, 5/17/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, German-Neth press
reported that 3 million Dutch were sent to East-Europe.
   (MC, 6/9/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 12, Anne Frank
received her diary as a birthday present in Amsterdam.
   (MC, 6/12/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 14, Anne Frank began
her diary.
   (MC, 6/14/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, Adolf Eichmann
proclaimed the deportation of Dutch Jews.
   (MC, 6/20/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, Anne Frank's family
went into hiding in After House, Amsterdam.
   (MC, 7/6/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Anne Frank (13),
her family and 4 other Jews went into hiding in the attic above her
father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
   (HN, 7/9/01)(MC, 7/9/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, Jews were
transported from Holland to an extermination camp.
   (MC, 7/16/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, Roman Catholic
churches protested the Dutch bishops’ stand against the spread of
Judaism.
   (MC, 7/26/02)
1942      Aug 25, German SS
began transporting Jews of Maastricht, Neth.
   (chblue.com, 8/25/01)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Dirk Bannink,
nurse and local councilor Deventer, Netherlands, was executed.
   (MC, 10/15/01)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â The Catholic hierarchy of
Amsterdam spoke against the Nazi treatment of Jews. This led to a
redoubling of roundups and deportations.
   (WSJ, 4/25/97, p.A18)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 17, Dutch churches
protested to Artur Seyss-Inquart against persecution of Jews.
   (MC, 2/17/02)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, In Amsterdam a
Jewish old age home for disabled was raided.
   (SC, 3/1/02)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, 1st transport of
Jews from Westerbork, Netherlands, to Sobibor concentration camp.
   (SC, 3/2/02)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, The ships James
Oglethorpe (US) and Terkolei (Neth.), were torpedoed and sank.
   (MC, 3/18/02)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, US Army Air Force
bombers attacked harbor facilities in the west of Rotterdam. A
combination of strong wind and overcast conditions also caused great
damage to the nearby residential areas, especially in the
Bospolder-Tussendijken District. The death toll rose to 401
casualties and around 16,500 people lost their homes.
   (http://tinyurl.com/6rmgrp6)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Piet Mondrian
(b.1872), Dutch artist, died in NYC of pneumonia. To create an art
of harmony and order he used straight lines exclusively. "His
trademark paintings of black lines forming a grid and primary colors
are a calculated, mathematical blueprint for an organized life." A
leading abstract artist in the early half of the 20th century, Dutch
painter Piet Mondrian was also a leading proponent of De Stijl ("The
Style"). Born to an educator and amateur artist in 1872, Mondrian
pursued a career as a painter from an early age. He was influenced
by the Post-Impressionists, but gravitated towards Cubism after
seeing an exhibition of works by Picasso and others.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian)(Hem,
Dec. 94, p.131)(WSJ, 5/25/01, p.W10)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, The 8th and 9th US
Army Air Forces and Royal Air Force Bomber Command began to fly
sorties into France and the Low Countries in preparation for the
Allied Expeditionary Force landing on Jun 6.
   (SDUT, 6/6/97, p.B9)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Dutch struck
against forced labor in Nazi Germany's war industry.
   (MC, 4/30/02)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Etty Hillesum,
Dutch diarist, died in Auschwitz.
   (MC, 4/30/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, 240 gypsies were
transported to Auschwitz from Westerbork Neth.
   (MC, 5/19/02)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, Jews rioted
against Germans in Amsterdam.
   (MC, 5/26/02)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, Arthur
Seyss-Inquart ordered a mass arrest of Dutch physicians.
   (MC, 6/25/02)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, A US B-17 bomber
crashed in the Netherlands near the small town of de Bilt. Of the 10
men on board 5 died and 5 were captured. Robert Surdez, co-pilot,
died in 2004.
   (SFC, 3/30/04, p.B1)(SFC, 8/11/04, p.B7)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Willem Kolff invented the
1st dialysis machine in Holland.
   (WSJ, 10/2/03, p.A2)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, Gerrit John van de
Peat (41), artist, resistance fighter, was executed.
   (MC, 6/6/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, Nazi troops
executed 96 prisoners by firing squad.
   (MC, 6/6/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, 99 inhabitants of
Tulle were hanged by the SS.
   (MC, 6/9/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, SS men Heinrich
Boere and Jacobus Petrus Besteman shot and killed Dutch pharmacist
Fritz Hubert Ernst Bicknese at his home in Breda for suspected
activity in Nazi resistance. Boere was sentenced to death in
absentia by a Dutch court in 1949. This was later commuted to life
imprisonment. In 2009 Boere (88) was slated to stand trial for
murder in Germany for the execution-style killings of three Dutch
civilians during World War II. In 2010 a German court convicted
Boere (88) of murdering the three Dutch civilians. He was given the
maximum sentence of life in prison for the killings.
  Â
(www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/germ-n02.shtml)(AP, 7/7/09)(AP,
3/23/10)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, Anne Frank
(1929-1945) entered this in her diary: "In spite of everything I
still believe that people are really good at heart." In 1998 5
additional pages to her diary were reported. She died of typhoid in
the spring of 1945 at the Bergen-Belson concentration camp.
   (AP, 8/4/98)(SFC, 8/19/98, p.A16)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, Carl Bock, Danish
Gestapo agent, was liquidated.
   (MC, 7/19/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, Anne Frank's last
diary entry; 3 days later she was arrested.
   (MC, 8/1/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, Nazi police
raided the secret annex of a building in Amsterdam and arrested
eight people, including 15-year-old Anne Frank, whose diary became a
famous account of the Holocaust. She died at the Bergen-Belsen
concentration camp in the spring of 1945, just weeks before the camp
was liberated. Miep Gies (1909-2010), secretary to Anne’s father
Otto, collected the scattered pages of Anne’s diary and returned
them to Otto Frank after the war.
   (AP, 8/4/02)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.95)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, The 68th & last
transport of Dutch Jews, which included Anne Frank, left for
Auschwitz.
   (MC, 9/3/01)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, "Mad Tuesday"
65,000 Dutch Nazi collaborators fled to Germany.
   (MC, 9/5/01)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, Germany's V-2
offensive against England began. The 1st V-2 rockets landed in
London & Antwerp.
   (HN, 9/8/98)(MC, 9/8/01)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, Operation Market
Garden, one of the largest allied operations of WW II, was launched.
It failed to liberate the north of the Netherlands from Nazi
Germany. American infantry glider troops of the 82nd Airborne
Division parachuted into Holland to capture the Arnhem bridge as
part of Operation Market Garden. The plan called for the airborne
troops to be relieved by British troops, but they were left stranded
and eventually surrendered to the Germans. Around 15,000 allied
soldiers and thousands of German soldiers lost their lives in the
operation. The 1974 book by Cornelius Ryan, "A Bridge Too Far," was
based on this operation and was made into the 1977 film "A Bridge
Too Far," starring Sean Connery.
   (MT, Fall ‘96, p.8)(HN, 9/17/98)(HC,
12/12/01)(AP, 9/17/06)(Reuters, 9/21/19)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, The last British
paratroopers at bridge of Arnhem surrendered.
   (MC, 9/21/01)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, Aldert Klaas
Dijkema, a Dutch resistance fighter, was executed by the Nazi Waffen
SS shortly after he was captured. In 2012 Dutch-born Siert Bruins
(91) was charged with Dijkema’s murder. In 2014 a German court
dropped the case against Bruins ruling that there are too many gaps
in the evidence to deliver a verdict.
  Â
(www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4312068,00.html)(SFC, 11/27/12,
p.A2)(SFC, 9/3/13, p.A2)(AP, 1/8/14)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, Thousands of
British troops were killed as German forces rebuffed their massive
effort to capture the Arnhem Bridge across the Rhine River in
Holland.
   (HN, 9/27/98)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, At the Battle of
Arnhem the Germans defeated the British airborne in Netherlands.
   (MC, 9/28/01)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, SS men Heinrich Boere
and an accomplice named Hendrik Kromhout shot Dutch bicycle-shop
owner Teun de Groot when he answered the doorbell at his home in the
town of Voorschoten. They then continued to the apartment of F.W.
Kusters, and forced him into their car. They drove him to another
town, stopped on the pretense of having a flat tire and shot him.
   (AP, 3/7/08)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, In the Netherlands
600 men in Putten were sent to German work camps for the killing of
German oficer by the resistance. Only 48 returned at the end
of the war.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putten_raid)(Econ., 2/29/20, p.12)
  Â
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, The first Allied
supplies reached Antwerp by convoy.
   (HN, 11/28/98)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands Marion
Phillipina van Binsbergen (b.1920), later Marion Pritchard, shot and
killed a Nazi collaborator in Huizen as he returned to a house where
Jewish children were being hidden. In 2009 Pritchard received the
Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Medal of Valor for her efforts in saving
children in Amsterdam during WWII.
   (SSFC, 12/25/16, p.C12)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Piet Mondrian (b.1872),
Dutch artist, died of pneumonia. To create an art of harmony and
order he used straight lines exclusively. "His trademark paintings
of black lines forming a grid and primary colors are a calculated,
mathematical blueprint for an organized life." A leading abstract
artist in the early half of the 20th century, Dutch painter Piet
Mondrian was also a leading proponent of De Stijl ("The Style").
Born to an educator and amateur artist in 1872, Mondrian pursued a
career as a painter from an early age. He was influenced by the
Post-Impressionists, but gravitated towards Cubism after seeing an
exhibition of works by Picasso and others.
   (Hem, Dec. 94, p.131)(WSJ, 5/25/01, p.W10)(HNQ,
7/16/01)
1944-1945Â Â Â Some 16,000 people starved to death in
the Dutch “hunger winter.”
   (Econ, 6/18/16, p.46)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Roermond-Venlo,
Netherlands, was freed.
   (SC, 3/3/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, RAF bombing error
hit The Hague and killed 511.
   (SC, 3/3/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, Allies bombed The
Hague, Netherlands.
   (MC, 3/5/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, In Holland SS
General Hans Albin Rauter, was ambushed, and his driver and orderly
were killed. Rauter was seriously wounded. SS Brigadefuhrer Dr.
Eberhardt Schongarth immediately ordered reprisals and a total of
263 people were shot. A Special Court of Justice in the Hague
sentenced Rauter to death and he was executed March 25, 1949.
Schongarth was tried by a British Military Court, found guilty on
another war crime charge, sentenced to death and was hanged in 1946.
  Â
http://members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/massacres.html
   (WW2D, p.610)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, 53 Amsterdammers
were executed by Nazi occupiers.
   (MC, 3/8/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, Flemish Nazi
collaborator Maria Huygens was sentenced to death.
   (MC, 3/12/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, In Amsterdam 30
people were executed by Nazi occupiers.
   (MC, 3/12/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, Queen Wilhelmina
returned to Netherlands.
   (MC, 3/13/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, Nazi occupiers were
executed. Nazi general Christiansen fled the Netherlands.
   (MC, 4/8/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, Canadian troops
liberated the Nazi concentration camp at Westerbork, Neth.
   (MC, 4/12/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, Arnhem and Zwolle
were freed from Nazis.
   (MC, 4/14/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, Canadian lead
tanks roll into Apeldoorn, Netherlands, loudly cheered by relieved
residents.
   (www.bouwman.com/netherlands/Liberation.html)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, Hannie Schaft
(24), Dutch resistance fighter who lived in Haarlem, known as the
"Girl with red hair," was executed by the Germans just one month
before the war ended. She was a student who joined the resistance
early in the war. On her bicycle she delivered ration coupons,
newspapers, secret information and weapons. She was shot and buried
in a shallow grave in the Dunes around Bloemendaal.
   (MC, 4/17/02)(Internet)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Arthur
Seys-Inquart, Nazi overlord of Netherlands, fled to Flensburg.
   (MC, 5/1/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, German forces in
the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany agreed to surrender.
   (AP, 5/4/00)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, Netherlands and
Denmark were liberated from Nazi control. The Liberation of the
Netherlands was completed by the First Canadian Army.
   (HN,
5/5/98)(www.bouwman.com/netherlands/Liberation.html)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, SS opened fire on a
crowd in Amsterdam and killed 22.
   (MC, 5/7/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, Dutch police
arrested and imprisoned Hans van Meegeren (1889-1947) for
collaborating with the enemy. His name had been traced to a sale
made during the second world war of what was then believed to be an
authentic Vermeer to Nazi Field-Marshal Hermann Goering. On July 12,
in order to prove his innocence, Meegeren revealed that he had
forged the painting.
   (WSJ, 10/14/06, p.P10)(ON, 12/07, p.12)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, Meinoud M. Rost van
Tonningen, anti Semite, NSB (1937-41), committed suicide.
   (MC, 6/6/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, Indonesian
nationalists declared independence from the Netherlands.
   (SFC, 10/12/96, p.A13)(AP, 8/17/99)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, Gen Eisenhower was
welcomed in Hague on Hitler's train.
   (MC, 10/6/01)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, The Dutch formally
relinquished sovereignty to Indonesia.
   (WSJ, 7/24/01, p.B4)
1946Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Dutch troops landed
on East Bali.
   (SC, 3/2/02)
1946Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, KVP won the
Provincial National elections in Netherlands.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1946Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, In the Netherlands
Felix Gulje, head of a construction company, was murdered at his
door front. Rumors had circled that Gulje worked with
occupation authorities during the war. After his death it emerged
that Gulje had sheltered Jews and given money to hide others. In
2011 Atie Ridder-Visser (96), former resistance member, confessed to
the killing.
   (SFC, 6/9/11, p.A3)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Hans van Meegeren
(1889-12947), Dutch painter and forger, was tried for forgery and
convicted of “obtaining money by deception” and “appending false
names and signatures with the intent to deceive.” He was given the
minimum sentence of one year and then the court petitioned Queen
Wilhelmina that he be pardoned, but he died 6 weeks later.
   (ON, 12/07, p.12)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, In western Java up
to 430 men were rounded up and shot by Dutch troops in the village
of Rawagedeh. The Dutch called the incident a "police action" to
quell an uprising. The Dutch government conceded in 1995 that
summary executions had taken place in Rawagedeh, now known as
Balongsari, but said prosecutions were no longer possible. In
September, 2011, a Dutch court ordered the government to compensate
the widows of Indonesian villagers, to apologize for the killings
and to give each of the 10 plaintiffs $27,000. Old friends and
neighbors cajoled, bullied and intimidated the plaintiffs and their
families until local officials jumped in, forcing them to part with
half their cash.
   (AP, 9/14/11)(http://tinyurl.com/5sp5psn)(AP,
11/23/11)(AP, 1/16/12)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 29, Hans van Meegeren
(b.1889), Dutch painter and forger, died. In 2006 Frank Wynne
authored “I Was Vermeer.”
   (WSJ, 10/14/06,
p.P10)(http://denisdutton.com/van_meegeren.htm)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â “The Diary of Anne Frank”
was first published. In her diary Anne Frank (1929-1945) chronicled
the details of her teenage life hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam
from 1942 to 1944, when the Nazi secret police discovered her and
her family's hiding place. Miep Gies (1909-2010), had guarded Anne's
memoirs and presented it to the girl's father, Otto, when he
returned from the Auschwitz concentration camp at the end of World
War II, the only one of his family to survive.
   (AFP, 1/12/10)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutch writer Gerard Reve
(1923-2006) authored his debut novel “De Avonden” (The Evenings)
under the pseudonym Simon van het Reve. In 2016 it was translated to
English.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Avonden)(Econ,
3/11/17, p.79)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Klaas Carel Faber
(1922-2012) was convicted of murder and aiding the enemy in time of
war for helping the Netherlands' Nazi occupiers during World War II.
He had worked for the death squad code named "Silbertanne," or
"Silver Fir," which carried out killings of resistance members, Nazi
opponents, and people who hid Jews. He was given a death sentence
that was later commuted to life in prison, but he escaped and fled
to Germany in 1952, where he was granted citizenship. In 2010 the
Dutch government issued a European arrest warrant for Faber (88). In
2011 a German court ruled that the Dutch request cannot be granted
as Faber’s consent was mandatory due to his German citizenship.
Klaas Faber died in Germany in 2012.
   (AP, 11/25/10)(AP, 5/11/11)(AP, 5/26/12)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Gerard Kuiper of Holland
and Texas discovered carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mars.
   (SFC, 11/29/96, p.A17)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, France, Great
Britain and Benelux signed the Treaty of Brussels.
   (MC, 3/18/02)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, International
Court of Justice opened at Hague, Netherlands.
   (MC, 4/18/02)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, The Hague Court of
Justice convicted Hans Rauter (SS) of war crimes.
   (MC, 5/4/02)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, Queen Wilhelmina
resigned. [see Sep 4]
   (MC, 5/12/02)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, The World Council
of Churches (WCC) was formed in Amsterdam to help reconcile
differences among Christians. Delegates of 147 churches assembled to
merge the Faith and Order Movement and Life and Work Movement.
Church leaders had agreed in 1937 to establish a World Council of
Churches, based on a merger of the Faith and Order Movement and Life
and Work Movement organizations. Headquarters were later established
in Geneva.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Council_of_Churches)(Econ,
2/23/08, p.79)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, Queen Wilhelmina
abdicated the Dutch throne for health reasons.
   (AP, 9/4/97)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, Queen Juliana
(1909-2004) of the Netherlands was crowned, two days after the
abdication of her mother, Queen Wilhelmina. Juliana abdicated in
1980.
   (AP, 9/6/98)(SSFC, 3/21/04, p.B7)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Auke Bert Pattist, a Nazi
collaborator, was convicted for helping Nazis and persecuting Jews.
He escaped from prison and later settled in France and Spain where
he died in 2001 at age 80.
   (SFC, 3/27/01, p.A18)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutch economist Petrus
Johannes Verdoorn (1911-1982), developed what came to known as
Verdoorn's law. It relates to the long-term dynamic relationship
between the rate of growth in output and the growth of productivity
due to increasing returns.
  Â
(www.economyprofessor.com/economictheories/verdoorns-law.php)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â H.B.G. Casimir, Dutch
physicist, deduced the necessity of a quantum-mechanical effect
arising from the zero-point energy of the harmonic oscillators that
are the normal modes of the electromagnetic field. The Casimir force
was first measured in 1997 and can be seen in a gecko's ability to
stick to a surface with just one toe.
   (AFP,
8/6/07)(www.du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/casimir.htm)
1949Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, The (NATO) North
Atlantic Treaty Organization pact was signed by the US, Great
Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy,
Portugal, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Canada. It provided for
mutual defense against aggression and for close military
cooperation.
  Â
(www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm)(TOH, 1982,
p.1949)
1949Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, Queen Juliana of
the Netherlands granted sovereignty to the United States Indonesia
after more than 300 years of Dutch rule. The Netherlands retained
control of Irian Jaya, inhabited by Melanesians, until 1963.
   (EWH, 1968, p.1168)(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)(AP,
12/27/99)
1949Â Â Â Â Â Â Heinrich Boere (b.1922),
part of a Waffen SS death squad of mostly Dutch volunteers, was
sentenced to death in the Netherlands. The squad had been tasked
with killing fellow countrymen in reprisal for attacks by the
anti-Nazi resistance. His sentence was later commuted to life
imprisonment and Boere managed to escape to Germany. A German court
has refused to extradite him because he might have German
nationality as well as Dutch. In 2008 Dortmund prosecutor Ulrich
Maass charged Heinrich Boere (86) with the 1944 murders of three men
as a member of the Waffen SS death squad code-named Silbertanne, or
Silver Pine.
   (AP, 3/8/08)(AP, 4/16/08)
1950Â Â Â Â Â Â West Timor (Dutch Timor),
part of the former Dutch East Indies, became Indonesian territory
when Holland transferred sovereignty.
   (SFC, 10/12/96, p.A13)(TOH, 1982, p.1949)(SFC,
9/8/99, p.A17)
1951Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, Jean Monnet,
French civil servant, and Robert Schuman, French foreign minister,
helped found the European Union with agreements between 6 countries
on the pooling of coal and steel resources. Ministers from Belgium,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, West Germany, Italy and France put
their names on the Treaty of Paris, the founding document of what in
four decades would become the European Union.
   (Econ, 9/25/04, Survey p.3)(Econ, 6/18/16, p.45)
1952Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, A
Netherlands-Indonesian Unity conference took place.
   (SC, 2/26/02)
1952Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, Dutch Queen Juliana
spoke to the US Congress.
   (MC, 4/3/02)
1952Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, Maria Montessori
(b.1870), Italian physician, educationist, died In Holland. She
opened her 1st school in San Lorenzo, Italy, in 1907.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Montessori)(SFC, 1/6/07, p.B1)
1952Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, A 2nd Round
Conference between Dutch Antilles and Suriname ended.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1952Â Â Â Â Â Â KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
began offering first class passengers ceramic houses filled with
liquor. Industry rules capped handouts at 75 cents, but there was no
limit on booze. In 2008 the 89th house in the series made it debut
on Oct 7, the airline’s 89th birthday.
   (WSJ, 5/31/08, p.A1)
1952-1954Â Â Â In the Netherlands 34 boys under 18
during this period died in a Catholic institute for the mentally
disabled in the Roermond Diocese. A Dutch Catholic institute for
disabled girls in the same town of Heel experienced 40 deaths during
the same period. In 2011 prosecutors opened an investigation on the
unusually high death rate. In 2012Â Dutch prosecutors said
Brother Andreas, now dead, may have been involved in the suspicious
deaths of 37 patients. The deaths sharply declined after he was
transferred to another institution.
   (AP, 8/16/11)(AP, 8/18/11)(AP, 6/28/12)
1953Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31-1953 Feb 1, A
powerful storm breached sea dikes in the south of the Netherlands,
killing more than 1,800 people and cementing a deep resolve among
the Dutch that their ancient enemy, water, would never kill again.
307 people died in eastern England.
   (SSFC, 3/25/01,
p.C3)(www.metoffice.com/education/secondary/students/flood.html)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 15, With the
proclamation of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the
Netherlands Antilles attained equal status with the Netherlands
proper and Suriname in the overarching Kingdom of the Netherlands.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cura%C3%A7ao_and_Dependencies)(SSFC,
10/9/11, p.C3)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â The Bilderberg Group was
set up in to support military and economic co-operation between
Europe and North America during the Cold War. Its first meeting was
at the Bilderberg Hotel in Oosterbeek, Holland.
   (AP, 6/7/13)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â The Hague Convention of
this year forbade the taking of war booty. The Hague cultural
Property Convention recognized the protection of cultural, religious
and historical monuments including national parks.
   (WSJ, 5/29/96, p.A6)(SFC, 8/11/00, p.A15)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â The 5 islands of the
Netherlands Antilles were federated. These included Bonaire,
Curacao, St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius.
   (Econ, 5/26/07, p.38)
1955Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Queen Juliana
opened the E55 fair in Amsterdam.
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1956Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 10, Philips
broadcasted the 1st Dutch color TV programs.
   (MC, 4/10/02)
1956Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Queen Juliana
opened the Rembrandt fairs in Amsterdam.
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1956Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 6, Holland and Spain
withdrew from Olympics, to protest Soviets in Hungary.
   (MC, 11/6/01)
1957Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, The Anne Frank
Foundation formed in Amsterdam.
   (MC, 5/4/02)
1957Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, Heinrich Campendonk
(b.1889), German-born Dutch artist and a member of the Der Blaue
Reiter group (1911-1912), died.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Campendonk)
1957Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Dutch 2nd Chamber
accepted temporary tax increase.
   (Maggio)
1958Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, In the Netherlands
the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation was founded by Prince Bernhard.
It awarded the annual Erasmus Prize to individuals or institutions
that have made notable contributions to European culture, society,
or social science.
   (www.123exp-culture.com/t/03604490053/)
1958Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, KLM Flight 607-E,
a Lockheed Super Constellation, crashed west of Ireland, killing 99.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLM_Flight_607-E)
1959Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, Eduard A van
Beinum (57), Dutch musician, conductor, died.
   (MC, 4/13/02)
1959Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, K. Rudolf
Mengelberg, Dutch composer (Amsterdam Concertgebouw), died atÂ
67.
   (MC, 10/13/01)
1959Â Â Â Â Â Â Aldo van Eyck (d.1999 at
80) designed the State Orphanage in Amsterdam.
   (SFC, 1/16/99, p.A18)
1959Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands a
massive gas field was discovered under the city of Groningen. In the
1970s higher gas export prices raised the value of the guilder by a
sixth , hitting the competitiveness of Dutch manufaturing and
services. In 1977 The Economist dubbed this economic curse “Dutch
disease”.
   (WSJ, 6/26/08, p.B1)(Econ, 8/12/17, p.58)
1961Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, The Territory of
New Guinea declared independence from the Netherlands.
   (WUD, 1994, p.962)(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A8)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, Dutch RC Bishop
Willem Bekkers declared himself in favor of birth control. The
church in the Netherlands tried to promote a more liberal view of
birth control. But their view did not prevail.
   (http://tinyurl.com/lpxof8)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, Lee Harvey Oswald
arrived by train in Oldenzaal, Netherlands.
   (MC, 6/3/02)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, Lee Harvey Oswald
departed Rotterdam on SS Maasdam to US.
   (MC, 6/4/02)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, Thalidomide was
banned in Netherlands.
   (MC, 6/28/02)
1963Â Â Â Â Â Â Lou Ottens (1926-2021) and
his team at Philips, the Dutch electronics company, introduced the
cassette tape as a way to play music in a portable fashion. The
invention revolutionized the music business.
   (NY Times, 3/11/21)
1963Â Â Â Â Â Â The western part of the
island of New Guinea, Irian Jaya, became a province of Indonesia. It
was formerly a Dutch territory called West New Guinea, Dutch New
Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea. A West Papua pro-independence
movement began and by 2004 an estimated 100,000 civilians had died
in the struggle.
   (WUD, 1994, p.1623)(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A17)
1964      Aug 25, Singapore
limited imports from Netherlands due to Indonesian aggression.
   (chblue.com, 8/25/01)
1965Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Remco Prins, Dutch
rock guitarist/vocalist (Burma Shave-Stash), was born.
   (SC, 5/25/02)
1965Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Roef-Ragas, Dutch
actor (Missing Link, Red Rain, Juju, Mykosch), was born.
   (SC, 5/25/02)
1966Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutch courts prosecuted a
blasphemy case putting a novelist on trial for a story about wanting
to have sex with God, who had taken the form of a donkey. Gerard
Reve was acquitted. The 1932 blasphemy law barred scorn against any
religion.
   (AP, 5/24/11)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Greece, Portugal
and Spain's embassies were bombed in the Hague.
   (SC, 3/3/02)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, In the Netherlands
part of a group of Catholic radicals left their own party and formed
the Political Party of Radicals (PPR). The party dissolved in 1991.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_Party_Radicals)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, Pirate Radio Marina
in the Netherlands began transmitting.
  Â
(www.historyorb.com/entertainment/radio/pirate-radio)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â The Rembrandt Research
Project was formed and funded by the government to act as the
gatekeepers of Rembrandt’s work.
   (WSJ, 8/7/98, p.W12)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands the 56
square km of Oostvaardersplassen was reclaimed from the sea and was
intended for industrial use. It lay vacant and became a nature
reserve.
   (Econ, 9/14/13, SR p.8)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, John and Yoko Ono
staged a bed-in for peace in Amsterdam.
   (HN, 3/24/98)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, The Nuclear
reactor in Dodewaard, Netherlands, went into use.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodewaard_nuclear_power_plant)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, Refinery workers
on Curacao set fires in Willemstad. Marines from the Netherlands
restored order.
   (Econ, 5/26/07, p.38)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, Economists Jan
Timbergen (1903-1994) of the Netherlands and Ragnar Frisch of Norway
were awarded the first Nobel Prize in Economics for having developed
and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes.
Tinbergen was a founding trustee of Economists for Peace and
Security.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Tinbergen)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, Frederik Lugt
(b.1884), Dutch founder of the Fondation Custodia (1947), died in
Paris. The foundation, which he founded with his wife, kept intact
his collection of Old Master drawings at the Institut Neederlandais,
the Dutch cultural center in Paris.
   (Econ, 2/13/10,
p.86)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frits_Lugt)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, As of this day
divorce in the Netherlands could only be granted on the ground of
the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage (Article 1:151 of the
Dutch Civil Code).
  Â
(http://www2.law.uu.nl/priv/cefl/Reports/pdf/Netherlands02.pdf)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Cornelis van Houten
(1920-2002), Dutch astronomer, discovered an asteroid and named it
Asteroid 1877 Marsden after British astronomer Brian Marsden.
   (Econ, 12/4/10, p.111)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Japanese Red
Army and Lebanese guerrillas hijacked a Japan Airlines plane over
the Netherlands. The passengers and crew were released in Libya
where the hijackers blew up the plane.
   (SFC, 11/9/00,
p.C2)(www.cdi.org/friendlyversion/printversion.cfm?documentID=1771)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch government built
the Van Gogh Museum.
   (Econ, 1/21/06, p.81)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Willem Dudok
(b.1884), Dutch architect (Hilversum Town Hall), died.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Marinus_Dudok)
1974 Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, In the Netherlands
laws prohibiting pirate radio came into effect.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Caroline)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, In the Netherlands
the French embassy at the Hague was taken over by Haruo Wako and 2
other Japanese Red Army militants. A 4-day standoff ended with the
release of comrade Yutaka Suyaka from a French jail. The attack was
linked to Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. In 2005 a
Tokyo District Court sentenced Wako to life imprisonment.
   (http://my-my-miyuki.blogspot.com/)(SFC,12/11/97,
p.C2)(SFC, 11/9/00, p.C2)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, Rembrandt's
"Nightwatch" was slashed and damaged in Amsterdam.
  Â
(http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_n7_v86/ai_21113228)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 14, Six South Moluccan
extremists surrendered after holding 23 hostages for 12 days on a
train near the Dutch town of Beilen.
   (AP, 12/14/00)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch film "Keetje
Tippel" (Cathy Tippel or Katie's Passion, or Hot Sweat) starred Jan
De Bont and was directed by Paul Verhoeven.
   (WSJ, 7/23/99, p.W4)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Suriname gained
Independence from the Netherlands.
   (SFC, 9/6/96, p.A14)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, Prince Bernhard,
husband of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, agreed to resign his
positions with the Dutch armed forces and industry following severe
criticism of his behavior by a commission of enquiry into a Lockheed
bribery scandal. Bernhard had allegedly received $1.1 million as a
gift from Lockheed.
   (RTH, 8/26/99)(SFC, 12/24/08, p.B7)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, Dutch War criminal
Pieter Menten (1899-1987) was arrested in Switzerland after fleeing
there in November.
   (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_Menten)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Claes Oldenburg (b.1929),
Swedish-born American artist, constructed a 41-foot "Trowel I"
for the Kroller-Muller Museum in the Netherlands by. He also made
"Typewriter Eraser."
   (Smith., Aug. 1995, p.82)(SFC, 10/26/96, p.B1)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Amnesty International
received Netherlands’ Erasmus-prize.
   (www.nndb.com/honors/622/000165127/)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, The trial of Pieter
Menten (b.1899), a former Dutch SS officer and art collector, began
in Amsterdam. He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years, but the
sentence was reduced to 10 years in 1980.
  Â
(www.cnn.com/almanac/9805/08/)(http://tinyurl.com/2n79xl)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â May 23, Moluccan
extremists held 105 schoolchildren and 50 others hostage on a
hijacked train in Netherlands. The children were released May 27.
The siege ended June 11.
   (MC, 5/23/02)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Dutch social
democratic party won parliamentary election.
   (SC, 5/25/02)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, A 20-day hostage
drama in the Netherlands ended as Dutch marines stormed a train and
a school held by South Moluccan extremists. Six gunmen and two
hostages on the train were killed.
   (AP, 6/11/97)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â The Economist coined the
term “Dutch disease” to describe how the exploitation of natural
resources can cause a decline in other forms of economic activity,
particularly manufacturing. This briefly happened in the Netherlands
when natural gas was discovered (1959).
   (Econ, 10/11/08, p.36)
1978Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, Argentina, host to
the World Cup, beat Netherlands in the soccer World Cup championship
in Buenos Aires. It was later alleged that the ruling military junta
bribed an opposing team to ensure Argentina’s progress and eventual
victory.
   (SFC, 2/4/97,
p.A12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_FIFA_World_Cup)(Econ,
8/15/09, p.32)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Juliana
Z(1909-2004), Queen of the Netherlands, abdicated. Beatrix
Wilhelmina Armgard, was crowned queen of Netherlands.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliana_of_the_Netherlands)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Pieter Menten (81),
Dutch war criminal and art collector, was sentenced to 10 years in
prison.
  Â
(http://tinyurl.com/369gbh)(http://tinyurl.com/3xjlqp)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, The opera
“Satyagraha” by Philip Glass, commissioned by the city of Rotterdam,
was first performed by the Netherlands Opera.
   (WSJ, 4/19/08,
p.W14)(www.philipglass.com/html/recordings/satyagraha.html)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, Some 520 people
were forced to abandon the cruise ship “Prisendam” in the Gulf of
Alaska after the Dutch luxury liner caught fire—no deaths or serious
injury resulted. The ship capsized and sank a week later.
   (AP, 10/4/08)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 25, The Hague
Convention was concluded. It is a multilateral treaty developed by
the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) that
provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally
abducted by a parent from one member country to another. It entered
into force between the signatories on 1 December 1983. As of May
2017, 97 states are party to the convention.
   (http://tinyurl.com/ydd2k726)(Econ, 2/7/09, p.22)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, Hendrik F.
Andriessen (b.1892), Dutch organist, composer (Te Deum), died.
  Â
(http://www2.rnw.nl/mu/en/behind/biographies/hendrikandriessen)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Antoine W. van Agtmael of
the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank coined the
term “emerging market.” He coined the term to attract investors in a
“Third World Equity Fund.” The emerging, or developing, market
economy (EME) is defined as an economy with low-to-middle per capita
income. Emerging markets constitute approximately 80% of the global
population, representing about 20% of the world's economies.
  Â
(www.investopedia.com/articles/03/073003.asp)(Econ, 9/20/08, SR
p.10)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, In the Netherlands
Ruud Lubbers (1939-2018) began serving a prime minister and
continued to 1994.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruud_Lubbers)(SSFC, 2/18/18, p.C12)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 25, The Infrared
Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) space probe, sponsored by the United
Kingdom, the US, and the Netherlands, was launched. It studied
infrared radiation from across the cosmos and exposed stars as they
were born from clouds of gas and dust.
   (SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A14)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar, Compact Disc
recordings, introduced by Phillips and Sony in Europe in 1982, were
introduced to the US.
   (www.iconnect.net/home/bsnpubs/cdhist.html)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, Anthony van Hoboken
(b.1887), Dutch musicologist, died in Zurich. He is best known for
his Haydn Catalog (1957).
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_van_Hoboken)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, Alfred Heineken,
beer brewer from Amsterdam, was kidnapped and held for a ransom of
more than $10 million. Heineken was freed Nov 30. Cor van Houton,
the kidnapper, was shot to death in 2003.
   (HN, 11/9/98)(AP, 1/24/03)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, Police freed
kidnapped beer magnate Alfred Heineken in Amsterdam.
  Â
(www.cedmagic.com/museum/press/ced-timeline-1983.html#11-1983)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dapper Foundation of
Amsterdam was founded with a private gift donation of African art.
It was brought to Paris in 1986 and housed in an elegant private
museum at 50 Avenue Victor Hugo.
   (SFEC, 1/4/98, p.T7)
1984Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, Piet Ketting
(b.1904), Dutch pianist, conductor, composer, died.
   (http://tinyurl.com/2tpeyt)
1984Â Â Â Â Â Â Philips, a Dutch
electronics giant, and ASM Int'l, a maker of semiconductor
equipment, began their ASML joint venture. The company grew to
become the world's most advanced maker of equipment critical to
modern chipmaking.
   (Econ., 2/29/20, p.49)
1985Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, French security
forces sank the Rainbow Warrior, a ship operated by Greenpeace near
NZ. Fernando Pereira, a Dutch photographer, was killed in the
sinking. In 2015 a retired French secret service agent apologized
for planting the bombs. Jean-Luc Kister said that he and his
colleagues never meant to kill anybody.
   (SFC, 5/7/99,
p.A14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Warrior)(AP, 9/7/15)
1986Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, In the Netherlands
Queen Beatrix officially opened the Oosterscheldekering for use by
saying the well-known words: De stormvloedkering is gesloten. De
Deltawerken zijn voltooid. Zeeland is veilig. (The flood barrier is
closed. The Delta Works are completed. Zealand is safe.) It was the
world's largest movable flood barrier.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oosterscheldekering)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Nov 14, Pieter Menten (b.1899), Dutch war criminal, died at an old
people's home in Loosbroek, southern Netherlands.
   (www.jbwan.com/roblog/archives/000615.html)
1987      In the Netherlands
the first campaign to alter social norms of condom use focused on a
number of Dutch celebrities who use condoms themselves.
  Â
(http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/IES/netherlands.html)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands art
works by David Teniers, Willem van de Velde, Jan Brueghel the
Younger, Eva Gonzales, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and
Paul Desire Trouillebert were stolen from the Noortman gallery in
Maastricht. In 2009 police recovered eight of the paintings and
arrested 3 suspects.
   (AP, 3/8/09)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â Heavy floods inundated the
town of Valkenburg as the Geul River overflowed.
   (SFC, 9/19/98, p.A5)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Dutch Liberal Party
merged with SDP.
   (SC, 3/2/02)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, In Amsterdam the
Royal Concert building (Concertgebouw) reopened.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Concertgebouw_Orchestra)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec, Thieves stole three
paintings by van Gogh, with an estimated value of $72 million to $90
million, from the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in a remote section of the
Netherlands. Police later recover all three paintings.
   (AP, 2/11/08)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch film "The
Vanishing" was directed by George Sluizer. An American remake was
also directed by Sluizer.
   (SFEC, 8/1/99, DB p.48)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Ter Beek (d.2008 at 64)
became defense minister in a centrist coalition led by PM Ruud
Lubbers and served until 1994. He worked to streamline the Dutch
military in the aftermath of the Cold War, including scrapping the
draft.
   (AP, 9/30/08)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Toy company FAO Schwartz
sold out to Dutch Company Koninklijke Bijenkorf Beheer.
   (WSJ, 11/21/03, p.B1)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, Two masked armed men
stole 20 paintings, worth at least $10 million each at the time,
from Amsterdam's van Gogh Museum. The paintings are found in the
getaway car less than an hour later.
   (AP, 2/11/08)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, European Community
leaders meeting in the Dutch city of Maastricht tentatively agreed
to begin using a single currency by 1999.
   (AP, 12/9/01)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, European Community
leaders meeting in the Dutch city of Maastricht hammered out a
compromise for a loose federation of their countries. The Maastricht
treaty was signed on February 7, 1992, and entered into force on
November 1, 1993. It set entry terms for joining a European monetary
union.
   (WSJ, 11/18/96, p.A10)(WSJ, 3/3/97, p.A1)(AP,
12/11/01)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Klaas Bruinsma, gangster
and drug baron, was gunned down near an Amsterdam hotel.
   (SSFC, 10/11/03, p.A2)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, The Treaty on the
European Union was signed in Maastricht by the Foreign and Finance
Ministers of the Member States.
  Â
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, The Maastricht
Treaty to integrate Europe was signed in Maastricht by the Foreign
and Finance Ministers of the Member States. Upon its entry into
force on 1 November 1993 during the Delors Commission, it created
the three pillars structure of the European Union and led to the
creation of the single European currency, the euro.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht_Treaty)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, The opera "Life
With an Idiot" by Alfred Schnittke had its world premier at the
Netherlands Music Theater in Amsterdam.
   (SFC, 8/5/98, p.A17)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, An earthquake
rocked Germany and the Netherlands.
   (http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/sig_1992.html)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, In Bosnia it was
later alleged on Dutch TV that Dutch troops deliberately drove an
armored vehicle into a Muslim blockade on this day and killed as
many as 30 people.
   (SFC, 8/21/98, p.A14)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, In the Netherlands
an Israeli El Al Jumbo Jet transport, enroute from New York to Tel
Aviv, crashed into an Amsterdam apartment complex and killed 43
people. Since then scores of people complained of unidentified
health problems. In 1998 it was revealed that the jet carried 50
gallons of dimethyl methylphosphonate, a non-poisonous ingredient of
sarin nerve gas, destined for Israel. A report on the crash was
released in 1999 and said that the plane's ballast included
carcinogenic depleted uranium.
   {Netherlands, Air Crash, Israel, Medical}
   (AP, 10/4/97)(WSJ, 4/22/99,
A1)(www.pacificnews.org/jinn/stories/5.03/990211-cargo.html)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 15, The Netherlands
ratifies the Treaty on the European Union.
  Â
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, A Dutch DC-10
burst into fire at landing on Faro, Portugal, and 56 died.
  Â
(http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19921221-0)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutch novelist Cees
Nooteboom won the European Literary Prize for best novel for his
work: "The Following Story."
   (SFC, 4/25/97, p.A3)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands
prosecution stopped against physicians giving lethal drugs to
patients to help them commit suicide. In 2000 euthanasia was
legalized.
   (SFC, 11/29/00, p.A17)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â A family in the
Netherlands was found to have an abnormally high number of violent
criminals. The criminal members were found to have a faulty gene
that caused the absence of the enzyme monoamine oxidase A, an enzyme
that regulates a group of neurotransmitters including serotonin and
dopamine. Both of these were important for emotional responses.
   (Econ, 12/23/06, Survey p.6)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â May 21, John Henry Weidner
(81), Dutch-US resistance fighter, died.
   (MC, 5/21/02)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, Willem Frederik
Hermans (b.1921), Dutch author, died. His 1966 novel “Beyond Sleep”
was considered to be one of the founding works of modern Dutch
literature. In 2007 an English translation became available.
   (WSJ, 1/7/07,
p.P8)(http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Frederik_Hermans)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, In Bosnia Mladic
forces seized a Dutch observation post.
   (SFC, 6/4/96, p.A12)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, 3:15AM The UN safe
area at Srebrenica came under attack by Bosnian Serbs, and thousands
of male residents were killed. The acquisition and delivery of arms
was organized by Yugoslav army officer Mirko Krajisnik, brother to
Momcilo Krajisnik, president of the Bosnian Serb assembly. In 1998
Chuck Sudetic published "Blood and Vengeance: One Family’s Story of
the War in Bosnia." The book focused on the Srebrenica killings. 300
Dutch troops were later accused of not preventing the Serbs from
overrunning the town.
   (SFC, 5/30/96, p.A8)(SFC, 6/4/96, p.A12)(SFC,
8/12/98, p.A14)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, Shelling resumed
and the Dutch abandoned 3 posts under direct fire. 30 Dutch troops
were taken by the Serbs to Bratunac.
   (SFC, 6/4/96, p.A12)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, The Dutch again
asked for air support but it was refused.
   (SFC, 6/4/96, p.A12)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, Early reports of
massacres in Bosnia emerged as the first survivors of the long march
from Srebrenica began to arrive in Muslim-held territory. Following
negotiations between the UN and the Bosnian Serbs, the Dutch were at
last permitted to leave Srebrenica, leaving behind weapons, food and
medical supplies.
   (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/675945.stm)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â A river flood forced the
evacuation of 200,000 people and millions of animals.
   (SSFC, 3/25/01, p.C3)
1996 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, The Dutch
government provided 365 mil in short-term funds to keep Fokker going
for a few weeks to allow the search for a foreign partner.
   (WSJ, 1/30/96, p.A-11)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb, The last Dutch draft
notices were sent out.
   (SFC, 6/11/96, p.A15)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, The first
international war crimes proceeding since Nuremberg opened at The
Hague in the Netherlands, with a Serbian police officer, Dusan
Tadic, facing trial on murder-torture charges. Tadic was convicted
of crimes against humanity but acquitted of murder on May 7, 1997.
In Jul, 1997 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
   (AP, 5/7/97)(SFC, 5/8/97, p.C2)(SFC, 7/15/97,
p.A12)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, A 40 year
agreement was signed between Royal Dutch/Shell and Perupetro, Peru’s
state oil company. Royal Dutch will spend $2.7 bil to develop a
natural gas field.
   (SFC, 5/18/96, p.D-6)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, The latest
unemployment rate was 7%.
   (SFC, 6/9/96, Parade, p.9)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, The average cost of
a Big Mac in the Netherlands was $3.21.
   (SFC, 7/7/96, Parade, p.17)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, A DC-3 aircraft
went into the North Sea near Den Helder and killed all 32 people on
board.
   (SFC, 9/26/96, p.A11)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, It was reported
that a Dutch rubber company had produced and shipped to England a
100 water-filled rubber mats (water beds) for cows. The product
seemed to enhance milk production.
   (SFC, 12/3/96, p.A12)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec, Wim Duisenberg of the
Netherlands was approved to run the European Monetary Institute in
Frankfurt, Germany.
   (SFC, 5/1/98, p.D6)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Wijnand van der Sanden,
curator of the Drents Museum in Holland, authored "Through Nature to
Eternity: The Bog Bodies of Northwest Europe."
   (AM, 7/97, p.62)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Fokker went
bankrupt, and the last new Fokker-50 was delivered to Ethiopian
Airlines in May, 1997. Stork, another Dutch company, bought a large
part of Fokker's assets, and continued to be a main provider of
parts and service for Fokker planes.
   (AP, 2/10/04)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, Willem de Kooning
(92), Dutch-born abstract painter, considered to be one of the 20th
century's greatest painters, died in East Hampton, N.Y.
   (SFC, 3/20/97, p.A1,6,E1)(AP, 3/19/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, An arson attack
left a Turkish woman and 5 children dead in the Hague.
   (SFC, 3/29/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 2, The EU formally set
up a common foreign and security policy in the Amsterdam Treaty. It
set to adopt key asylum and immigration measures within five years
of the treaty's entry into force, expected in 1999. A protocol to
the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam reclassified animals as sentient
beings.
   (Econ, 8/26/06,
p.42)(http://hrw.org/worldreport/Helsinki-28.htm)(Econ, 12/2/06,
p.88)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 22, A 64-year-old
woman, dubbed the "furniture terrorist," received an 8-month
sentence for causing an estimated $500,000 damage to furniture over
a six-year period. She wandered through showrooms and slashed sofas
with a razor often in a Zorro-like "Z" style.
   (SFC,10/23/97, p.A17)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch film "Character"
was set in Rotterdam in the 1920s. It won an Oscar for best foreign
film.
   (SFC, 3/24/98, p.A6)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands the
Maeslant barrier, a sea defense structure was inaugurated.
   (Econ, 8/27/19, p.15)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â ING Direct, an online
banking service under Dutch parent ING Groep NV, was launched in
Canada. In 2000 it began operations in the US from Wilmington, Del.
By the end of 2007 it had over 7 million customers and $62 billion
in deposits. In 2008 Arkadi Kuhlman, ING’s US chief, and Bruce
Philp, chairman of ING Direct’s marketing partner, authored “The
Orange Code: How ING direct Succeeded by Being a Rebel with a
Cause.”
   (WSJ, 12/10/08, p.A17)
1997-2001Â Â Â In the Netherlands Lucia de Berk
murdered 7 people in her care by giving them lethal doses of drugs.
In 2004 a court sentenced her to life in jail and compulsory
psychiatric treatment for killing. A high court ordered a review,
ruling that the woman could not be sentenced to both life in jail
and psychiatric care. In 2006 de Berk was sentenced to life in
prison.
   (Reuters, 7/13/06)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, European leaders
meeting in Brussels, Belgium, agreed on Wim Duisenberg of the
Netherlands as the chief of the new European Central Bank (ECB), but
with the proviso that he step down in 2002 to make way for Frenchman
Jean-Claude Trichet.
   (BS, 5/3/98, p.21A)(AP, 5/3/99)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, The 5th quadrennial
Gay Games began in Amsterdam with some 15,000 competitors. The games
closed Aug 8.
   (SFEC, 8/2/98, p.A2)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, In the Netherlands
the body of Nicky Verstappen (11) was found, a day after he
disappeared from a youth camp in southern Limburg province. He had
been sexually abused before he was killed. In 2018 Dutch detectives
said they have matched DNA traces and identified Jos Brech (55) as a
suspect in the brutal murder. A European-wide warrant for Brech's
arrest was issued on June 12, 2018.
   (AFP, 8/22/18)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, The United States
and Britain agreed to allow two Libyan suspects in the bombing of
Pan Am flight 103 to be tried by a Scottish court sitting in the
Netherlands. A former Libyan intelligence agent was later convicted
of murder; the other suspect was acquitted.
   (AP, 8/24/08)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, The Rotterdam
Convention was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rotterdam. It
is a multilateral agreement to promote shared responsibilities in
relation to importation of hazardous chemicals, became legally
binding to its parties. It officially entered into force on Feb 24,
2004. As of 2008, 73 countries were signatories and 126 were
parties.
  Â
(www.ec.gc.ca/international/multilat/rotterdam_e.htm)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, The worst storm in
a century hit the Netherlands and Belgium over the past week.
   (SFC, 9/19/98, p.A5)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, It was reported
that Dutch auditors chastised the prime minister and other officials
for spending $40 million to acquire the Piet Mondrian painting:
"Victory Boogie Woogie."
   (WSJ, 10/13/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, The cabinet
approved a plan to let homosexuals adopt Dutch children by Jan 1,
2000.
   (SFEC, 11/15/98, p.A20)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, Dutch and Flemish
lexicographers unveiled a 40-tome dictionary with 45,000 pages that
documented words back to 1500. It took 147 years to complete and
compilers stopped at 1976.
   (SFC, 12/2/98, p.C2)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â The 245 minute film
"Amsterdam Global Village" was directed by Johan van der Keuken and
showed at the SF Film Fest.
   (SFEC, 4/12/98, DB p.55)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â The Dutch film "The Dress"
starred Hanri Garcin and Ariane Schluter. It was written and
directed by Alex van Warmerdam.
   (SFC, 11/27/98, p.C8)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â The documentary film "Sex,
Drugs and Democracy" was produced.
   (SSFC, 1/7/01, p.T9)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Ernst Langhout, a
singer-songwriter, increased his sales when he began singing in his
native Frisian language.
   (WSJ, 5/13/98, p.A20)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, The Maastricht
Treaty specified that a monetary union will be established by this
date, and laid down several criteria that EU nations must fulfill in
order to join. Some of the criteria included: maximum budget
deficits of 3% of GDP, a cap on government debt of 60% of GDP. The
European economic and monetary union (EMU) was scheduled to start
with a new "Euro" currency. Austria, Belgium, Finland, France,
Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and
Spain made the transition. Public use was set for Jan 1, 2002.
   (WSJ, 9/25/95, p.A-12)(WSJ, 12/5/95, p.A-14)(SFC,
11/16/96, p.A1)(SFC, 1/1/99, p.A8)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 18, Transamerica was
bought by Aegon NV of the Netherlands in a deal valued at $9.7
billion. The assessed value of the Transamerica Pyramid in SF was
set at $190 million.
   (SFC, 2/19/99, p.A1)(SFC, 5/29/04, p.C2)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, The Treaty of
Amsterdam Treaty, signed on October 2, 1997, entered into force. Its
full official title was: the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty
on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European
Communities and certain related acts. In Article 7 it said
governments that violate the union’s fundamental values would be
threatened with sanctions.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Amsterdam)(Econ 7/29/17,
p.42)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, Libya handed over
to UN officials 2 men accused in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight
103. They were then flown to the Hague to be tried under Scottish
law. UN Sec. Gen'l. Kofi Annan immediately suspended economic
sanctions on Libya.
   (SFC, 3/20/99, p.A8)(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A1)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, The 1956 Picasso
painting, "Woman Nude Before Garden," was slashed by a mental
patient in Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum.
   (WSJ, 2/16/99, p.A20)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, The Dutch Cabinet
of Prime Minister Wim Kok resigned following a split over whether to
give citizens the right to vote in referendums.
   (SFC, 5/20/99, p.A13)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, Professors
Gerardus 't Hooft and Martinus J.G. Veltman of the Netherlands won
the Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of mathematical tools
to calculate properties of fundamental particles. From 1981 to his
retirement in 1997, Veltman was an active member of the Univ. of
Michigan physics department.
   (SFC, 10/13/99, p.A2)(MT, Fall/99, p.7)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 26, The Parliament
overturned a 1912 ban on brothels.
   (SFC, 10/27/99, p.A13)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, In Holland a
student (17) in Veghel shot and wounded a teacher and 4 fellow
students in the 1st school shooting in Dutch history. The student
was reported to have been upset over a romance. The student's father
(35) and sister (15) were arrested 2 days later as accessories.
   (SFC, 12/8/99, p.A15)(SFC, 12/10/99, p.D8)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â The Netherlands
documentary film "I Love Money" (the title used symbols for "love"
and "money") was directed by Johan van der Keuken.
   (SFEC, 4/11/99, DB p.36)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands a
leftist coalition toppled the long-ruling Christian Democrats.
   (SFC, 8/17/01, p.A16)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, Holland announced
that it would give the Jewish community $180 million for injustices
suffered after returning from Nazi death camps. Another $114 million
was set for Dutch victims of Japanese WW II prison camps in
Indonesia and $14 million for Dutch Gypsies persecuted by the Nazis.
   (SFC, 3/22/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, In Bosnia NATO
troops arrested Momcilo Krajisnik, former speaker of the Bosnian
Serb assembly, for war crimes and flew him to the Netherlands to
stand trial. In 2006 Momcilo Krajisnik was convicted by the Yugoslav
war crimes tribunal in The Hague for persecuting and forcibly
expelling non-Serbs during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia. He was
released in 2013 after serving two-thirds of a reduced 20-year
sentence.
   (SFC, 4/4/00, p.A10)(SFC, 8/31/13, p.A6)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Two Russian
cosmonauts docked with Mir. The destruction of the space station was
delayed after MirCorp. of Amsterdam agreed in Feb. to pay $10-20
million to lease commercial rights.
   (SFC, 4/7/00, p.D2)(SFEC, 6/11/00, p.T12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, Rem Koolhaas (56),
Dutch architect, won the annual $100,000 Pritzker Architecture
Prize.
   (SFEC, 4/16/00, p.A4)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, Hendrik Casimir
(b.1909), Dutch physicist, died. He was best known for his research
on the two-fluid model of superconductors (together with C. J.
Gorter) in 1934 and the Casimir effect (together with D. Polder) in
1946.
   (Econ, 5/24/08,
p.105)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendrik_Casimir)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, In the Netherlands
a fireworks depot exploded in Enschede and 20 people were killed
with 589 injured. An estimated 100 tons of fireworks exploded and
flattened some 400 houses.
   (SFEC, 5/14/00, p.A12)(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A13)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, It was reported
that Patrick Atoon of Nigmegen had spent 8 years building his web
site dedicated to the meanings of words in rap music:
www.rapdict.org.
   (WSJ, 6/7/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, In England
officials found 58 bodies in the back of a truck at Dover. The truck
had arrived from Zeebrugge under 86-degree heat and 54 male and 4
female Chinese immigrants from Fujian province appeared to have
suffocated. There were 2 survivors. The chief suspect was arrested
in Rotterdam in 2001. In 2001 Dutch driver Perry Wacker (32) was
convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Ying Guo (30) was
convicted of conspiracy and was sentenced to 6 years in prison.
   (SFC, 6/19/00, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/20/00, p.A1)(SFC,
6/21/00, p.A12)(SFC, 1/23/01, p.C14)(SFC, 4/6/01, p.D6)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, A bill was passed
that converted same-sex partnerships into full-fledged marriages.
   (SFC, 9/13/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, Brothels were
legalized. The $1 billion sex industry was estimated as 5% of the
Dutch economy.
   (SSFC, 8/12/01, p.A15)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, In the Netherlands
lawmakers of the lower house voted 104 to 40 to legalize euthanasia
with strict guidelines.
   (SFC, 11/29/00, p.A17)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, In the Netherlands
a fire in a Volendam café killed at least 5 people and injured over
130.
   (SFC, 1/1/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31, In the Netherlands
a Scottish court sentenced Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a Libyan
intelligence officer, to life in a Scottish prison for the 1998
bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. A second Libyan was acquitted.
   (SFC, 1/31/01, p.A11)(SFC, 2/1/01, p.A1)(WSJ,
2/1/01, p.A1)(AP, 12/19/03)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, In the Netherlands
legislation enacted in 2000 to legalize gay marriages went into
effect at midnight. This made Netherlands the first country to
legalize same-sex marriages.
   (SFC, 3/31/01, p.A10)(SSFC, 8/4/13, p.A2)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, Dutch driver Perry
Wacker was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 14 years in
prison in the deaths of 58 Chinese immigrants who suffocated in his
truck in Dover, England.
   (AP, 4/5/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 10, The Dutch Senate
legalized euthanasia gave doctors immunity from prosecution for
assisting in the deaths of terminally ill patients.
   (SFC, 4/11/01, p.C2)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, Scientists at Delft
Univ. of Tech. in the Netherlands reported the creation of
nanotechnology transistors built from a single molecule.
   (SFC, 7/6/01, p.B3)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, Herman Brood (55),
musician, jumped to his death from the roof of an Amsterdam hotel.
He had recorded nearly 20 albums and had acted in Dutch films. In
1978 he made a hit with his single "Saturday Night."
   (SFC, 7/13/01, p.D5)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, Col. Vidoje
Blagojevic, former commander of Bratunac, pleaded innocent at the
Hague war crimes tribunal for 1995 war crimes in Srebrenica. On
January 17, 2005, Col. Vidoje Blagojevic became the second indictee
to be convicted on Srebrenica Genocide charges and other human
rights violations. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. On May 9,
2007, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia ruled that Col Blagojevic had not been
complicit in the genocide at Srebrenica because he had not known his
troops intended to commit it. Blagojevic’s sentence was reduced to
15 years.
   (SFC, 8/17/01,
p.A14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â A charge of 7 guilders was
planned for motorists entering major cities in order to reduce
traffic congestion.
   (SFC, 12/1/97, p.B8)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â KaZaA, an internet
file-sharing program, was founded in Amsterdam by Niklas Zennstrom
of Sweden and Janus Friis of Denmark. In 2004 they launched Skype
software for internet telephony.
   (Econ, 7/3/04, p.54)
2001-2005Â Â Â Ruud Lubbers (b.1939), former Dutch
prime minister (1982-1994), served as the head of the UNHCR.
   (Econ, 9/6/08,
p.67)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruud_Lubbers)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Alfred Henry
Heineken (78), builder of a global beer brand, died in the
Noordwijk. Freddie designed the green bottle and logo. In 1983 he
was abducted for weeks and released unharmed.
   (WSJ, 1/4/02, p.A1)(SFC, 1/5/02, p.A22)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, At the Winter
Olympics in Salt Lake City, Jochem Uytdehaage of the Netherlands won
the gold medal in the men's 5,000-meter speedskating race in world
record time of 6:14.66.
   (AP, 2/9/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar, In the Netherlands
the Liveable Rotterdam Party catapulted Pim Fortuyn, its chief
figurehead, onto the national stage. Fortuyn rode a wave of
dissatisfaction over immigration, Islam and the elitism of the
ruling Labor Party. He was shot to death May 6.
   (Econ, 3/11/06, p.46)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, In the Netherlands
the "Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review
Procedures) Act" entered into force.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia_in_the_Netherlands)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, In the Netherlands
Pim Fortuyn (54), a right-wing populist with an anti-immigrant
platform, was shot to death in Hilversum. Volkert van der Graaf
(32), an environmental activist, was arrested May 7 for the murder.
   (SFC, 5/7/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 5/7/02, p.A1)(SFC,
5/8/02, p.A17)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, Election results
in the Netherlands showed the opposition Christian Democrats with a
sizeable victory with 43 seats. List, the party of recently slain
Pim Fortuyn, took 2nd place with 26 seats and named Mat Herben as
leader. Jan Peter Balkenende, head of the Christian Democrats, was
set to be PM. The ruling Labor Party won 23 of the 150 seats.
   (WSJ, 5/16/02, p.A14)(SFC, 5/16/02, p.A8)(WSJ,
5/17/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â May, Uganda began to fear
that too much Western assistance might damage its economy by pushing
up the value of its shilling. The phenomenon is called Dutch Disease
because decades ago massive oil revenues in the Netherlands
unsettled the exchange rates and left exports less competitive.
   (WSJ, 5/29/02, p.A4)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, The UN sponsored
Int'l. Criminal Court began operations at the Hague, Netherlands,
upon the entry into force of the Rome Statute (1998) following 60
ratifications. It was vehemently opposed by the US. By 2021 123
countries had signed on to the ICC.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Criminal_Court)(AP,
7/1/02)(Econ., 1/2/21, p.45)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, Joseph Luns (90),
foreign minister for 19 years, died. He had also served for 13 years
as NATO sec. gen.
   (SFC, 7/18/02, p.A26)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, In the Netherlands
8 men were detained for providing financial and logistical services
to al Qaeda and for recruiting fighters.
   (SFC, 9/3/02, p.A6)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, Prince Claus (76),
the German-born husband of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, died in
Amsterdam.
   (AP, 10/6/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, The Dutch
government collapsed amid infighting in the List party.
   (WSJ, 10/17/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec, Two thieves broke in
through the roof of the Vincent van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and
stole two paintings by van Gogh valued at $30 million. The men were
convicted a year later. In 2016 the two paintings were recovered by
Italian police investigating suspected Italian mobsters for cocaine
trafficking. On March 21, 2017, they were put back on display.
   (AP, 2/11/08)(AP, 3/21/17)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 13, Dutch Foreign
Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer took over as head of the 55-nation
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for 2003. He
said the Vienna-based OSCE would sharpen its efforts to improve
border security and police cooperation and cut off the flow of cash
to terrorist groups.
   (AP, 1/13/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, In the Netherlands
voters rejected an anti-immigration party and gave 44 seats to the
Christian Democrats and 42 to the Labor party.
   (SFC, 1/23/03, p.A10)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Netherlands,
the world’s 4th largest poultry exporter, discovered a bird flu in
some its poultry for the 1st time in 30 years.
   (WSJ, 3/6/03, p.A11)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, The
18-judge world court was inaugurated at the Hague. It had been
approved Jul 17, 1998, by the Rome Treaty.
   (SFC, 3/12/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 17, In the Netherlands
a law went into effect that allowed pharmacies to fill prescriptions
for marijuana.
   (SFC, 3/18/03, p.A8)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, In the
Netherlands, Volkert van der Graaf, the killer of politician Pim
Fortuyn, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
   (AP, 4/15/08)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, A Dutch
veterinarian (57) died from avian influenza 2 days after working on
a farm where animals were infected with the bird flu. He was
believed to be the 1st victim of the current epidemic.
   (WSJ, 4/21/03, p.A10)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May, Heineken paid $2.2
billion for BBAG, Austria's leading beer maker.
   (Econ, 6/28/03, p.63)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, The Netherlands
said it will send 1,100 peacekeepers to southern Iraq to join the
British-led multinational stabilization force.
   (AP, 6/7/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, The board of Air
France approved a deal to combine with Dutch KLM under a holding
company to form the world's #3 airline.
   (WSJ, 1/2/04, p.R12)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, Marijuana went on
sale Monday at Dutch pharmacies to help bring relief to thousands of
patients suffering from cancer, AIDS or multiple sclerosis.
   (AP, 9/1/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, NATO selected
Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as the alliance's new
secretary general.
   (AP, 9/22/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, Prosecutors in the
Netherlands said Momir Nikolic (48), a Bosnian Serb captain who
admitted participating in the mass killing of more than 7,000 Muslim
boys and men in Srebrenica, should serve up to 20 years in
prison. Nikolic accepted that he was on duty when 80-100
prisoners were decapitated and their corpses loaded onto trucks on
July 12, 1995. In 2006 a UN appeals court reduced his 27-year
sentence to 20 years.
   (AP, 10/28/03)(AP, 3/8/06)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, Three Dutch
Protestant churches formally agreed to put aside their ideological
differences and merge, the culmination of a process that began more
than 40 years ago.
   (AP, 12/12/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 23, The Dutch National
Flu Center said more than 15 of every 10,000 Dutch citizens have flu
symptoms, enough to qualify the current outbreak as an epidemic.
   (AP, 12/23/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â The Groningen Academic
Hospital in Amsterdam, Netherlands, carried out 4 mercy killings of
terminally ill newborn children in this year. In 2004 the hospital
proposed guidelines for such procedures.
   (SFC, 12/1/04, p.A17)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 5, Dutchman Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer took over as NATO's top official.
   (AP, 1/5/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 13, The European
Commission proposed an initiative aimed at creating a single market
for services within the European Union (EU), similar to the single
market for goods act of 1986. It came to be known as Bolkestein
Directive after the Dutch Commissioner Frits Bolkestein (b.1933),
who launched it. Trade unions opposed it. On 16 February 2006, the
European Parliament in plenary session in Strasbourg voted in favor
of a compromise proposal that went a long way towards meeting the
trade union demands.
   (www.etuc.org/a/499)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 13, A Dutch high
school student walked into his school's crowded cafeteria and shot
Hans van Wieren (49), an economics teacher, point-blank in the head,
fatally wounding him.
   (AP, 1/13/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 17, The Dutch
parliament approved a measure to expel 26,000 people seeking
political asylum, despite objections from left-leaning political
parties and human rights groups.
   (AP, 2/17/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, Former Netherlands
Queen Juliana (94), who presided over the dismantling of the
centuries-old Dutch empire and witnessed the birth of a social
revolution during her 32-year reign (1948-1980, died.
   (AP, 3/20/04)(SSFC, 3/21/04, p.B7)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, Arjan Erkel, A
Dutch aid worker who headed the North Caucasus mission of Medecins
Sans Frontieres and was kidnapped in Russia nearly two years ago,
was freed in a police operation in Dagestan.
   (AP, 4/11/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, The Dutch
government backed plans for "seals of quality" for well-run brothels
and standard contracts for prostitutes, as well as more support for
those who want to leave the world's oldest profession.
   (Reuters, 7/2/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, Hans Vonk (63),
Dutch conductor, died in Amsterdam.
   (SFC, 9/1/04, p.B7)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, Some 200,000 people
demonstrated in Amsterdam against government reforms planned by the
Christian-Democrat coalition under PM Jan Peter Balkenende.
   (Econ, 10/9/04, p.47)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 2, Dutch filmmaker
Theo van Gogh (47), the great-grandnephew of the painter Vincent,
was shot and stabbed to death on an Amsterdam street after receiving
death threats over “Submission,” a movie he made criticizing the
treatment of women under Islam. A death threat to a Dutch politician
was found pinned with a knife to Gogh’s body by his Islamic
attacker. Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali collaborated with Van Gogh on
the film. In January prosecutors said Mohammed Bouyeri (26), the
alleged killer of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, ignored his
victim's pleas for mercy and calmly shot him at close range before
slitting his throat. In his trial in July, 2005, Bouyeri said he
killed van Gogh for insulting God. In 2006 Ian Buruma authored
“Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of
Tolerance,” an account of the van Gogh murder.
   (AP, 1/26/05)(SFC, 7/13/05, p.A10)(WSJ, 9/9/06,
p.P8)(Econ, 9/2/06, p.74)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, Dutch police
mounted a major anti-terror raid against suspects holed up in an
apartment in The Hague. 2 men were arrested following a daylong
siege. Jason Walters (b.1985) was arrested along with Ismail Akhnikh
after a massive 14 hour siege in The Hague. In 2010 Walters, while
serving a 15-year sentence said he has renounced Islamic radicalism.
   (AP, 11/10/04)(SFC, 11/11/04,
p.A12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Walters)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Dutch police
raided a suspected Kurdish separatist training camp in a small
village in the southern Netherlands, arresting 29 people. 38 members
of the group were arrested nationwide. Jason Walters threw a hand
grenade and injured several police officers in a standoff at a
barricaded house in The Hague. Walters was one of 7 men later
convicted for belonging to a terrorist group associated with
Mohammed Bouyeri, who killed filmmaker Theo van Gogh on Nov 2. In
2008 Their conviction was overturned, but a 15-year sentence against
Walters was upheld. The court also reduced the sentence for Ismail
Aknikh, who was with Walters during the standoff, from 13 years to
15 months.
   (AFP, 11/12/04)(SFC, 11/13/04, p.A18)(AP,
1/23/08)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, Prince Bernhard
(93), father of Queen Beatrix, died in Utrecht. It was soon reported
that he had acknowledged in a series of secret interviews 2
illegitimate children and the acceptance of bribes in 1976 from
Lockheed to persuade the Dutch government to purchase its planes.
The money was reportedly passed to charities.
   (SFC, 12/15/04, p.A12)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Frits Hoekstra, a former
Dutch security official authored “In the Service of the BVD” (In
Dienst van de BVD), a book on Dutch secret service operations. It
included an account of “Project Mongol,” the use of a mock Maoist
movement to gather intelligence during the cold war, which the CIA
called “Operation Red herring.”
   (WSJ, 12/3/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Geert Mak (b.1946), Dutch
journalist, authored “In Europe: Travels through the Twentieth
Century.” An updated version in English was published in 2007.
   (Econ, 2/24/07, p.96)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, Netherlands was
forecast for 2% annual GDP growth with a population at 16.4 million
and GDP per head at $38,950.
   (Econ, 1/1/05, p.89)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, Ruud Lubbers,
former prime minister of the Netherlands, was forced to resign as UN
High Commissioner for Refugees in a sexual harassment scandal.
Lubbers maintained his innocences.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruud_Lubbers)(SSFC, 2/18/18, p.C12)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 25, In the Netherlands
diamonds and jewelry valued at $72 million (67 million euros) were
taken during the hold up of a KLM armored car in a high-security
portion of Schiphol airport. Part of the loot was quickly recovered
from a getaway car, but diamonds worth $43 million remained missing.
In January, 2017, seven suspects were arrested.
   (AP, 1/21/17)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Dutch bank ABN
Amro announced a 6.3 billion euros ($8.1 billion) bid for the 87
percent of Italian bank Antonveneta it does not already own, the
second foreign offer for an Italian bank in as many days.
   (AP, 3/30/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, Dutch authorities
arrested a Chechen citizen in the Netherlands in connection with the
November 2 slaying of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. A 2nd suspect
was arrested May 18 in Tours, France. Both were believed to have
ties to a group of Islamic fundamentalists which prosecutors dubbed
the Hofstad network.
   (AP, 5/27/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, President Bush paid
homage in the Netherlands to the "terrible price" paid by World War
II soldiers who never came home from their fight against tyranny.
   (AP, 5/8/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, Dutch voters
worried about social benefits and immigration overwhelmingly
rejected the European Union constitution in what could be a knockout
blow for a charter meant to create a power rivaling the United
States. Slow economic growth in the Netherlands was seen as a key
reason for the massive rejection of the EU constitution
   (AP, 6/1/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, The International
Criminal Court at the Hague formally announced the opening of a war
crimes investigation in Sudan's Darfur region after receiving a list
of 51 potential suspects from UN.
   (AP, 6/6/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, In the Netherlands
thousands of civil servants went on strike to protest declining
social benefits and low wages.
   (WSJ, 6/10/05, p.A6)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, In the Netherlands
Nouriddin el Fahtni, an Islamic radical, was arrested with a loaded
machine. His group was linked with the so-called "Hofstad." In 2011
a court found that Fahtni's 8-year sentence was longer than allowed
by law and reduced it to 7 years and four months. His ex-wife,
Soumaya Sahla, tried to get her sister, who worked at a pharmacy, to
give her the home addresses of Dutch politicians. Allegedly she
intended to supply the addresses to other group members who planned
attacks.
   (AP, 11/15/11)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, The Dutch market
research firm, VNU, announced its acquisition of IMS Health, the
leading supplier of research to pharmaceutical firms, for $7
billion.
   (Econ, 7/16/05, p.60)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, Mohammed Bouyeri,
a Muslim extremist on trial in the slaying of Dutch filmmaker Theo
van Gogh, unexpectedly confessed in court, saying he was driven by
religious conviction. Bouyeri was convicted and sentenced to life in
prison.
   (AP, 7/12/06)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, A Dutch court
sentenced Mohammed Bouyeri (27), the killer of filmmaker Theo Van
Gogh, to life in prison. He was linked to the “Hofstad Group,” some
of whom were accused of wild plans to blow up Schiphol airport, the
Dutch parliament and a nuclear reactor.
   (AP, 7/26/05)(Econ, 7/16/05, p.13)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, The US charged
Iraqi-born Wasem al Delaema (32), a Dutch citizen, with conspiring
to kill Americans in Iraq and asked the Dutch government to
extradite him for prosecution. Authorities alleged al Delaema was
one of several men calling themselves the Fighters of Fallujah who
plotted attacks near that Iraqi city in October 2003. In 2010 a
Dutch court reduced his sentenced to 8 years and released him.
   (AP, 7/30/05)(AP, 10/13/10)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, Wim Duisenberg
(b.1935), Dutch-born first chief of the European Central Bank who
helped create the euro currency, was found dead at a home in
southeastern France.
   (AP, 7/31/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, Dutch authorities
seized 5 tons of cocaine, valued at $275 million, hidden in reels of
steel cable in the Port of Rotterdam in what was described as one of
the country's biggest drug busts. 13 suspects (aged 15-50) from the
Netherlands, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Greece and the US, were
arrested later.
   (AP, 9/5/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, Armed men broke
into an upscale Amsterdam home and kidnapped Claudia Melchers (37),
the daughter of a millionaire whose fortune came from selling
chemicals, including to Iraq in the 1980s. Her children were left
unharmed. The kidnappers demanded 660 pounds of cocaine. Melchers
was released 2 days later. It was not clear whether any ransom was
paid.
   (AP, 9/13/05)(AP, 9/15/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, The Dutch
government said it plans to open an electronic file, effective Jan
1, 2007, on every child at birth as a tool to spot and protect the
troubled kids of the future.
   (AP, 9/13/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, Dutch bank ABN
Amro said it had signed a contract with Banca Popolare Italiana and
its allies to buy their 39.37 percent stake in Banca Antonveneta for
a total outlay of 3.2 billion euros (3.85 billion dollars).
   (AP, 9/26/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, Andre Rieu
introduced violinist, Akim Camara (b.10/27/2001), during his 'Flying
Dutchman Concert' at Parkstad Stadium in the Netherlands. Akim
played Concerto G Major op.11 with the Johan Strauss Orchestra.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akim_Camara)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, In Australia a
team from Holland, known more for its windmills than its sunshine,
won a four-day, 1,860 mile, international solar-powered car race
across deserts, notching up their third straight victory. The
"Challenge," to design and build a car capable of crossing Australia
on the power of daylight, was launched in 1987 and teams and
individuals from corporations and universities throughout the world
take part.
   (AP, 9/29/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, Philips Corp.
unveiled new LED technology for consumer lighting in Paris.
   (Econ, 10/1/05, p.58)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, A UN official said
the International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued arrest
warrants for Joseph Kony and 5 henchmen of the Lord's Resistance
Army (LRA), a Ugandan cult notorious for raping, maiming and killing
children.
   (Reuters, 10/6/05)(Econ, 10/22/05, p.48)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, A Dutch court
blocked the extradition of a Dutch terror suspect to the United
States, saying his legal rights in U.S. custody could not be
guaranteed.
   (AP, 10/12/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, Dutch police
detained seven suspects in an anti-terrorism operation in three
cities, including the capital, aimed at thwarting a suspected plot
to attack politicians and a government building.
   (AP, 10/14/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 17, Dutch police
arrested 45 members of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang and seized
an assortment of weapons during nationwide raids on the group's
clubhouses. Prosecutors said those arrested face charges of murder,
extortion, intimidation and weapons and drug trafficking.
   (AP, 10/17/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, In the Netherlands
a fire roared through a prison complex at Amsterdam's Schiphol
Airport, killing 11 illegal immigrants awaiting deportation and
injuring 15 other people.
   (AP, 10/27/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, A trade union said
a strike at the Dutch operations of Royal Dutch Shell PLC over
pensions will be broadened to include the company's natural-gas
production in the north of the Netherlands.
   (AP, 11/1/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 14, It was reported
that India's top oil exploration firm Oil & Natural Gas Corp.
and the world's largest steel maker, the Netherlands-based Mittal
Group, plan to build an oil refinery in Nigeria. They offered to
invest another $6 billion in building a power plant and railroads
there.
   (AP, 11/14/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, A Dutch television
show claimed to have knocked down a chain of 4,155,476 dominoes in a
new world record, but organizers conceded the event was overshadowed
by the earlier shooting of an errant sparrow. The bird caused some
23,000 dominoes to fall on Nov 14. The record was later adjusted to
4,002,146 after a legal expert ruled that a person had illegally
caused 153,340 dominoes to fall.
   (AP, 11/18/05)(SFC, 11/23/05,
p.A2)(www.dodemus.nl/)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, In the Netherlands
a broad coalition of political parties unveiled a pilot program to
regulate marijuana farming on the model of tobacco, which opponents
say would be tantamount to legalizing growing the drug.
   (AP, 12/02/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 5, Frits Philips
(100), Dutch businessman, grandson of the founder of Philips, died.
He turned a family business into Philips Electronics in 40 years of
leadership.
   (WSJ, 12/7/05, p.A1)(http://tinyurl.com/dfnu4)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, The Hague war
crimes tribunal sentenced Miroslav Bralo (aka Cicko), a former
Bosnian Croat soldier, to 20 years in jail on eight counts of war
crimes and human rights abuses committed during the 1993
Muslim-Croat war in central Bosnia.
   (Reuters, 12/07/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 16, A Dutch court
sentenced Henk Slebos, a Dutch businessman who oversaw the sale of
dual-use nuclear technology to Pakistan (1999-2002), to a year
prison.
   (AP, 12/16/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, US federal
authorities fined Dutch bank ABN Amro Holding NV $80 million for
violating US money-laundering laws and sanctions against Iran and
Libya. Nearly a decade of violations involved billions in
transactions passing through bank offices in NY and Dubai, UAR.
   (WSJ, 12/20/05, p.A3)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 22, The Dutch
government said it planned to send up to 1,400 additional troops to
Afghanistan for expanded NATO peacekeeping.
   (AP, 12/22/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 23, In the Netherlands
a court jailed Frans van Anraat (63), a Dutch businessman, for 15
years after finding him guilty of complicity in war crimes for
selling chemicals to Iraq used to carry out gas attacks, but
acquitted him of genocide charges.
   (Reuters, 12/23/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands the
fiercely anti-immigrant Freedom Party (PVV) was founded.
   (Econ, 8/11/12, p.45)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, Lifeline Systems
Inc. announced that it has signed a definitive merger agreement with
Royal Philips Electronics under which Philips will acquire Lifeline,
a leader in personal emergency response services. Royal Philips
Electronics NV paid $750 million for Massachusetts based Lifeline.
   (WSJ, 1/11/07, p.A1)(http://tinyurl.com/334w4c)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, In the Hague Col.
Vidoje Blagojevic (56), Bosnian Serb wartime commander of the
Bratunac brigade, was convicted of war crimes and complicity in
genocide by the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal. In 2007 an appeals
panel overturned the charge of complicity in genocide.
   (AP, 5/9/07)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Amsterdam an
experimental ban on smoking marijuana went into effect intended to
reduce loitering and petty crime. “No toking” signs appeared as part
of the ban on the street in "De Baarsjes," one of the city's poorer
neighborhoods. Amsterdam soon began selling the "no toking" signs to
prevent the official ones from being stolen as collector's items.
   (AP, 2/4/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 3, Foreign Minister
Ben Bot said Netherlands will send 1,200 additional troops to
Afghanistan, the day after parliament gave the green light to the
deployment.
   (AP, 2/3/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, Some 58 containers
were swept from the P&O Nedlloyd ship Mondriaan, which got
caught in a storm about 9 miles off the coast of the island of
Terschelling, in the North Sea. The next day thousands of tennis
shoes, aluminum briefcases and children's toys washed onto the beach
of a Dutch island, drawing crowds of treasure-hunting residents.
   (AP, 2/10/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, Bilal Lamrani
(21), a Dutch Muslim, was sentenced to three years in prison for
plotting murder and attempting to recruit prison inmates to carry
out terrorist attacks.
   (AP, 2/14/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 24, Japan suspended
all French poultry imports and threatened a similar ban on the
Netherlands following reported cases of H5N1 bird flu.
   (Reuters, 2/25/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, In the Netherlands
the International Court of Justice heard arguments by Bosnia
accusing Serbia of genocide, the first time a state has faced trial
for humanity's worst crime.
   (AP, 2/27/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, Milan Babic (50),
the Serb leader of a rebel republic in Croatia and one of the key
figures in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, committed suicide in prison
in the Netherlands.
   (AP, 3/6/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 10, A Netherlands
court convicted 9 Muslims of belonging to a terrorist group because
they incited hatred for non-Muslims. Among the defendants was
Mohammed Bouyeri, the convicted killer of filmmaker Theo van Gogh.
   (AP, 3/10/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, In the Netherlands
former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic (b.1941), the so-called
"butcher of the Balkans" being tried for war crimes after
orchestrating a decade of bloodshed during his country's breakup,
was found dead in his prison cell. Milosevic spent nearly five years
at a UN detention facility in Scheveningen, a suburb of The Hague.
An autopsy showed that he died of a heart attack. A Dutch
toxicologist said he took unprescribed pills that neutralized heart
medication.
   (SFC, 3/13/06, p.A3)(WSJ, 3/14/06, p.A1)(Econ,
3/18/06, p.83)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, In the Netherlands
2 Bosnian Muslim army commanders were convicted of war crimes for
failing to rein in foreign Muslim volunteers who murdered and
tortured Bosnian Croats and Serbs in a 1990s "holy war."
   (AP, 3/16/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 17, Thomas Lubanga
Dyilo, a Congolese militia leader accused of conscripting and
enlisting children aged under 15 for warfare (1998-2002), became the
first suspect sent for trial at the International Criminal Court
(ICC) in the Netherlands.
   (Reuters, 3/17/06)(WSJ, 3/18/06, p.A1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, Royal Dutch Shell
said it paid $465 million Canadian dollars for the rights to explore
219,000 acres in Alberta’s oil sands.
   (WSJ, 3/22/06, p.A14)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, In the Netherlands
an appeals chamber of the UN war crimes court dropped the life
sentence of Bosnian Serb Milomir Stakic and instead sentenced him to
40 years for overseeing detention camps in Bosnia.
   (AFP, 3/22/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, The Dutch Equal
Treatment Commission ruled that a Muslim woman who refuses to shake
men's hands for religious reasons cannot be barred from a Dutch
teacher-training program.
   (AP, 3/28/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, US Immigration
agents arrested 7 executives and 1,187 illegal immigrants employed
by IFCO Systems, a Netherlands-based manufacturer of crates and
pallets, as part of a crackdown on employers of illegal workers.
   (AP, 4/19/06)(SFC, 4/21/06, p.A3)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, A Dutch agency
said the number of reported cases of legal euthanasia and
doctor-assisted suicide in the Netherlands increased in 2005 for the
third year in a row. Doctors reported 1,933 cases in 2005, up from
1,886 in 2004 and 1,815 in 2003.
   (AP, 4/27/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, In the Hague the UN
war crimes court sentenced Ivica Rajic, a Bosnian Croat former
militia leader, to 12 years in prison. Rajic admitted that forces
under his command operating in the Muslim village of Stupni Do in
central Bosnia in October 1993 "forced Bosnian Muslim civilians out
of their homes and hiding places, robbed them of their valuables,
willfully killed Muslim men, women and children and sexually
assaulted Muslim women".
   (AFP, 5/8/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a
Somali-born member of Parliament, said she will resign and leave
Holland after the government said she was improperly granted
citizenship. She became an internationally known opponent of some
violent types of Islam.
   (AP, 5/16/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â May 17, Under withering
criticism, the Dutch immigration minister Rita Verdonk agreed to
rethink her threat to revoke the citizenship of a Somali-born former
lawmaker known for her opposition to fundamentalist Islam.
   (AP, 5/17/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, A court found the
former chief executive and chief financial officer of Dutch retailer
Royal Ahold NV guilty of fraud, but ruled the pair will not have to
serve prison time.
   (AP, 5/22/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â May 23, The Dutch
parliament approved new anti-terrorism measures that make it easier
to arrest suspects without strong evidence and hold them longer
without charge.
   (AP, 5/23/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, Dutch pedophiles
registered a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for
sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child
pornography and sex with animals, sparking widespread outrage.
   (Reuters, 5/31/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, The Spanish
interior ministry said that 67 suspects had been arrested for
accessing child porn on the Internet over the past five days. The
international police operation arrested 38 in France, 10 in Spain, 9
in Slovakia, 7 in Belgium and 3 in the Netherlands.
   (AP, 6/6/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, A Dutch court
convicted Guus Kouwenhoven (64) of violating a UN arms embargo
imposed on the regime of former Liberian President Charles Taylor
and sentenced him to eight years in prison. The court found that he
had traded guns for timber rights and used his lumber company to
smuggle weapons that were later used by militias to commit
atrocities against civilians in West Africa.
   (AP, 6/7/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, A Russian state
vodka company won Stolichnaya brand rights back from a Dutch firm.
   (WSJ, 6/17/06, p.A1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, Netherlands’
Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk reversed a politically divisive
decision of six weeks earlier, when she announced Hirsi Ali's 1997
naturalization was invalid because she lied on her asylum
application.
   (AP, 6/28/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, The Dutch PM Jan
Peter Balkenende and his Cabinet resigned after a split in its ranks
over the citizenship case of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a prominent
Somali-born critic of Islam.
   (AP, 6/30/07)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, The Netherlands’
military chief said Dutch commandos had killed 18 enemy fighters who
set up positions in rugged hills overlooking a Dutch camp in
southern Afghanistan.
   (AP, 7/21/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, Dutch retail giant
Ahold has announced that its 1.1 billion-dollar (941,000-euro)
settlement with US and Dutch investors over the company's accounting
scandal that broke in 2003 and sent share prices plummeting, is now
final.
   (AFP, 7/29/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, Dutch Cardinal
Johannes Willebrands (96), a key figure in the Roman Catholic
Church's efforts to improve relations with other Christians and
Jews, died.
   (AP, 8/2/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Dutch police
arrested a Rwandan immigrant, identified as Joseph M. (38), and
charged him with war crimes and torture for his alleged role in the
1994 genocide that tore apart his home country.
   (AP, 8/10/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, An outbreak of
strain of bluetongue, a disease transmitted to sheep by insects but
which is not contagious nor known to affect humans, was detected in
the southern Netherlands. Belgium and Germany soon reported cases.
   (AFP, 8/28/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, In Ivory Coast
waste, which contained hydrogen sulphide, was unloaded from a
Panamanian-registered ship, the Probo Koala, at Abidjan port and
then dumped in at least eight open air sites, including the city's
main rubbish dump. By mid-September 6 people had died and 16,000 had
sought treatment. Dutch-based Trafigura Beheer BV, one of the
world's leading commodities traders, said it had chartered the ship
and said the material was a "mixture of gasoline, water and caustic
washings" following the unloading of a cargo of gasoline in Nigeria.
The sludge was later blamed for killing 15 people and sickening
100,000 more. In 2009 Greenpeace said it had obtained internal
e-mails and other documents that show Trafigura Beheer BV executives
were aware the sludge was hazardous.
   (Reuters, 9/7/06)(Econ, 9/16/06, p.58)(AP,
9/17/09)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, In the Netherlands
prosecutors at the International Criminal Court filed their first
indictment, charging Thomas Lubanga, a former Congolese warlord, for
allegedly abducting and recruiting children as young as 10 to fight
in Congo's brutal civil war.
   (AP, 8/29/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, At the Hague,
Netherlands, a UN tribunal sentenced Momcilio Krajisnik (61), the
former speaker of the Bosnian Serb parliament, to 27 years in prison
for war crimes, but acquitted him of the harsher charge of genocide.
   (AP, 9/27/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, Corus, an
Anglo-Dutch steel-maker, accepted an $8.1 billion buyout bid from
Tata Steel, a smaller Indian firm.
   (Econ, 10/28/06, p.74)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, Swathes of Austria,
Belgium, Croatia, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the
Netherlands and went dark for up to an hour in the late evening as
cold Germans rushing to switch on heaters sucked up electricity from
Europe's interconnected networks.
   (AP, 11/5/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 6, In the Netherlands
6 people were arrested on suspicion of recruiting volunteers for
jihad, or Islamic holy war, prosecutors said after a year-long
investigation.
   (AFP, 11/7/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, Dutch voters
picked a new parliament in an election that could determine whether
the country's tight immigration rules get even tougher or follow
what the opposition calls a more humane path. Dutch PM Jan Peter
Balkenende’s center-right Christian Democrats won the most seats in
elections, but nearly complete returns showed a sharply splintered
parliament with no alliance winning a clear mandate to govern.
   (AP, 11/22/06)(AP, 11/23/06)(Econ, 11/25/06,
p.50)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, Amsterdam city
officials said they are shutting down nearly a third of the 350
prostitution "windows" in the famed Red Light District as part of a
crackdown on crime.
   (AP, 11/30/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, In the Netherlands
a court convicted four Dutch Muslims of plotting terrorist attacks
against political leaders and government buildings and sentenced
them to up to eight years in prison. A man in a hooded coat killed
an 8-year-old boy in the corridor of a Dutch grade school. Police
said they arrested a 22-year-old suspect.
   (AP, 12/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, Against a backdrop
of protests, the defense minister gave citations to Dutch troops who
served in the UN peacekeeping force that failed to prevent the
slaughter of Muslims in the Srebrenica enclave during the Bosnian
war.
   (AP, 12/4/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, The Netherlands
ended transmission of "free to air" analog television, becoming the
first nation to switch completely to digital signals.
   (AP, 12/11/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Daniel Estulin,
Lithuanian-born writer, authored "The Secrets of the Bilderberg
Club," in which he argues that the international Bilderberg group
largely runs the world. It has held a secretive annual forum of
prominent politicians, thinkers and businessmen since it was founded
in 1954 at the Bilderberg Hotel in Holland. Estulin published a
second book, Los secretos del club Bilderberg, released in September
2006. The English version, The Secrets of the Bilderberg Club, was
released in the US on September 22, 2007.
   (AP,
8/19/10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Estulin)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Some 2,000 Netherlands’
forces took control of Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province.
   (Econ, 3/14/09, p.48)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Rembrandt’s “Portrait of a
Lady” (1632) was sold in London to Dutch art dealer Robert Noortman
(1946-2007) for $28.6 million.
   (WSJ, 1/27/06, p.A6)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â The $100-million Betuwe
Line, a high-speed freight line from Rotterdam to Germany, was
expected to be completed at a cost of some $5.87 billion.
   (WSJ, 11/3/04, p.A12)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, The Netherlands'
government extradited Iraqi-born Wesam al Delaema (32), a
naturalized Dutch citizen, to the US. He was charged with
involvement in terror attacks on US troops in Iraq. In 2009 Delaema
was sentenced in Washington DC to 25 years in prison. His actual
term was up to the Netherlands. In 2010 a court in Rotterdam slashed
the sentence to eight years and released him for time served.
   (AP, 1/28/07)(SFC, 4/17/09, p.A6)(AP, 10/13/10)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, Dutch media
reported that the parties of the incoming centre-left Dutch
government agreed to grant amnesty for some 30,000 failed asylum
seekers who came to the Netherlands before April 2001.
   (AP, 2/6/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 13, Officials in the
Ivory Coast said that Trafigura, a Dutch-based oil trading company,
agreed to pay $197 million to secure the release of three executives
from an Ivory Coast prison and settle claims that it dumped toxic
waste that killed at least 10 people in the West African nation.
   (AP, 2/14/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, The International
Criminal Court's prosecutor in Netherlands named Ahmed Muhammed
Harun, a former Sudanese junior minister, and Ali Mohammed Ali
Abd-al-Rahmann (aka Ali Kushayb), a janjaweed leader, as suspects in
war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region. Sudan
rejected the legitimacy of the ICC, insisting it would try Darfur
war criminals.
   (Reuters, 2/27/07)(AFP, 2/27/07)(Econ, 7/19/08,
p.55)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, Kosovo's former PM
Ramush Haradinaj went on trial in the Netherlands at the UN tribunal
on war crimes charges related to his time as a guerrilla leader in
the war against Serb forces between 1998-99. Haradinaj, a former
regional commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), resigned as
prime minister in 2005 after being indicted for murder, rape and
torture allegedly committed by forces under his command.
   (Reuters, 3/5/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, Dutch judges ruled
that a chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang is not a criminal
organization, rejecting prosecutors' attempts to have the group
outlawed.
   (AP, 3/6/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, The Netherlands
said it has ratified an accord to open to a long-secret archive of
Nazi death camp records in Germany, another step toward giving
scholars access to a vast collection of historically invaluable
Holocaust documents.
   (AP, 3/8/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, New Jersey based
Schering-Plough Corp. said it will buy the pharmaceuticals division
of Akzo Nobel NV for 11 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in cash,
acquiring the Organon brand of birth control and strengthening its
drug pipeline with an anti-schizophrenia medication.
   (AP, 3/12/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, In Afghanistan
Dutch ministers urged the Afghan government to step up its presence
and development in the troubled south, where Taliban insurgents are
most entrenched, saying NATO cannot do it alone.
   (AFP, 3/21/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, In Tanzania the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) ordered that
Michel Bagaragaza, the former head of Rwanda's national tea industry
who is accused of involvement in the mass slaughter, be tried by a
court in the Netherlands.
   (AFP, 4/13/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, Scientists in the
Netherlands said they have discovered a fungus in elephant dung that
will help them break down fibers and wood into biofuel.
   (Reuters, 4/18/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, In southern
Afghanistan separate explosions killed two NATO soldiers. A Dutch
soldier was killed in one explosion, the first fatality from hostile
action among Dutch troops serving with NATO forces in the country.
   (AP, 4/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, British bank
Barclays Plc has agreed to buy Dutch rival ABN AMRO for about 67
billion euros ($91 billion) in shares as it attempts to fight off
rivals to clinch the world's biggest bank takeover.
   (Reuters, 4/23/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, Royal Bank of
Scotland, Fortis, a Belgian-Dutch lender and Santander of Spain
launched a blockbuster 72-billion-euro takeover battle for Dutch
group ABN Amro, outgunning by far an agreed offer by Barclays.
   (AFP, 4/25/07)(Econ, 4/28/07, p.85)(Econ,
7/19/08, p.84)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Thirty people were
arrested in raids across Belgium, England, and the Netherlands
targeting suspected animal rights extremists.
   (AP, 5/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, The International
Criminal Court in the Hague said it has issued arrest warrants
for the Sudanese government's humanitarian affairs minister and a
janjaweed militia leader suspected of committing war crimes in
Darfur.
   (AP, 5/2/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, In the Netherlands
a 400-pound gorilla escaped from his enclosure and ran amok in a
Rotterdam zoo, biting one woman, dragging her around, and causing
panic among dozens of visitors before he was finally subdued.
   (AP, 5/18/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, The newly
installed Dutch government said some 25,000 asylum-seekers whose
applications for refuge were rejected will be allowed to stay,
reversing the previous administration's hardline immigration policy.
The amnesty will apply to asylum-seekers who arrived before April 1,
2001 and were found not to qualify but who remained in the country
anyway.
   (AP, 5/26/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, It was reported
that coffee shops licensed to sell marijuana in the southern
Dutch city of Maastricht will begin fingerprinting customers and
scanning their IDs this summer to help prove they're following rules
governing such sales.
   (AP, 5/30/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, The Dutch news
agency ANP reported that almost half of Rotterdam's coffee shops
will be forced to stop selling cannabis because they are too close
to secondary schools.
   (AP, 5/31/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, Some 2,000 men and
women participated in a series of four nude group photos in
Amsterdam in the early hours of the morning as part of the latest
project of US photographer Spencer Tunick.
   (AP, 6/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, Pope Benedict XVI
named four new saints from France, Malta, the Netherlands and Poland
at a ceremony in St. Peter's Square. Among those honored was Sister
Marie Eugenie de Jesus Milleret, a French nun who in 1839 founded
the Religious of the Assumption to educate young girls; the Rev.
George Preca of Malta, who founded the Society of Christian Doctrine
in 1932 as a group of lay people who teach the faith to others; the
Rev. Szymon z Lipnicy of Poland, a Franciscan monk who comforted
Poles afflicted by the plague that broke out in Krakow from 1482-83
and died of it himself; and the Rev. Charles of St. Andrew (Dublin),
who was born Karel Van Sint Andries Houben in the Netherlands in
1821.
   (AP, 6/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, Thousands of
survivors of Europe's worst massacre since World War II filed a
lawsuit against the UN and the Dutch government for their failure to
protect civilians in the Srebrenica safe haven when Bosnian Serb
forces overran it in 1995 and slaughtered some 8,000 men.
   (AP, 6/4/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, It was reported
that Dutch students have developed powdered alcohol which they say
can be sold legally to minors. The latest innovation in inebriation,
called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gramme packets that cost 1-1.5
euros ($1.35-$2). Alcohol powder, classified as a flavoring, was
sold in the United States three years ago.
   (Reuters, 6/6/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, In the Netherlands
an international conference on endangered species banned almost all
trade in sawfish, large shark-like rays, whose long snouts bristling
with teeth are in high demand among collectors.
   (AP, 6/11/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 12, In the Netherlands
the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal convicted Milan Martic (52), a
wartime leader of Croatia's rebel Serbs, of murder, torture and
persecution and sentenced him to 35 years in prison for the
1991-1995 brutal ethnic cleansing campaign of non-Serbs in Croatia.
   (AP, 6/12/07)(WSJ, 6/13/07, p.A1)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 14, In the Netherlands
four African states (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe),
after an 18-year ban, were allowed to put their ivory stocks on the
market in a one-time sale as part of a hard-fought compromise
reached with other Africans who tried to block the sale. The
171-member Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species,
or CITES, approved the deal by consensus.
   (AP, 6/14/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, A Dutch
government-funded agency said China has overtaken the United States
as the top emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas,
because of surging energy use amid an economic boom. However
consumption and emission levels per head remained a mere fraction of
America’s.
   (AP, 6/20/07)(Econ, 6/13/09, p.45)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, In the Netherlands
former Liberian president Charles Taylor boycotted the resumption of
his war crimes trial.
   (AP, 6/25/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, Authorities
announced a major crackdown on organized crime in Amsterdam's Red
Light District, for the first time bringing national police
investigators and tax authorities to bear on what had long been seen
as a local problem.
   (AP, 7/13/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, In the Netherlands
Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch maker of consumer goods and food products,
announced that it would cut 20,000 jobs worldwide, 11 percent of its
total workforce, over the next four years.
   (AP, 8/2/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, A Dutch cruise
ship rescued 14 African migrants after their boat capsized in rough
Mediterranean waters as they tried to reach Europe, while
authorities searched for 11 other passengers who were feared
drowned.
   (AP, 8/11/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, AkzoNobel, a Dutch
chemicals group under Hans Wijers, made a cash offer for the British
firm ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries) under John McAdam for $16
billion. The deal turned Akzo into the world’s biggest maker of
paints.
   (Econ, 10/04/08,
p.72)(www.ici.com/main/cms/cmRender.asp?i=2162)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, The UN announced
that the Netherlands has agreed to host the tribunal that will
prosecute suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik
Hariri.
   (AP, 8/17/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, An official said
the Dutch government will spend $38 million over the next four years
to prevent both the growth of Islamic fundamentalism and right-wing
nationalism.
   (AP, 8/27/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Jose Maria Sison
(68), a Philippine communist leader, accused of commanding a rebel
uprising from exile for more than 20 years was arrested by Dutch
police in Utrecht on suspicion of ordering the murder of two former
allies in his home country. He was accused of ordering the killings
in 2003 and 2004 of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara, who were
gunned down in the Philippines.
   (AP, 8/29/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, Dutch schools were
forced to offer afternoon child-care following a government effort
to get house-bound Dutch mothers to work.
   (Econ, 9/8/07, p.55)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, In the Netherlands
Carlos Hartmann (41), of Tecumseh, Mich., killed Thijs Geers (22), a
Dutch student, on a train platform in the southern city of
Roosendaal. Hartmann hoped to punish the Netherlands for its
government's support of the war in Iraq and confessed to axing the
student to death after failing to find a soldier to kill.
   (AP, 9/11/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, Erik Hazelhoff
Roelfzema (b.1917), the Dutch World War II resistance hero better
known as the "Soldier of Orange," died at his home in Hawaii. His
fame in the Netherlands leaped after he published his book, "Soldaat
van Oranje" (Soldier of Orange) in 1971. He became known outside the
country after the book was made into a film of the same name by
director Paul Verhoeven in 1977, starring Rutger Hauer in the title
role.
   (AP, 9/29/07)(SFC, 10/9/07, p.B4)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, A Dutch court
rejected a prosecution appeal against the release of Philippine
communist leader Jose Maria Sison, accused of being involved in
murders in the Philippines.
   (AFP, 10/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, Dutch authorities
said their customs officers had found 100 dead beetles stuffed with
cocaine whilst examining a parcel from Peru.
   (Reuters, 10/4/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, The Netherlands
said it will ban the sale of hallucinogenic mushrooms, rolling back
one element of the country's permissive drug policy after a teenager
on a school visit jumped to her death after taking the narcotic.
   (AP, 10/12/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, Dutch police
arrested 11 Greenpeace activists who boarded a cargo ship to stop it
unloading newsprint paper they suspected was made from ancient trees
felled in Canadian forests.
   (AP, 10/13/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, A consortium of
Belgian, Scotch and Spanish banks announced that shareholders of ABN
AMRO, a Dutch bank, had accepted a $101 billion offer in the world’s
biggest banking transaction ever.
   (Econ, 10/13/07, p.17)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 30, Nordin Benallal
(27), a Belgian gangster dubbed "The Eel" for his skill at slipping
away from Belgian prison authorities, was caught in the Netherlands
two days after his latest jailbreak.
   (AP, 10/31/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, High school
students clashed with riot police in Amsterdam and demonstrated in
cities across the Netherlands to protest a national increase in
classroom hours.
   (AP, 11/26/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, Amsterdam based
Royal Philips Electronics announced the purchase of Genlyte Group,
based in Louisville, Kentucky, for $2.7 billion. The deal made
Philips the biggest lighting firm in the American market.
  Â
(www.newscenter.philips.com/about/news/press/20071126.page)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov, Geert Wilders, Dutch
member of Parliament, revealed plans to air on television an expose
of the wickedness of the Koran.
   (Econ, 2/9/08, p.57)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, The UN Yugoslav
war crimes tribunal at The Hague sentenced former Bosnian Serb
general Dragomir Milosevic (b.1942) to 33 years imprisonment for the
shelling of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war, one of the court's
toughest sentences. In 2009 UN judges trimmed the sentence from 33
to 29 years but upheld his convictions for leading troops who
terrorized Sarajevo with a deadly rain of shells and sniper bullets.
   (AP, 12/12/07)(AP, 11/12/09)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Ayaan Hirsi Ali (b.1969),
Somalia born writer and resident at the American Enterprise
Institute in Washington DC, authored her autobiography “Infidel.” In
the Netherlands it was published under the title “My Freedom.”
   (WSJ, 2/3/07, p.P12)(Econ, 2/10/07, p.87)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â The Netherlands launched
its €2.3 billion “Room for the River” project in an effort to make
the country more resilient to flooding.
   (Econ, 1/14/12, p.62)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 12, In southern
Afghanistan Dutch troops killed two of their own men during a
nighttime battle in Uruzgan province, and separately two allied
Afghan soldiers they mistook for enemies. About 1,650 Dutch troops
were deployed in Uruzgan as part of the NATO mission there. 14 Dutch
troops have died since their mission began last year.
   (AP, 1/13/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi, a guru to the Beatles who introduced the West to
transcendental meditation, died at his home in the Dutch town of
Vlodrop.
   (AP, 2/6/08)(Econ, 2/16/08, p.95)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, Three generals
regarded as national heroes in Croatia went on trial at the Hague,
accused of orchestrating the killing of at least 150 Serbs in a 1995
military campaign that unleashed widespread murder and pillage.
   (AP, 3/11/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, The Dutch
parliament voted unanimously to outlaw bestiality and pornography
involving animals.
   (AP, 3/14/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, Alitalia, Italy’s
state-owned national airline, accepted a takeover offer worth $217
made by air France-KLM, a French-Dutch airline group. The Italian
government accepted the offer on March 17.
   (Econ, 3/22/08, p.73)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, In the Netherlands
a new attraction officially opened in Oegstgeest called Corpus. The
$31 million project organized led by businessman Henri Remmers
featured a 115-foot seated human shape on the outside and
large-scale exhibits of the human anatomy inside.
   (SSFC, 4/6/08, p.E7)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, Network Solutions,
an American network provider, said it had suspended a website that
Dutch MP Geert Wilders had reserved to post his anti-Islamic film,
which has sparked wide condemnation and fears of a backlash.
   (AP, 3/23/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, Geert Wilders, a
Dutch lawmaker, released his 15-minute film “Fitna,” which linked
verses of the Koran to violent images from terrorist attacks.
   (SFC, 3/28/08, p.A4)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, Malaysia's Islamic
opposition party delivered a protest note to the Netherlands'
embassy over the release of an anti-Islam movie by a maverick Dutch
lawmaker, while hard-line Muslims in neighboring Indonesia demanded
the death of the filmmaker.
   (AP, 3/31/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, Alitalia edged
closer to bankruptcy protection after Air France-KLM abruptly broke
off talks to buy the struggling national airline and Alitalia's
chairman of seven months resigned in frustration.
   (AP, 4/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, The UN tribunal in
The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that there was not enough evidence to
convict former Kosovo PM Ramush Haradinaj of murder, torture and
rape of Serbs and non-Albanians during the Kosovo war.
   (AP, 4/4/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, In Afghanistan the
son of the Netherlands' top military officer was killed by a
roadside bomb, the day after his father assumed command of the Dutch
armed forces.
   (AP, 4/18/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, The International
Criminal Court in The Hague published an arrest warrant for Bosco
Ntaganda (35), known as "the Terminator," a Congo militia leader
wanted for allegedly using child soldiers.
   (Reuters, 4/29/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â May 23, The International
Court of Justice awarded Singapore sovereignty over a disputed
island at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Straits. The ICJ
ruled in favor of Singapore in the 28-year dispute with Malaysia
over a tiny but strategic uninhabited island the size of half a
football field. The court, however, gave Malaysia ownership of a
smaller uninhabited outcropping. Sovereignty over a third disputed
cluster of rocks was left to be determined later between the
countries when they sort our their territorial waters.
   (AP, 5/23/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, The Amiya Scan, a
Dutch freighter, was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
The ship and its crew of 4 Russians and 5 Filipinos were freed on
June 25.
   (AP, 6/26/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, Dutch scientists
claimed they have completed the first sequencing of an individual
woman's DNA.
   (AP, 5/26/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, Dutch police
arrested Aqueel Ur Rehman Abbasi, a 26-year-old Pakistani man,
sought in Spain on terrorism charges. He was arrested in his prison
cell in Vught where he was being held by the immigration and
naturalization services.
   (AFP, 6/6/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, A smoking ban went
into effect in cafes, restaurants and bars across the Netherlands,
as the country joins a growing list of European countries to tighten
rules on tobacco use in public places. Smoking marijuana in the
Netherlands' infamous "coffee shops" is still permitted under the
new law, as long the drug is not mixed with tobacco.
   (AFP, 7/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, Deutsche Bank
acquired the Dutch corporate banking arm of ABN AMRO from Fortis, a
Benelux bank, for $1.1 billion in cash.
   (Econ, 7/12/08, p.83)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, Former Congolese
rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba arrived in the Netherlands to face
war crimes charges before the International Criminal Court.
   (AP, 7/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, In the Netherlands
health authorities announced a Dutch woman, infected during a
holiday to Uganda by the contagious Marburg virus, had died
overnight. The Marburg virus is similar to Ebola and causes heavy
bleeding. About 100 people who may have had contact with the woman
were under surveillance.
   (AFP, 7/11/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, Former Bosnian
Serb leader Radovan Karadzic sat in a UN jail cell after being flown
to the Netherlands in the dead of night to face charges of genocide
against Muslims and Croats during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
   (AP, 7/30/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, Georgia's Pres.
Mikhail Saakashvili said his government will declare that its
breakaway regions are occupied territories and will designate
Russian peacekeepers as occupying forces. Russia ordered a halt to
military action in Georgia, after five days of air and land attacks
sent Georgia's army into headlong retreat and left towns and
military bases destroyed. More than 2,000 people were reported
killed. A Dutch television journalist was killed overnight when
Russian warplanes bombed the central Georgian city of Gori. Russia
later counted 133 civilian deaths in South Ossetia. Rights activists
later said fewer than 100 civilians were killed in South Ossetia.
   (AP, 8/12/08)(Econ, 8/23/08, p.43)(WSJ, 9/12/08,
p.A1)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, The Dutch Navy and
a squad of US Coast Guard raiders seized 4.6 tons (4,200 kilograms)
of cocaine from a Panamanian-flagged freighter that had set sail
from Venezuela. The freighter was boarded on Aug 17 and it took 36
hours of searching to find the drugs.
   (AP, 8/23/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, Italian police
said a gang of men badly beat a Dutch couple and raped the woman
while they camped in an isolated field outside Rome during a cycling
tour of Europe. The attackers also stole some US$2,200.
   (AP, 8/23/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, The Iraqi oil
ministry said Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell has agreed
to a gas joint venture with Iraq worth up to four billion dollars,
becoming the first Western oil major to gain access to the
violence-wracked country's vast energy reserves.
   (AP, 9/9/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, A Dutch court
dismissed a bid by Bosnian Muslim survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica
massacre to hold the Netherlands liable for its troops' failure to
protect the so-called safe haven.
   (AP, 9/10/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, TimeRime BV was
founded by Marijn Bom, Jaap Joziasse, Gerard Pastwa and Pico
Wilbrenninck, as a spin-off of the Dutch webdevelopment company
Hoppinger.com.
   (www.timerime.com/)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, The governments of
Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg took partial control of
struggling bank Fortis NV.
   (AP, 9/29/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, The Shell
Anglo-Dutch group said a Nigerian court has ordered it to hand over
land around its giant Bonny oil terminal to the local population, a
key demand of armed rebels in the volatile region. Shell said ruling
was given some months ago but we have appealed.
   (AFP, 10/15/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, In southern
Afghanistan Dutch Major General Mart de Kruif replaced Canadian
Major General Marc Lessard as head of 19,000 mostly British,
Canadian, Dutch and US NATO-led soldiers of the International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
   (AP, 11/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 7, An environmentalist
group and four Nigerians filed suit against Royal Dutch Shell PLC in
the Netherlands, claiming the company was negligent in cleaning up
oil spills in Nigeria.
   (AP, 11/7/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 21, Amsterdam said it
will order the closure of dozens of coffee shops that sell cannabis
near schools in accordance with new legislation.
   (AP, 11/21/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, Dutch electronics
giant Philips said it will cut "about five percent" of its 32,000
strong workforce in the medical division worldwide, affecting 1,600
workers.
   (AP, 11/22/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, Amsterdam unveiled
plans to close brothels, sex shops and marijuana cafes in its
ancient city center as part of a major effort to drive organized
crime out of the tourist haven.
   (AP, 12/6/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, Three Danish
soldiers and one from the Netherlands were killed in separate
incidents in Afghanistan, losing their lives just as the commitment
of some countries to the fight in Afghanistan begins to wane.
   (AP, 12/19/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Netherlands ended a record
period of economic expansion that lasted nearly 26 years.
   (Econ, 5/21/16, p.68)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands Saban
Baran (38) was convicted of leading a gang notorious for forcing
more than 100 women into prostitution, tattooing some of them to
mark them as the gang's property. Prosecutors also say some women
who came from Germany and eastern Europe were forced to have breast
implants and illegal abortions while working in brothels in
Amsterdam and other Dutch cities. In 2009 he fled while on a
temporarily release from prison, where he was serving a 7½ year
term, to visit his wife and newborn baby.
   (AP, 9/17/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 5, Ahmed Aboutaleb
(47), a Moroccan immigrant, was installed as mayor of Rotterdam, the
Netherlands' second largest city, in a move hailed as a significant
step for the integration of minorities in the European Union nation.
   (AP, 1/5/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, The International
Court of Justice at The Hague ruled that the United States defied
its order when authorities in Texas on Aug 5, 2008, executed a
Mexican convicted of rape and murder.
   (AP, 1/19/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, Germany banned the
production, sale or possession of a synthetic marijuana-like drug
known as "Spice," effective as of Jan 22, becoming the 4th nation to
ban the substance, marketed as an herbal room-freshener, after
Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
   (AP, 1/21/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, In the Netherlands
the first-ever trial of the International Criminal Court began at
The Hague with Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese militia commander,
denying he committed war crimes by recruiting hundreds of child
soldiers to kill and rape.
   (AP, 1/26/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 10, The British
government banned Dutch right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders from
visiting the country to show his anti-Islam film "Fitna" at the
Houses of Parliament. In a telephone interview Wilders called the
government's decision "cowardly" and vowed to defy it.
   (AP, 2/10/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, Judges at the
Yugoslav war crimes tribunal voted to suspend the trial of
ultranationalist Serb leader Vojislav Seselj after the prosecution
said its case was being undermined by witness intimidation. The
decision came after 71 prosecution witnesses had already been heard
and with only a handful still to testify.
   (AP, 2/11/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, Swedish power
company Vattenfall said it had made a friendly 8.5-billion-euro
(10.9-billion-dollar) offer for Nuon of the Netherlands in a
takeover aimed at creating one of Europe's biggest energy groups.
   (AP, 2/23/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 25, A Turkish Airlines
plane with 135 people aboard slammed into a muddy field while
attempting to land at Amsterdam's main airport. Nine people were
killed and more than 50 were injured, many in serious condition.
   (AP, 2/25/09)
2009      Feb 26, At The Hague
UN judges in the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal acquitted former Serb
President Milan Milutinovic of ordering a deadly campaign of terror
by Serb forces against Kosovo Albanians in 1999. The court convicted
five other senior Serbs and gave them prison sentences of between 15
and 22 years. The marathon trial started July 10, 2006.
   (AP, 2/26/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, The International
Criminal Court at The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese
President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against
humanity in Darfur. He is the first sitting head of state the court
has ordered arrested. The French medical aid organization Doctors
Without Borders (MSF) said it was pulling staff out of Darfur after
the Sudanese government ordered them to leave. Sudan ordered at
least 10 humanitarian groups expelled from Darfur.
   (AP, 3/4/09)(AFP, 3/4/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, Dutch police
arrested Giovanni Strangio (30), an Italian man wanted for the
August 15, 2007, mob killings of six people in the western German
city of Duisburg.
   (AP, 3/13/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 17, In the Netherlands
the UN criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia reduced the jail
sentence of Bosnian Serb leader Momcilo Krajisnik from 27 to 20
years, quashing some convictions from a 2006 judgment.
   (AP, 3/17/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, In the Netherlands
Joseph Mpambara (40), a Hutu man, was convicted and sentenced to 20
years in prison for the slaying of two Tutsi mothers and at least
four of their children during Rwanda's 1994 genocide. The Hague
District Court acquitted Mpambara of involvement in the massacre of
hundreds of other Tutsis who had sought shelter in a church. He was
also acquitted of raping four women and killing one of them in a
separate incident.
   (AP, 3/23/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Malaysia's
national car maker Proton and Detroit Electric, a Dutch-based
company, signed a $555 million deal to make zero emission electric
cars that they said would be more powerful that any existing model.
   (AP, 3/30/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, At the Hague
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton offered an olive branch to Taliban fighters who
reject al-Qaida and pressed an international conference for help in
strengthening Afghanistan's security forces.
   (AP, 3/31/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, In Yemen Jan and
Heleen Janszen, a Dutch couple, were kidnapped in a suburb of Sanaa
and taken to a mountainous area near the capital. They were released
on April 14 after Yemen's government paid more than a quarter
million dollars in ransom.
   (AFP, 3/31/09)(SFC, 4/1/09, p.A2)(AP, 4/14/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel made an unannounced visit to northern Afghanistan to
meet with her country's troops and view rebuilding efforts. She
pressed President Karzai to review carefully a new law that critics
say legalizes marital rape. In southern Afghanistan an insurgent
rocket attack hit the Netherlands' main military base, killing one
Dutch soldier and wounding 5 of his colleagues and 2 Afghan
soldiers.
   (AP, 4/6/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 10, In the Netherlands
a man (44) pulled a gun in Rotterdam’s Laurenshof cafe after an
argument and shot a patron inside, then rushed outside where he shot
three more people. Several people chased the gunman when he ran
outside, overpowered and disarmed him, and wrestled him to the
ground until police arrived.
   (AP, 4/11/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, Somali pirates
attacked two ships off the Horn of Africa, seizing the
Belgian-flagged Pompei carrying 10 crew. NATO forces intervened in
the other assault, chasing the pirates down. Dutch commandos then
freed 20 fishermen on a Yemeni dhow hijacked earlier. Seven pirates
attempted to attack the Norwegian-flagged MV Front Ardenne but fled
after crew took evasive maneuvers and alerted warships in the area.
NATO warships and helicopters pursued the Somali pirates for seven
hours after they attacked the tanker, and the high-speed chase only
ended when warning shots were fired at the pirates' skiff. NATO
forces boarded the skiff, where they found a rocket-propelled
grenade, and interrogated, disarmed and released the pirates. The
Pompei and its crew were released on June 28.
   (AP, 4/18/09)(AP, 4/19/09)(AP, 6/28/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Lebanon released
four generals held for nearly four years in the 2005 truck-bomb
assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri after a UN-backed tribunal
in the Netherlands ordered them freed, setting off celebrations with
fireworks and dancing.
   (AP, 4/29/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, In the Netherlands
5 people died when a car slammed into a crowd at the Queen's Day
festival attended by members of the royal family in the western city
of Apeldoorn. A policeman as well as the assailant died the next day
from their injuries. The suspect was identified by Dutch media as
Karst Tates (38). Neighbors said Tates recently was fired from his
job as a security guard and was to be evicted from his home in the
small eastern town of Huissen because he could no longer afford the
rent. An injured woman died a week later bringing the total to 7
victims.
   (AFP, 4/30/09)(AP, 5/1/09)(AP, 5/9/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, In the Netherlands
robbers at the Scheringa Museum for Realism in Spanbroek stole
"Adolescence," a 1941 gouache by Salvadore Dali and "La Musicienne,"
an oil painting from 1929 by Polish-born art deco painter Tamara de
Lempicka. The museum houses the art collection of wealthy Dutch
banker Dirk Scheringa and his wife.
   (AP, 5/2/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, Somali pirates
captured the Netherlands Antilles-flagged MV Marathon in the Gulf of
Aden. The ship listed 19 Ukrainian crew members. One of the crew
members died from a gun shot wound. On June 23 the Dutch Defense
Ministry reported that the ship was released.
   (AP, 5/7/09)(AP, 6/23/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â May 11, In the Netherlands
thieves pried open the emergency door of the IJsselstein City Museum
near Utrecht. They made off with six 17th- and 19th-century
landscape paintings, the second major art heist in 10 days in the
Netherlands.
   (AP, 5/12/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, Hugh Van Es (67),
a Dutch photojournalist, died in Hong Kong. He covered the Vietnam
War and recorded the most famous image of the fall of Saigon in
1975, a group of people scaling a ladder to a CIA helicopter on a
rooftop.
   (AP, 5/15/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â May 17, The International
Criminal Court said Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, a Sudanese rebel leader,
has turned himself in to face war crimes charges for an attack that
killed 12 African Union peacekeepers in Darfur in September 2007.
   (AP, 5/17/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, About 375 million
voters across the 27-nation European Union began 4 days of voting,
to appoint candidates to 736 seats on the assembly in the
second-largest election in the world after India's. Voting began in
Britain and the Netherlands.
   (AP, 6/4/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, Zimbabwe PM Morgan
Tsvangirai launched a three-week trip to the West. He spoke at The
Hague saying he is seeking re-engagement, not touring with a
"begging bowl" asking for aid. Pres. Robert Mugabe launched a new
pact aimed at tearing down trade barriers across 19 African nations
with appeals for external investors and an end to domestic
conflicts.
   (AP, 6/7/09)(AFP, 6/7/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, The Hague-based
International Criminal Court ordered former Congolese rebel warlord
Jean-Pierre Bemba to stand trial on charges of crimes against
humanity and war crimes, including murder, rape and pillaging.
   (Reuters, 6/16/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, The Dutch Supreme
Court upheld the war crimes conviction of businessman Frans van
Anraat for selling chemicals to Iraq, which were turned into poison
gas and unleashed in 1988 by the regime of Saddam Hussein on Kurds
and Iranians. The court shaved six months off Anraat’s 17-year
sentence because his case took so long.
   (AP, 6/30/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A UN war crimes
court in the Hague convicted Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic, two
Bosnian Serb cousins, for a "callous" 1992 killing spree that
included locking scores of Muslims in two houses and burning them
alive in Visegrad. He sentenced Milan to life in prison and Sredoje
to 30 years.
   (AP, 7/20/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Iceland's
parliament approved a controversial deal to pay back billions of
euros (dollars) lost by British and Dutch savers in the collapse of
the online Icesave bank. The deal provided for the payment of 3.8
billion euros by 2023 to the British and Dutch governments for the
compensation they forked out to disgruntled savers.
   (AFP, 8/28/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, Dutch prosecutors
said they will charge an Arab cultural group under hate speech laws
for publishing a cartoon that suggests the death of 6 million Jews
during World War II is a fabrication.
   (AP, 9/2/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, In the Netherlands
the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal announced it has approved the early
release from prison of former Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic
(79) after she served two-thirds of her 11-year sentence for
persecution.
   (AP, 9/15/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, Trafigura, a
Netherlands-based oil trading company, said it has agreed to a
settlement with people who claim they fell ill after a tanker dumped
hundreds of tons of waste around the Ivory Coast's main city of
Abidjan in 2006. Trafigura paid Ivory Coast's government euro152
million (US$197 million) in 2007 to assist in cleaning up the waste
without admitting responsibility.
   (AP, 9/20/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, A hot air balloon
crashed in a southern Chinese resort town with dramatic limestone
formations, killing four Dutch tourists.
   (AP, 10/14/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, At The Hague
Radovan Karadzic boycotted his UN trial for a second day while
prosecutors began outlining their genocide case against the former
Bosnian Serb leader.
   (AP, 10/27/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 30, ING, the biggest
bank in the Netherlands, said that it would dismember itself by
splitting its banking and insurance business and selling its
American online banking arm.
   (Econ, 10/31/09, p.85)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, Mohamud Said Omar
(43) was arrested at the request of US authorities in an asylum
seeker's center in Dronten, Netherlands. US authorities suspected
Omar of bankrolling the purchase of weapons for Islamic extremists
and helping other Somalis travel to Somalia in 2007 and 2008. He had
a US green card and was also suspected of recruiting youth in
Minneapolis for Islamic terrorism in Somalia.
   (AP, 11/13/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, In the Netherlands
the UN war crimes tribunal decided that former Bosnian Serb leader
Radovan Karadzic will be appointed a lawyer to represent him
whenever he fails to appear in court.
   (AP, 11/5/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, A consortium
grouping US and European oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal
Dutch Shell PLC signed a $50 billion deal to develop one of Iraq's
most prized oil fields, as the OPEC nation looks to revamp its
battered energy sector. The deal to develop the 8.6 billion West
Qurna Stage 1 field is the third such agreement in less than a week
between a foreign oil consortium and Iraq, which sorely needs
foreign company expertise and funding to revive an oil sector
hammered by years of neglect, sanctions and, most recently sabotage.
   (AP, 11/5/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, The Dutch
government announced to bring the polluter-pays principle into the
home garage. As of 2012 rather than an annual road tax for their
cars, drivers will pay a few cents for every kilometer on the road,
in a plan aimed at breaking chronic traffic jams and cutting carbon
emissions.
   (AP, 11/14/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, The United States
attended a meeting of the International Criminal Court's management
board at The Hague for the first time in a sign it has stopped
shunning the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal.
   (AP, 11/18/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, UOP LLC, a
Honeywell company, announced today that its renewable jet fuel
process technology was used to convert second-generation, renewable
feedstocks to green jet fuel for a biofuel demonstration flight by
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
   (http://tinyurl.com/yb877n3)(SFC, 11/24/09, p.A2)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, Turkish diplomat
Ahmet Uzumcu was elected to be director of the 188-nation
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in The
Hague. He takes over next July. He said that he will pursue the last
seven holdouts (Angola, Egypt, Israel, North Korean, Myanmar,
Somalia and Syria) to get them to sign a disarmament treaty and
submit weapons stockpiles for inspection.
   (AP, 12/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, Somali pirates on
speedboats tried to board the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged BBC Togo,
but were repelled after firing on the vessel. 13 pirates then fled
to a larger fishing boat 150 nautical miles (280km) south of Salalah
where a Dutch frigate captured them.
   (AP, 12/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, Amsterdam City
councilwoman Marijke Vos planted a sapling, in the Amsterdamse Bos
park. It was derived from a 150-year-old chestnut tree that once
cheered Anne Frank as her family hid from the Nazis. 149 Others will
be planted around the world.
   (AP, 12/4/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, Dutch sports
carmaker Spyker said it has made a new bid for Sweden's Saab
Automobile, two days after General Motors said it would close the
loss-making unit.
   (AFP, 12/20/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 30, The Netherlands
announced it will immediately begin using full body scanners for
flights heading to the United States, issuing a report that called
the failed Christmas Day airline bombing a "professional" terror
attack.
   (AP, 12/30/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Luuk van Middelaar, Dutch
political philosopher, authored “The Passage to Europe: How a
Continent Became a Union.” In 2012 it won the European Book Prize.
In 2013 it came out in English.
   (Econ, 5/25/13, p.86)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands actor
and comedian Herman Koch authored his novel “The Dinner.” It went on
to sell over 1 million copies in 24 countries and in 2012 became
available in English.
   (Econ, 8/11/12, p.72)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dutch engineer Taco
Carlier co-founded VanMoof, an electrically assisted bicycle maker,
with his brother.
   (Econ., 8/1/20, p.53)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands 6
people died this year from Q-fever. Some 2,300 had become infected
by Coxiella burnetti, the infectious bug responsible for the
disease. The bug is released into the air during birthing or
miscarriages by infected goats. 40,000 pregnant goats were slated to
be destroyed in early 2010.
   (Econ, 1/9/10, p.52)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, Dutch brewer
Heineken said it will buy the beer-making operations of Mexico’s
Femsa, the maker of Dos Equis and Sol beers, in an all-share deal
valued at $5.5 billion, excluding debt.
   (SFC, 1/12/10, p.D3)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 13, Edgar Vos (78),
"the emperor of Dutch fashion," died of a heart attack while on
vacation in Florida. Vos built a chain of 15 stores across the
Netherlands, where he sold designer clothes cut to bring out the
best from all figures and tailored to most budgets.
   (AP, 1/14/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, A Dutch airlift
brought 106 children from quake-ravaged Haiti to new lives in the
Netherlands and Luxembourg, as anxious families waited to hug
children they had been in the process of adopting for months.
   (AP, 1/21/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, General Motors
agreed to sell Saab, its Swedish subsidiary, to Spyker Cars, a Dutch
maker of sports cars, for $74 million in cash and preference shares
worth $326 million.
   (Econ, 1/30/10, p.76)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 3, At The Hague
appeals judges said the International Criminal Court was wrong when
it decided that Sudan's Pres. Omar al-Bashir can't be charged with
genocide in Darfur. The unprecedented ruling could lead al-Bashir's
indictment with humanity's worst crime.
   (AP, 2/3/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, Royal Dutch Shell
PLC said it was freezing executive pay and revamping bonus policy in
the wake of a shareholder rebellion at its annual meeting last year.
   (AP, 2/16/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, The Dutch
coalition government collapsed over whether to extend the country's
military mission in Afghanistan, leaving the future of its 1,600
soldiers fighting there uncertain. An early election is now
expected.
   (AP, 2/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Daniel Houghton
(25), a former MI6 spy, was arrested after British intelligence
posed as the potential buyer of top secret files on intelligence
gathering techniques. Prosecutor Piers Arnold later said Houghton,
who is a dual Dutch and British national, is accused of copying top
secret files from the domestic agency MI5 to CD and DVDs while
working for the MI6 overseas intelligence service between September
2007 and May 2009. On Sep 3, 2010, Houghton was sentenced to one
year in prison. He was expected to walk free as he has already spent
184 days in custody.
   (AP, 3/3/10)(AFP, 9/3/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, Dutch anti-Islam
maverick Geert Wilders (46) took his cinematic assault on the Quran
to Britain's House of Lords, sparking heated debate inside the
building and angry protests outside. Wilders screened his 15-minute
film "Fitna" to about 60 people, including a half-dozen peers, in a
wood-paneled committee room in Parliament. The film associates the
Quran with terrorism, homophobia and repression of women.
   (AP, 3/5/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, In Australia Royal
Dutch Shell and PetroChina joined forces for a 2.96 billion US
dollar bid for Australia's Arrow Energy, hoping for a bigger slice
of the country's booming liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.
   (AP, 3/8/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, A union
representing Dutch nurses launched a national campaign against
demands for sexual services by patients who claim it should be part
of their standard care.
   (Reuters, 3/11/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, A Netherlands
court fined the owner of what was the biggest marijuana-selling
"coffee shop" in the country almost euro10 million ($13.34 million)
for violating liberal Dutch drug laws, in what is seen as a test for
authorities seeking to rein in the growth of such cafes.
   (AP, 3/25/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, Somali pirates in
the Indian Ocean seized the Taipan, a Germany-flagged freighter. The
Dutch navy captured 10 Somalis hours after the seizure. In 2012 the
Somalis were convicted on piracy charges and sentenced to prison
terms of 2-7 years.
   (SFC, 10/20/12, p.A2)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, In the Netherlands
the Political Reformed Party, known by its Dutch acronym SGP, a
fundamentalist Christian political party led entirely by men, was
told by the Netherlands' Supreme Court that it must accept women in
leadership roles.
   (AP, 4/9/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, The Dutch Supreme
Court overturned the acquittal of Guus Kouwenhoven, a businessman
accused of supplying arms to former Liberian strongman Charles
Taylor, and ordered a new appeals hearing in the case. He had been
convicted in 2006 of breaching a UN arms embargo by trading weapons
for timber in Liberia and sentenced to eight years imprisonment, but
the conviction was overturned in 2008.
   (AP, 4/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, Royal Dutch Shell
said it spilled nearly 14,000 tons of oil into the creeks of the
Niger Delta in 2009 and blamed thieves and militants for the
environmental damage.
   (SFC, 5/5/10, p.A2)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, Julio Alberto Poch
(57), a pilot who allegedly flew death flights for Argentina's
military dictatorship, was extradited from Spain. Spain acted on
Argentina's request, arresting him in front of his passengers and
family during a stop in Valencia on what was supposed to be his
final flight back to the Netherlands before retiring from Transavia.
   (AP, 5/6/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, A Libyan Afriqiyah
Airways Airbus A330-200 carrying 104 people crashed on approach to
Tripoli's airport. Ruben van Assouw, a Dutch boy (9), was the only
known survivor. The Royal Dutch Tourism Board said 61 of the dead
came from the Netherlands.
   (AP, 5/12/10)(AFP, 5/14/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, Royal Dutch Shell
PLC announced it will spend more than $2 billion to sharply reduce
the burning off of natural gas at its oil wells in Nigeria, gases
that when burned contribute to global warming and sicken people
living nearby.
   (AP, 5/19/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, A Dutch court
ordered 10 suspected Somali pirates to be extradited to Germany,
where Hamburg prosecutors want to charge them with hijacking a
German container ship.
   (AP, 6/4/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, The Netherlands
held parliamentary elections. Voters appeared likely to shift the
Netherlands to the right in national elections dominated by concerns
over the rising national debt and discontent over immigration. Dutch
politicians scrambled the next day to sort out who will form the
country's next government, after polarized voters backed parties on
both the right and the left with very different ideas on budget cuts
and Muslim immigration. With 99.5 percent of votes counted, the
pro-business VVD led Labor 31 seats to 30 in the 150-seat
parliament.
   (AP, 6/9/10)(AP, 6/10/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, A Dutch court
sentenced five Somali pirates, the first to stand trial in Europe,
to five years in prison for attacking a Dutch Antilles-flagged ship
in 2009.
   (AP, 6/17/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, Royal Dutch Shell
PLC warned Nigeria that $40 billion of planned investments in the
oil-rich nation could be in jeopardy if lawmakers pass a proposed
bill to overhaul the petroleum industry. Government officials say
the bill would allow more oil money to return to Nigeria's
people. The bill also would require the government-run Nigerian
National Petroleum Corp., which partners with all foreign oil firms,
to seek profits like a private business and not rely on government
subsidies.
   (AP, 6/17/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, Britain's Queen
Elizabeth (84) addressed the UN for the first time since1957. The
queen's 10-minute speech to a special session of the General
Assembly was finished before Netherlands and Uruguay returned to
their soccer match in Cape Town. Netherlands moved to the finals
after beating Uruguay 3-2.
   (Reuters, 7/6/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Prosecutors at the
Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague cited Ratko Mladic's
diaries, seized in a raid on his wife's Belgrade home in February,
in a motion to reopen the trial of former Bosnian Croat political
leader Jadranko Prlic and five other political and military Croat
officials that ended two months ago.
   (AP, 7/9/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, In South Africa
Spain beat Holland for soccer’s World Cup.
   (AP, 7/12/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, A Dutch court
slapped a one million euro fine on Trafigura, a Swiss-based company
whose chartered ship dumped hazardous waste the Ivory Coast says
killed 17 people on its soil. It was also found guilty of concealing
what the charge sheet referred to as the "harmful nature" of the
waste on board the Probo Koala ship that arrived at the port of
Amsterdam on July 2, 2006, but was redirected to the Ivory Coast.
   (AFP, 7/23/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, Dutch judges gave
the green light for a teenage girl's bid to become the youngest
person to sail around the world solo, thwarting a bid to have Laura
Dekker (14) kept in child care.
   (AFP, 7/27/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, Dutch troops ended
their mission in Afghanistan after four "proud" years, in a
departure experts say signals the beginning of a drawdown of foreign
forces that will leave a worrying void. Troops held a "change of
command" ceremony at the main military base in central Uruzgan
province where most of the country's 1,950 soldiers have been
deployed. About 150 Dutch fighting forces were left in country, and
they are set to leave next week.
   (AFP, 8/1/10)(AP, 8/1/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, UNESCO added five
cultural sites to its World Heritage List, including the Imperial
Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi in Vietnam. The other new sites include
the historic monuments of Dengfeng in China, the archaeological site
Sarazm in Tajikistan, the Episcopal city of Albi in France and a
17th-century canal ring in Amsterdam.
   (AP, 8/1/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, In the Netherlands
Naomi Campbell testified before a war crimes tribunal that she had
received some "dirty-looking stones" after a 1997 dinner party with
former Liberian ruler Charles Taylor. Still, the supermodel said she
didn't know if the stones were actually diamonds or if the gift came
from Taylor himself. Campbell said that she gave the stones to a
friend, Jeremy Ratcliffe, who was the director of the Nelson Mandela
Children's Fund, intending he use them for charity.
   (AP, 8/5/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, Amsterdam police
found 7,000 kg of marijuana and hashish in a warehouse near Schiphol
Airport in the Netherlands, after arresting a 35-year-old man on
suspicion of selling narcotics. The estimated street value was 40
million euros (32.8 million pounds).
   (Reuters, 8/24/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, Conny Mus (59), a
veteran Dutch correspondent in the Middle East who covered conflicts
from Romania's revolution to the wars in Iraq, died while on
vacation in his home country.
   (AP, 8/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, Laura Dekker, a
14-year-old Dutch sailor, departed in secrecy from Gibraltar on her
quest to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world,
avoiding the media because her manager said she didn't want the
attention.
   (AP, 8/21/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, In the Netherlands
the monumental chestnut tree that cheered Anne Frank while she was
in hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam was toppled by wind and heavy
rain.
   (AP, 8/23/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, Cosan, Brazil’s
biggest sugar and ethanol producer, signed a $12 billion joint
venture with Royal Dutch Shell.
   (Econ, 9/4/10, p.41)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, The FBI and its
counterparts in Ukraine, the Netherlands and Britain took down a
cyber-theft ring they first got wind of in May 2009 when a financial
services firm tipped the bureau's Omaha, Neb., office to suspicious
transactions. Since then, the FBI's Operation Trident Breach has
uncovered losses of $14 million and counting.
   (AP, 11/22/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, In the Netherlands
more than 100 people protesting the outlawing of squatting at unused
buildings clashed with police in Amsterdam's historic center,
throwing stones, setting fires and erecting barricades.
   (AP, 10/2/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 10, Curacao, St
Maarten, Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius were scheduled to go their
own ways. The former Dutch Caribbean colonies of Curacao and St.
Maarten became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the
Netherlands in a change of constitutional status dissolving the
Netherlands Antilles.
   (Econ, 5/1/10, p.38)(Reuters, 10/10/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, Dutch Queen
Beatrix swore in her country's new right-wing minority Cabinet,
ushering in a new era of budgetary austerity and tighter immigration
rules.
   (AP, 10/14/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 22, In the central
Netherlands a collision between the German cargo ship Duisburg
Ruhror and a small Dutch passenger ferry on a canal took the life of
ferry skipper Hendrik Plomp (56). Divers soon recovered his body.
   (AP, 10/23/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, Police in Belgium,
Germany and the Netherlands arrested at least 10 people on suspicion
of planning an Islamist militant attack in Belgium.
   (Reuters, 11/23/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, The Dutch navy
said it has captured 20 suspected pirates off the Somali coast in
two operations in the last week and is holding them on a warship on
suspicion of involvement in hijacking a South African yacht.
   (AP, 11/26/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, More than 250,000
classified US State Department documents were released by online
whistleblower WikiLeaks. Among the leaked memos was information that
Iranian Red Crescent ambulances were used to smuggle weapons to
Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group during its 2006 war with Israel.
Memos said the "IRC shipments of medical supplies served also to
facilitate weapons shipments." Documents also detailed concerns by
US officials in Baghdad about Iran’s influence on Iraq. Memos also
said King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had repeatedly urged the United
States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear program to stop Tehran
from developing a nuclear weapon. One cable revealed that the US
kept nuclear weapons in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and
Turkey.
   (AP, 11/28/10)(Econ, 12/4/10, p.35)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 29, A Sierra
Leone-flagged cargo ship, Karam 1, sank after colliding with the
Dutch tanker Alessandro DP, 10 miles (16 km) off Cape Emine in the
Black Sea. 5 sailors were rescued and 5 were missing.
   (AP, 11/30/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, The Netherlands'
justice minister and five southern Dutch cities said they will
implement new restrictions on marijuana cafes after a wave of
drug-related gangland violence.
   (AP, 12/3/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, In the Netherlands
a teacher (27) was arrested on suspicion of molesting dozens of very
young children. The man's computers containing child pornography
were seized and he later confessed to dozens of sex crimes allegedly
committed over the past year and a half.
   (AP, 12/13/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, Netherlands
arrested a young hacker who confessed to participating in attacks by
WikiLeaks sympathizers on websites, including MasterCard, PayPal and
Visa.
   (AP, 12/10/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, Netherlands-based
Royal DSM NV, the world’s largest maker of vitamins, agreed to buy
Martek Biosciences, a US maker of nutritional ingredients for baby
food, for $1.09 billion.
   (SFC, 12/22/10, p.D3)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 24, Dutch police
arrested 12 Somali men in the key port city of Rotterdam on
suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. Dutch authorities on Dec
26 cleared five of the 12 Somali men who were detained Christmas Eve
on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. By Dec 30 the
remaining Somalis were released but 3 were still considered suspect.
   (AP, 12/25/10)(AP, 12/27/10)(AP, 12/30/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â The Netherlands enter for
the Promotion of Imports from developing countries sent Cees van
Casteren to Bolivia to help local vintners break into Europe.
Bolivia's modern wine industry had started in the 1960s when the
Kohlberg family brought vines from Europe to make wine to relieve a
family member's heart condition.
   (Econ, 4/25/20, p.24)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, In Iran Sahra
Bahrami, a Dutch-Iranian woman, was sentenced to death for drug
smuggling. Bahrami reportedly was arrested in Dec 2009 after taking
part in anti-government demonstrations. She also faced trial and the
possibility of another death sentence, likely within two months, for
allegedly belonging to an armed opposition group.
   (AP, 1/5/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, In the Netherlands
the daily Het Parool reported that prostitutes in Amsterdam will be
required to pay taxes this year. Over 3,000 sex workers were
affected by the move.
   (SFC, 1/7/11, p.A2)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, Environmental
groups accused Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell of destroying lives and
the environment in the Niger Delta, and urged Dutch MPs to intervene
as the company defended its record.
   (AFP, 1/26/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 29, In Iran Zahram
Bahrami, an Iranian-Dutch woman detained after participating in
protests against Iran's disputed presidential election in 2009, was
hanged. She was allegedly hanged for possessing and selling drugs.
The Dutch government froze official contacts with Iran to protest
the hanging.
   (AP, 1/29/11)(SSFC, 1/30/11, p.A4)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, In Libya hundreds
of armed anti-government forces backed by rebel troops who control
the city closest to the capital Tripoli prepared to repel an
expected offensive by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi surrounding
Zawiya, a city of 200,000. Armed forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi
captured 3 Dutch marines and their helicopter during a botched
evacuation mission after landing near Sirte in a Lynx helicopter
from the navy ship HMS Tromp.
   (AP, 2/27/11)(AP, 3/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, In the Netherlands
prosecutors at the International Criminal Court said they will open
a formal investigation into possible crimes against humanity in
Libya.
   (AP, 3/2/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, In the Netherlands
the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor,
once among West Africa's most powerful figures, ended with judges
expected to take months to reach a verdict on whether he can be
linked to murders and amputations during Sierra Leone's civil war.
   (AP, 3/11/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, Dutch marines
killed 2 pirates and captured 16 others during an operation to free
a hijacked Iranian fishing boat of Somalia.
   (www.dailybulletin.com/ci_17767176)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, Netherlands’
officials said the government will cut 12,000 military jobs as part
of spending cuts to balance the budget by 2015.
   (SFC, 4/9/11, p.A2)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, In the Netherlands
Tristan van der Vlis (24), opened fire at the Ridderhof mall in
Alphen aan den Rijn with an automatic rifle killing 6 people and
wounded least 17 others. He fired more than 100 rounds in a few
minutes and ended the rampage by shooting himself fatally in the
head.
   (AP, 4/10/11)(AP, 4/11/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, In the Netherlands
Gen. Ante Gotovina (55), a commander hailed by Croats as a hero of
the Balkan conflict, was convicted of war crimes by a UN court and
sentenced to 24 years in prison for a campaign of shelling,
shootings and expulsions aimed at driving Serbs out of a Croatian
border region in 1995.
   (AP, 4/15/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, Max van der Stoel
(86), former Dutch human rights watchdog for Iraq and the first High
Commissioner on National Minorities at the 54-nation Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), died.
   (AP, 4/24/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â May 21, In the Netherlands
the Salesian order's top official, Delegate Herman Spronck,
confirmed in a statement that a priest, identified by RTL Nieuws as
73-year-old "Father Van B.," had served on the board of "Martijn," a
group that campaigns to end the Dutch ban on adult-child sex.
   (AP, 5/21/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â May 27, The Dutch
government said it would start banning tourists from buying cannabis
from "coffee shops" and impose restrictions on Dutch buyers by the
end of the year.
   (Reuters, 5/27/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, Capital One
Financial agreed to pay $9 billion in cash and stock for ING Direct
USA, the US subsidiary of ING Group, a Dutch banking and insurance
giant.
   (SFC, 12/29/11, p.D6)(http://tinyurl.com/3v6mthz)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, A Dutch court
acquitted right-wing politician Geert Wilders of hate speech charges
finding that his inflammatory comments about Muslims were protected
by rules governing discourse in a free society.
   (SFC, 6/24/11, p.A5)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, The International
Criminal Court in the Netherlands issued arrest warrants for Moammar
Gadhafi, his son Seif, and his intelligence chief for crimes against
humanity in the Libyan leader's four-month battle to cling to power.
   (AP, 6/27/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, The Dutch
parliament agreed with the Dutch Party for the Animals (pvdD) and
passed a bill banning the slaughter of livestock without stunning it
first, removing an exemption that has allowed Jews and Muslims to
butcher animals according to centuries old dietary rules.
   (SFC, 6/28/11, p.A2)(Econ, 12/21/13, p.80)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, An appeals judges
ruled that the Netherlands was responsible for the deaths of three
Bosnian Muslim men slain by Serbs during the 1995 Srebrenica
massacre, ordering the Dutch government to compensate the men's
relatives.
   (AP, 7/5/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, In the Netherlands
a large section of the roof of a soccer stadium collapsed during
off-season construction work in Enschede, killing one person and
leaving 10 hospitalized.
   (AP, 7/7/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Interpol, at the
request of the Netherlands-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon,
issued its highest-level international alerts against four Hezbollah
men indicted in the 2005 slaying of Lebanon's former prime minister.
   (AP, 7/9/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Dutch
government announced plans to equip 125 police officers with mobile
devices that can scan detainees' fingerprints to check whether they
are illegal immigrants.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Dutch prosecutors
released some details about four Dutch citizens arrested on
suspicion of involvement in cyber attacks as part of the
loosely-knit hackers group known as "Anonymous." They said the
suspects are thought to have belonged to a splinter group called
AntiSec NL, which hacked the sites of dating service Pepper.nl and
communications software maker Nimbuzz, among others.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, British officials
said they have seized about 300 million pounds ($492 million) worth
of cocaine in a record-setting drug bust on a pleasure boat. 1.2
tons of cocaine were found hidden in a specially-designed
compartment on a boat docked in southern England in June and it took
six days of searching the Louise to find the drugs. Six men arrested
were all Dutch nationals.
   (AP, 8/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, A Dutch court sent
two Somalis to jail for up to seven years for hijacking a South
African yacht last year and seizing a South African couple who are
still missing. Three others also were convicted of piracy. The five
men were caught by the Dutch navy in the Gulf of Aden in November,
heavily armed with machine guns and bazookas.
   (AP, 8/12/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, Royal Dutch shell
said sabotage in Nigeria has led to six oil spills from one Shell
pipeline since the start of the month, while damage to another line
has caused a temporary production halt.
   (AFP, 8/22/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, At the Hague,
Netherlands, the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal sentenced Gen. Momcilo
Perisic, the former chief of the Yugoslav army, to 27 years
imprisonment for providing crucial military aid to Bosnian Serb
forces responsible for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and for a deadly
four-year campaign of shelling and sniping in Sarajevo.
   (AP, 9/6/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, In the Netherlands
author Hella Haasse (93), an award-winning author best known for
chronicling colonial life in the Dutch East Indies, died. Haasse's
first novel, "Oeroeg" (1948), was an instant hit and has been read
at school by generations of Dutch children.
   (AP, 9/30/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, The Dutch
government said it would move to reclassify high-potency marijuana
alongside hard drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy.
   (SFC, 10/8/11, p.A2)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, Royal Bank of
Scotland said it has sold its 918 tenanted pubs in Britain to Dutch
brewer Heineken for 422 million pounds, another step in its exit
from non-core businesses following a government bailout.
   (Reuters, 12/2/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, American
authorities said they had asked the world’s leading scientific
journals to withhold research on bird flu after researcher teams in
Madison and Rotterdam engineered the virus so that it could be
transmitted through the air from ferret to ferret. In January
scientists agreed to suspend their research for 60 days. On April
20, 2012, the US reversed its stance. On April 27 the Dutch
government gave Ron Fouchier permission to publish his paper. A 2nd
paper by Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison was
published in May.
   (www.economist.com/node/21542156)(SFC, 1/21/12,
p.A4)(Econ, 5/5/12, p.78)(Econ, 6/23/12, p.81)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 23, The International
Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague freed Rwandan rebel Callixte
Mbarushimana and returned him to France after dismissing murder and
rape charges against him. He spent 11 months in detention and was
the first war crimes suspect to be arrested and freed without trial
since the court began work in 2002.
   (AP, 12/23/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands
Charlotte van den Berg (20), a student working part-time in
Amsterdam’s city archives, discovered letters from Jewish Holocaust
survivors complaining that the city was forcing them to pay back
taxes and late fines on property seized after they were deported to
Nazi death camps. By 2014 a review found 217 cases in which the city
had demanded that returning Jews pay the taxes and penalty fees.
   (SSFC, 4/20/14, p.A9)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Japanese and Dutch
scientists said had created a version of bird flu that could be
transmitted between mammals by the respiratory route. The
announcement prompted the Netherlands to treat the relevant academic
papers as sensitive goods subject to export controls.
   (Econ, 4/25/20, p.20)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, In Peru Dutch
citizen Joran Van der Sloot said he would "sincerely confess" to
killing a Peruvian woman in 2010 in a plea strategy that aimed to
reduce his eventual prison sentence, prompting judges to suspend the
trial until Jan 11.
   (Reuters, 1/6/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, In Peru Joran van
der Sloot (24) pleaded guilty to the 2010 murder of a Peruvian woman
he met at a Lima casino who was killed five years to the day after
the unsolved disappearance in Aruba of an American teen in which he
remains the main suspect. On Jan 13 he was sentenced to 28 years in
prison. Due to time already served, his sentence would end in June
2038.
   (AP, 1/11/12)(AP, 1/13/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, Gustav Leonhardt
(b.1928), Dutch keyboard player and father of the early-music
movement, died in Amsterdam.
   (Econ, 1/28/12, p.90)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, Dutch sailor Laura
Dekker (16) set foot aboard a dock in St. Maarten, ending a yearlong
voyage aboard a sailboat named "Guppy" that apparently made her the
youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe. She had set out
from St. Maarten on Jan. 20, 2011.
   (AP, 1/21/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, In the Netherlands
organizers of the legendary Eleven Cities Tour skating marathon
ruled the ice is to thin for it to go ahead.
   (AP, 2/9/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, The International
Criminal Court at The Hague convicted Congolese warlord Thomas
Lubanga of using child soldiers, a verdict hailed as a legal
landmark in the fight against impunity for the world's most serious
crimes.
   (AP, 3/14/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, UPS under Scott
Davis announced that it would buy TNT Express, a Dutch company, for
$6.8 billion.
   (Econ, 3/24/12, p.67)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, Dutch PM Mark Rutte
denounced Suriname's decision to grant amnesty to President Desi
Bouterse for crimes committed under his earlier military
dictatorship as "totally unacceptable" and recalled the country's
ambassador from its former colony in protest.
   (AP, 4/5/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, In the Netherlands
two trains in Amsterdam were involved in a head-on collision that
seriously wounded 42 people. One passenger died the next day.
   (AFP, 4/22/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, A prize-winning,
super-energy-saving 10-watt LED bulb from Dutch electronics giant
Philips, went on sale to coincide with Earth Day. The bulb, said to
last over 20 years, has won the US Department of Energy's "Bright
Tomorrow Lighting Prize" and was now available from retailers for
$50, down from an initial $60 price tag.
   (AFP, 4/22/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, Dutch PM Mark
Rutte and his Cabinet resigned after failing to reach agreement on
reducing the country's budget to meet European guidelines.
   (AP, 4/23/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, In the Netherlands
an international court convicted former Liberian President Charles
Taylor (64) of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against
humanity for supporting notoriously brutal rebels in neighboring
Sierra Leone in return for "blood diamonds." Taylor became the first
head of state convicted by an international court since the
post-World War II Nuremberg military tribunal.
   (AP, 4/26/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, A Dutch judge
upheld the government's plan to introduce a "weed pass" to prevent
foreigners from buying marijuana in coffee shops in the Netherlands.
   (AP, 4/27/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, In the Netherlands
international judges sentenced former Liberian President Charles
Taylor to 50 years in prison for atrocities in Sierra Leone during
the 1990s.
   (AP, 5/30/12)(SFC, 5/31/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, A Russian Soyuz
space capsule landed in Kazakhstan bringing an end to a 193-day
mission for American astronaut Donald Petit, Dutchman Andre Kuipers
and Russian Oleg Kononenko.
   (SFC, 7/2/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, In the Netherlands
the International Criminal Court sentenced Congolese warlord Thomas
Lubanga to 14 years in prison, a potential landmark in the struggle
to protect children during wartime. Lubanga was found guilty in
March of recruiting and using children in his Union of Congolese
Patriots militia. An appeal in 2014 upheld his conviction.
   (AP, 7/10/12)(SFC, 12/2/14, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, Sewing needles
were found in 5 sandwiches on flights originating in Amsterdam. One
passenger on a flight to Minneapolis was injured. The other needles
were on two flights to Atlanta and one to Seattle. The sandwiches
were made in the Amsterdam kitchen of catering company Gate Gourmet.
   (AP, 7/17/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, The Netherlands
said it has suspended part of its development aid to Rwanda because
of Kigali's alleged support for rebels in neighboring Democratic
Republic of Congo.
   (AFP, 7/27/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, Dutch sailors
taking part in NATO's pirate-busting operation Ocean Shield helped
rescue the crew of a Somali dhow hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of
Aden.
   (AFP, 8/14/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, Netherlands-based
Royal Philips Electronics NV, the largest maker of lights, said it
plans to cut another 2,200 jobs by 2014 to save €300 million ($383
million) a year.
   (AP, 9/11/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, The Netherlands
held national elections. Dutch caretaker PM Mark Rutte led his
conservative VVD party to victory. The VVD was forecast to take 41
seats in the 150-member Dutch parliament, compared to Labor's 39
seats.
   (AP, 9/12/12)(AP, 9/13/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, Shareholders of
Singapore-based conglomerate Fraser & Neave agreed to sell their
39.7 percent stake in Asian Pacific Breweries, the owner of Tiger
and other popular Asian brands, to Heineken. Heineken NV is spending
another €3.2 billion ($4.0 billion) to gain control over the Tiger
beer brand as part of a strategy to significantly expand its
operations in Asia.
   (AP, 9/28/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 2, The US National
Institute for Public Health and the Environment said a salmonella
outbreak traced to smoked salmon has sickened hundreds of people in
the Netherlands and the United States. It has been traced to Dutch
company Foppen, which sells fish to many major Dutch supermarkets
and to stores around the world.
   (AP, 10/2/12)(http://tinyurl.com/m3wv4tr)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, Nigerian farmers
asked a Dutch court to rule that oil company Shell is liable for
poisoning their fish ponds and farmland with leaking pipelines.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC long argued that the case, which was launched
in 2008, should be heard in Nigeria.
   (AP, 10/11/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, In Rotterdam,
Netherlands, thieves grabbed seven paintings from the Kunsthal
gallery of works by celebrated artists including Pablo Picasso,
Claude Monet and Henri Matisse and vanished into the night. The
paintings were estimated to be worth roughly $100 million if sold at
auction.
   (AP, 10/17/12)(AP, 10/18/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, Sylvia Kristal
(b.1952), Dutch film star, died in Amsterdam. She was best known for
her role in 4 of 7 “Emmannuelle” films.
   (Econ, 11/3/12,
p.94)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Kristel)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, In the Netherlands
Queen Beatrix swore in the new center-left coaltion of PM Mark
Rutte. The new government brought togethere the liberal VVD party
and the center-left Labor Party.
   (SFC, 11/6/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, A majority of
Dutch parties said the Netherlands no longer needs a law making it a
crime to insult God, which hasn't been invoked in the past
half-century.
   (AP, 11/28/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, In the Netherlands
volunteer soccer linesman Richard Nieuwenhuizen (42) died a day
after he was beaten by players from Osdorp following a match against
his club Buitenboys in the city of Almere. The offenders, aged
14-17, were all ethnic Moroccans.
   (Econ, 1/12/13, p.46)(http://tinyurl.com/cdpsf42)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 5, The 148m (485-foot)
Baltic Ace sank after colliding with the 134m (440-foot) container
ship Corvus J in darkness near busy shipping lanes some 65
kilometers (40 miles) off the coast of the southern Netherlands. 5
bodies were recovered and 6 others remained missing.
   (AP, 12/6/12)(SFC, 12/7/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, The Dutch
government approved a NATO request to send two batteries of Patriot
missile defense systems to Turkey, following in Germany's footsteps.
   (AP, 12/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, Amsterdam Mayor
Eberhard van der Laan said he would formally ban students from
smoking marijuana at school, making the Dutch capital the first city
in the Netherlands to do so.
   (AP, 12/12/12)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, The Dutch military
shipped Patriot missiles to Turkey, a fellow NATO member, after the
alliance agreed in December to deploy the anti-missile systems along
Turkey's southern border with Syria. Fighting in Syria continued
unabated.
   (AP, 1/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, In the Netherlands
Alexander Dolmatov (36), a rocket engineer who feared arrest in
Russia after an opposition protest turned violent in May, was taken
to the prison-like deportation center in Rotterdam. The next morning
he was found dead in his cell. Dutch authorities had denied his
asylum request on Dec 14.
   (AP, 2/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, The Netherlands'
Queen Beatrix announced that she is ending her reign after 33 years
and passing the crown to her eldest son, Willem-Alexander (45), who
has long been groomed to be king.
   (AP, 1/28/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Netherlands
nationalized SNS Reaal bank and expropriated its bonds in a $14
billion rescue. Investors in the subordinated bonds were wiped out.
   (Econ, 3/16/13, p.72)(http://tinyurl.com/bllbeqf)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, The Hague Appeals
Court ruled that a 2005 law, which makes it mandatory for all people
older than 14 to carry ID cards and show them to police upon
request, does not have a religious exemption.
   (AP, 2/26/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, A Dutch court
convicted Yvonne Basebya (66), a Rwandan-born Dutch woman, of
inciting genocide in Rwanda's 1994 mass murders of ethnic Tutsis by
members of the Hutu tribe — the first conviction of a Dutch citizen
for the crime. She was sentenced to six years and eight months in
prison for her role.
   (AP, 3/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, The Clinton
Foundation announced that grants for over $700,000 will go toward
efforts in Haiti to plant trees, build a coffee farm and train
farmers. Heineken NV announced that it would invest $40 million to
expand a brewery and help farmers who supply it with sorghum.
   (AP, 3/12/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, TNT Express NV, a
Dutch-based package delivery company, said it will restructure
operations, taking €150 million ($195 million) in charges and
cutting 4,000 jobs, or 6 percent of its work force, by the end of
2015. A takeover by UPS was blocked by European regulators in
January.
   (AP, 3/25/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, The Yugoslav war
crimes tribunal in The Hague convicted two senior Bosnian Serbs of
war crimes in the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. Mico Stanisic and Stojan
Zupljanin were each sentenced to 22 years in prison. In 2016 appeals
were rejected.
   (SFC, 3/28/13, p.A3)(SFC, 7/1/16, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, In Amsterdam
President Vladimir Putin defended Russia's treatment of homosexuals,
as 1,000 gay rights activists waved pink and orange balloons and
blasted out dance music to press home their protest.
   (Reuters, 4/8/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, In Egypt Dutch
journalist Rena Netjes was arrested by Egyptian citizens while
reporting in Cairo, accused of being a spy and handed to authorities
who detained her overnight.
   (AP, 4/9/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11,
Netherlands-based Royal Philips NV said it has developed a
working prototype of an LED lamp that will confine the fluorescent
bulb to the recycling bin of history.
   (AP, 4/11/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, The Dutch Cabinet
brokered a deal with unions that scraps planned salary freezes for
government and healthcare workers.
   (AP, 4/12/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, Netherlands' Queen
Beatrix officially reopened the Rijksmuseum, the country's national
museum, after a 10-year, 375 million euro ($480 million) renovation.
   (AP, 4/13/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, A Dutch court
sentenced diplomat Raymond Poeteray (61) to 12 years in prison for
delivering confidential NATO and European Union documents to Russian
agents. He was arrested in March 2012 in connection with a German
investigation.
   (AP, 4/23/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, A Dutch court
ordered Hans van Anraat, convicted of selling Saddam Hussein raw
materials for mustard gas, to pay compensation to victims of
chemical weapon attacks by the late Iraqi dictator's regime. The
landmark ruling was largely symbolic for the 16 survivors as the
businessman is serving a prison sentence for selling the chemicals
and is believed to be destitute.
   (AP, 4/24/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, Spanish agents
arrested a Dutch citizen, identified as S.K. (35), for using a
vehicle to hack into networks. He was accused of attacking the
Swiss-British antispam watchdog group Spanhaus.
   (SFC, 4/29/13, p.A3)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, In the Netherlands
Beatrix ended her 33-year reign as queen. Willem-Alexander became
the first Dutch king in more than a century and pledged to use his
ceremonial position as head of state to help steer his country
through uncertain economic times.
   (AP, 4/30/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, UAE state news
agency WAM said that Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) would own
60% of the Bab joint venture's equity and Royal Dutch Shell would
hold the rest.
   (AP, 4/30/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, Dutch sociologist
Saskia Sassen was awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias social sciences
prize for her work in the field of globalization and urban
sociology. The jury said that one of her greatest scientific
contributions was "her concept of the 'global city', now accepted
and used worldwide."
   (AP, 5/15/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, The EU granted
France, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia more time
to bring their budget deficits under control to support the bloc's
shrinking economy. The European Commission approved France’s request
to postpone by 2 years the target of cutting its budget deficit to
3% of GDP.
   (AP, 5/29/13)(Econ, 6/1/13, p.55)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, A UN court in the
Netherlands convicted six Bosnian Croat political and military
leaders of persecuting, expelling and murdering Muslims during
Bosnia's war and said leaders in neighboring Croatia helped hatch
and execute their plan to carve out a Croat state in Bosnia.
   (AP, 5/29/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, In Yemen Judith
Spiegel, a Dutch journalist, was kidnapped along with her partner
Boudewijn Berendsen. Both were reported released on Dec 10.
   (AFP, 12/10/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, Yemeni police
confirmed the kidnapping of Judith Spiegel, a Dutch journalist,
along with her partner Boudewijn Berendsen, earlier this month. In
July the couple appealed for help, saying their captors have
threatened to kill them in days unless the Dutch government meets
unspecified demands.
   (Reuters, 7/16/13)(http://tinyurl.com/n4zl2pj)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, A Romanian museum
official said that ash from the oven of a woman whose son is charged
with stealing 7 multi-million-dollar paintings from Rotterdam’s
Kunsthal Musum (Nov 16, 2012) contains paint, canvas and nails. Olga
Dogaru has claimed to have burned the stolen paintings last February
after police began searching the village of Caracliu, where she
lived. On July 22 Olga Dogaru told a Bucharest court that she did
not burn the paintings in her stove.
   (SFC, 7/18/13, p.A2)(AP, 7/22/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, Dutch judges
blocked the extradition of a terror suspect, identified as Sabir K.,
to the United States, saying he was tortured in Pakistan after his
2010 arrest and it is unclear whether American authorities had any
involvement. US authorities have accused him of working with
al-Qaida from 2004 to 2010, and of plotting a suicide attack on an
American military base in Afghanistan.
   (AP, 7/23/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, In Britain Dutch
scientists served hamburgers made from cow stem cells at a public
tasting in London. Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, underwrote the
250,000-euro ($330,000) project, which began in 2006.
   (AP, 8/5/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, In Romania a trial
opened on artwork stolen last october in the Netherlands. Lawyers
for the defendents said the paintings have not been burned and that
the gang responsible would like to cut a deal so the artwork can be
returned.
   (SFC, 8/14/13, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, The Belgian
prosecutor's office said a three-nation investigation (Belgium,
Netherlands, Poland) has led to one of the biggest seizures of
synthetic drugs in Europe, a haul of core products to create Ecstasy
pills with a street value of 1.3 billion euros ($1.75 billion).
   (AP, 8/23/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, The Netherlands
supreme court ruled that the Dutch state is liable for the deaths of
three Bosnian Muslims who were expelled from a UN compound at
Srebrenica in 1995.
   (AFP, 9/6/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, The Netherlands
sought to "close a difficult chapter" with its former colony
Indonesia by publicly apologising for mass killings carried out by
the Dutch army in the 1940s war of independence.
   (AFP, 9/12/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, Representatives
from 15 Caribbean nations gathered in St. Vincent to seek slavery
reparations from Britain, France and the Netherlands.
   (SFC, 9/17/13, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, The Italian
government announced that police in The Netherlands have arrested
Francesco Nirta, a senior mafia boss and one of Italy's 10 most
wanted men.
   (AP, 9/21/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, In the Netherlands
the commission that vets cases of euthanasia said cases rose by 13%
in 2012 from 2011, the sixth consecutive year of increases. 4,188
cases were recorded in 2012.
   (AP, 9/24/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, A Russian court
ordered two Greenpeace activists to be detained for two months over
a protest on an Arctic oil platform, as the Netherlands called for
the activists' immediate release and threatened legal action against
Moscow.
   (AFP, 9/26/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, The Netherlands
launched legal proceedings against Russia, saying it had unlawfully
detained activists and others on the Dutch-registered ship last
month as it protested against drilling in the Arctic.
   (Reuters, 10/5/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, Russia shrugged off
Dutch legal action over its detention and prosecution of Greenpeace
activists for piracy, saying the group's protest at an Arctic oil
platform had been "pure provocation."
   (Reuters, 10/5/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, Dutch coastguards
scrambled helicopters and divers to search for three sailors missing
in the North Sea after their ship sank following a collision with a
fishing trawler.
   (AFP, 10/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, The Dutch foreign
minister apologized to Moscow for the detention of a Russian
diplomat in The Hague, saying his right to diplomatic immunity had
been violated. Dutch child protection services said earlier they
were investigating a complaint from neighbors of diplomat Dmitry
Borodin about his treatment of his children.
   (Reuters, 10/9/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Dutch police said
a total of 15 people have been arrested since July, related to
cocaine packages stashed aboard planes arriving from Latin America.
Seven of them employed by the same company at Schiphol.
   (AFP, 10/15/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, In Russia unknown
attackers posing as electricians broke into the apartment of a Dutch
diplomat, forced him to the ground, hit him and drew a heart
containing the letters LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender) on a mirror in pink lipstick.
   (Reuters, 10/16/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, The Netherlands
Supreme Court said municipalities are entitled to to tax dog
ownership because they have to pick up the bill for keeping public
parks and streets clean.
   (SFC, 10/18/13, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, Russia said it
will boycott maritime court hearings sought by the Netherlands in a
bid to free 30 crew members of a Greenpeace ship who were detained
during a protest against Arctic oil drilling. Russia dropped piracy
charges against 30 people involved in a Greenpeace protest against
Arctic oil drilling, replacing them with lesser offences and cutting
the maximum jail sentence they face to seven years from 15.
   (AFP, 10/23/13)(Reuters, 10/23/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, A major storm,
dubbed the St Jude storm, lashed southern Britain, the Netherlands
and parts of France, knocking down trees, flooding low areas and
causing travel chaos. 5 deaths were reported.
   (AP, 10/28/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, Dutch PM Mark Rutte
said the Netherlands will send 380 soldiers and four Apache attack
helicopters to war-torn Mali following an appeal for more UN
peacekeepers.
   (AFP, 11/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, Lyon-based Interpol
said it was waiting for information from Dutch authorities after a
rights group said it had identified 1,000 paedophiles by offering
online sex with a computer-generated girl (10).
   (AFP, 11/5/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, The International
Criminal Court's vexed relationship with Africa took center stage on
the opening day of the annual summit of its 122 member states at The
Hague.
   (AP, 11/20/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 29, Standard &
Poor's stripped the Netherlands of its triple-A credit rating,
saying that the country's growth prospects have deteriorated and it
is not performing as well as peers.
   (AP, 11/29/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, In Germany Heinrich
Boere (92), who murdered Dutch civilians as part of a Nazi Waffen SS
hit squad during World War II but avoided justice for six decades,
died in a prison hospital while serving a life sentence.
   (AP, 12/2/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, Netherlands-based
Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it has completed building the hull of the
world's largest floating facility, which has been constructed to
process natural gas off the coast of western Australia.
   (AP, 12/3/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, Romania's Interior
Ministry said Adrian Procop (21), a Romanian man accused of stealing
seven masterpieces from a Dutch museum, was arrested in Britain
after months on the run. Procop entered the Kunsthal museum at night
in Oct 2012 with a friend, Radu Dogaru, and stole artworks worth 18
million euros ($24 million).
   (AFP, 12/6/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Russell Shorto authored
“Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City.”
   (Econ, 10/26/13, p.95)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Authorities in the
Netherlands discovered that Bulgarian scammers were collecting
fraudulent payments for chile care. A number of Bulgarian citizens
were encouraged by a gang to briefly register at an address in the
Netherlands and to retroactively apply for a €6,000–8,000 health
care and housing allowance.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_childcare_benefits_scandal)(Econ.,
1/23/21, p.42)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, Dutch pension asset
manager PGGM, one of the largest in the country, said it was
divesting from five Israeli banks because they finance Jewish
settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
   (AFP, 1/8/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 23, Dutch authorities
said they have detained Jean Baptiste M. (54), a former Rwandan
politician suspected of compiling death lists during the country's
1994 genocide, and would send him home for court hearings.
   (Reuters, 1/23/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, Royal Dutch Shell
said it will suspend drilling in offshore Alaska after a US court
decision and as the oil major streamlines operations following a
slump in annual profits.
   (AFP, 1/30/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 10, In the Netherlands
former health minister Els Borst (81), a woman who drafted the
nation's landmark 2002 law permitting euthanasia, was found dead in
her garage. Police ruled out natural causes.
   (AP, 2/11/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, German and Dutch
authorities arrested five men in a sting operation against a website
allegedly used to sell illegal drugs and weapons.
   (AP, 2/13/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, Uganda shrugged
off foreign aid cuts and int’l criticism of its tough new anti-gay
law, saying it could do without Western aid. Denmark, Norway and the
Netherlands cut aid over Uganda’s anti-gay law.
   (AFP, 2/27/14)(SFC, 2/28/14, p.A4)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb, In the Netherlands
the Allard Pierson museum opened the "Crimea — Gold and secrets of
the Black Sea" exhibition. In April curators said they are not sure
where to return the objects on display when it ends in August due to
Russia’s takeover of Crimea.
   (AP, 4/4/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, Congolese warlord
Germain Katanga was convicted of being an accessory to war crimes
including murder and pillage - only the second conviction in the
12-year history of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The
Hague.
   (Reuters, 3/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, The
Netherlands-based ICC said Charles Ble Goude, wanted by the
International Criminal Court in connection with a wave of violence
after Ivory Coast's 2010 elections, is in its court's custody and is
on his way to its jail in The Hague.
   (Reuters, 3/22/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, China and the
Netherlands signed a trade pact pledging Dutch dairy expertise to
help Chinese producers boost the quality and quantity of their milk.
It was part of a raft of deals and memoranda of understanding inked
on the 2nd day of a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who
is in the Netherlands with a large trade delegation.
   (AP, 3/23/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, Belgium and Italy
said they had moved excess nuclear materials to the United States
for disposal or downgrading under the terms of past agreements, at
the start of a nuclear summit in the Netherlands.
   (Reuters, 3/24/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, Japanese and US
leaders said Japan will turn over hundreds of kilograms of sensitive
atomic material of potential use in bombs to the United States to be
downgraded and disposed. This was shortly before leaders from 53
countries, including Obama and Abe, were due to hold a two-day
summit at The Hague aimed at preventing al Qaeda-style militant
groups from acquiring nuclear bombs.
   (Reuters, 3/24/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, In the Netherlands
35 countries pledged to turn international guidelines on nuclear
security into national laws, a move aimed at preventing terrorists
from getting their hands on nuclear material.
   (AP, 3/25/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, Dutch police
detained 28 anti-nuclear demonstrators at a reactor ahead of a visit
by a delegation of energy sector bosses.
   (Reuters, 3/25/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, In the Netherlands
US President Barack Obama, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and South Korean
President Park Geun-hye met to discuss North Korea's security
threat.
   (AP, 3/26/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, Netherlands’
public prosecutor said Milutin Graic (41), wanted in Croatia on
suspicion of war crimes during the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in
the 1990s, has been arrested in Roosendaal.
   (Reuters, 3/28/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, The Dutch
government scrapped a trade mission to Russia that was intended to
forge closer ties between the two countries' energy sectors, blaming
developments in eastern Ukraine.
   (AP, 4/9/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 10, The Dutch
government announced that relatives of three men killed during the
1995 Srebrenica massacre will each receive 20,000 euros ($28,000) in
compensation. Seven months earlier the Dutch Supreme Court ruled
that the Netherlands was liable in the deaths of the three Bosnian
Muslims because Dutch troops serving in a UN peacekeeping force
should not have turned the men over to Bosnian Serb forces.
   (AP, 4/10/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, In the Netherlands
Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won the Rotterdam Marathon, but failed in
his bid to break the course record on a windy day in the port city.
   (AP, 4/13/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, The Dutch donned
crazy orange-colored outfits and celebrated their first ever "King's
Day" — a national holiday held in honor of the newly installed
monarch, King Willem Alexander. King's Day replaced the traditional
"Queens' Day" festival held this time of year.
   (AP, 4/26/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Dutch police
stormed a Greenpeace ship and ended environmentalists' attempts to
block a Russian tanker carrying oil from the Arctic Ocean from
mooring at Rotterdam Port. 31 activists were detained.
   (AP, 5/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, EU parliamentary
elections began in Britain and the Netherlands at the start of 4
days of balloting across the 28 members.
   (SFC, 5/23/14, p.A5)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â May 23, The Int’l.
Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague sentenced Germain Katanga, a
Congolese militia leader, to 12 years in prison for his role in a
2003 attack where more than 200 civilians were killed.
   (SFC, 5/24/14, p.A3)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, In the Netherlands
an Amsterdam court ruled that the traditional figure known as Black
Pete, the sidekick to the Dutch equivalent of Santa Claus, is a
negative stereotype of black people and the city must rethink its
involvement in holiday celebrations involving him.
   (AP, 7/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, Aruba's PM Mike
Eman and several legislators launched a hunger strike to protest
what they say is meddling by the Dutch government in local financial
affairs. This came after the Dutch government asked Aruba's governor
to hold off on signing the 2014 budget into law pending an
evaluation of it.
   (AP, 7/13/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, A civil court in
The Hague court cleared the Netherlands of liability in the deaths
of the most of the 8,000 Bosnian Muslims slain in the July, 1995,
Srebrenica massacre, but did order the nation to compensate the
families of more than 300 men turned over to Bosnian Serb forces and
later killed.
   (AP, 7/16/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, Malaysia Airlines
flight MH17 with 298 people on board was shot down over eastern
Ukraine. Officials strongly suspected the Boeing 777 was downed by a
missile fired by Ukrainian separatists backed by Moscow. More than
half of the dead passengers, 189 people, were Dutch. Twenty-nine
were Malaysian, 27 Australian, 12 Indonesian, 9 British, 4 German, 4
Belgian, 3 Filipino, one Canadian, one New Zealand and 4 as yet
unidentified. All 15 crew were Malaysian.
   (Reuters, 7/18/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, In the Netherlands
Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan said the controversial winter
holiday character Black Pete would change in appearance over the
next four years to make him less of an offensive racial figure and
eventually just resemble someone who has climbed through a chimney.
   (SFC, 8/15/14, p.A5)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, Statistics
Netherlands said sanctions Russia has imposed on agricultural
products from the EU will cut Dutch exports by "at least 300 million
euros" ($400 million), based on 2013 figures.
   (Reuters, 8/19/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, In the Netherlands
a tricked-out truck, sporting outsized tires and a powerful engine,
surged off the track after driving over a line of prop cars,
crashing through a barricade and into the audience in the eastern
town of Haaksbergen. 3 people died in the accident.
   (AFP, 9/29/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Netherlands
authorities announced the arrest of 12 people with suspected links
to militant Islamists.
   (Reuters, 11/13/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, Authorities in the
Netherlands said they have identified a "highly pathogenic" strain
of bird flu at a farm in the central area of the Netherlands and
announced a temporary ban on all transport to and from poultry farms
across the country. They said it was the highly contagious H5N8
strain first detected in Europe less than two weeks ago.
   (Reuters, 11/16/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, Dutch authorities
said a case of bird flu has been confirmed at a chicken farm, the
second infection identified in the country this week.
   (AP, 11/20/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 21, Dutch authorities
said they will slaughter poultry at a cluster of three farms after
new cases of bird flu were found in Kamperveen, in the 3rd outbreak
this week.
   (SFC, 11/22/14, p.A2)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, Dutch researchers
sought to add a new, largely untapped renewable energy source to the
world's energy mix with the opening of a "Blue Energy" test
facility. Blue energy takes advantage of the difference in salt
concentration between sea water and fresh water to produce
electricity.
   (AP, 11/26/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, The Netherlands
Economic Affairs Ministry said in a statement that poultry at the
farm in the town of Zoeterwoude were suffering from an H5 strain of
bird flu and that all 28,000 birds there were being slaughtered.
   (AP, 11/30/14)
2014 Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 5, Prosecutors at the
International Criminal Court withdrew their crimes against humanity
charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. Kenyatta said he
was "vindicated" after the ICC's decision.
   (Reuters, 12/5/14)(SFC, 12/6/14, p.A4)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, A Dutch court ruled
in a preliminary judgment that Uber, a California-based ride-sharing
service, must stop working with drivers who charge fares but do not
possess a taxi license.
   (AP, 12/8/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, In Vienna,
Austria, several states (Britain, Norway, Netherlands and the US)
pledged to back a UN nuclear agency (IAEA) request for 4.6 million
euros ($5.7 million) as soon as possible to pay for its monitoring
of an extended, interim nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
   (AP, 12/11/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 15, A Dutch privacy
watchdog ordered Google to make changes to the way it handles users'
personal data or face fines of up to 15 million euros ($18.7
million).
   (AP, 12/15/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, The United States
slapped sanctions on Dutch and Swiss oil trading firms for their
dealings with the Syrian government. This put Netherlands-based
Staroil B.V. as well as two Swiss-based firms, Rixo International
Trading Ltd and Bluemarine SA, on its list of sanctioned entities,
which effectively cuts them off from the US financial system.
   (AP, 12/17/14)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, It was announced
that Royal Dutch Shell will pay more than $80 million to people in
Bodo, a Nigerian fishing community "devastated" by two serious oil
spills in 2008. The clean-up could take years.
   (AFP, 1/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, A Netherlands
judge approved the extradition of Vladimir Drinkman to the US. He
was one of four Russians and a Ukrainian charged in a data breach
that netted at least 160 million credit and debit card numbers
resulting in losses of hundreds of millions over seven years.
   (SFC, 1/28/15, p.A2)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 10, In the Netherlands
a "distributed denial of service" attack was responsible for taking
down several of government websites for hours.
   (AP, 2/11/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 13, The Netherlands
extradited Vladimir Drinkman to the US. The Russian was suspected of
involvement in a huge data breach that racked up hundreds of
millions of dollars in losses over seven years for US companies.
Drinkman was arrested in the Netherlands in June 2012.
   (AP, 2/13/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 18, The Dutch Safety
Board said Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp and the Dutch
government ignored the danger of earthquakes caused by gas
extraction at the massive Groningen gas field for decades.
   (Reuters, 2/18/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, In the Netherlands
a court ruled that the Dutch government must pay compensation to
nine widows and children of Indonesian men summarily executed in
their country's war for independence, a ruling that could open the
door to many more claims.
   (AP, 3/11/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, In The Netherlands
trains, trams and planes ground to a temporary halt in and around
Amsterdam as a huge power outage hit the Dutch capital and
surrounding towns. Power was soon restored.
   (AFP, 3/27/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, Dutch businessman
Willy Selten was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. He was
at the center of a Europe-wide fraud in which falsely labeled
horsemeat led to thousands of tons of meat being recalled.
   (Reuters, 4/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, FedEx said it has
agreed to take over TNT Express, a Dutch delivery firm, for $4.8
billion in an all cash offer of $8.75 per TNT share.
   (SFC, 4/8/15, p.C3)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, Royal Dutch Shell
said it will pay the equivalent of 13.67 pounds in cash and stock
for each share of British rival BG Group, 50 percent more than the
April 7 closing price.
   (AP, 4/8/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, The Netherlands
turned out in orange as King Willem-Alexander turned 48 and the
whole country celebrated King's Day.
   (AP, 4/27/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, In the Netherlands
an appeals court cleared Albert Heringa of any criminal
responsibility for helping his mother (90) take her life in 2008.
   (SFC, 5/14/15, p.A2)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â May 27, Dutch police
detained 20 people, 14 of them members of the Bandidos motorcycle
gang, and seized weapons including five rocket-propelled grenade
launchers and six automatic handguns. The 19 men and one woman were
suspected of crimes including drug trafficking, extortion and money
laundering.
   (AP, 5/27/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 2, The Dutch Safety
Board made a draft report on last year's crash of Malaysia Airlines
Flight 17 available to representatives of Malaysia, Ukraine, the
United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia and the
Netherlands. It did not publicize details of the confidential draft.
   (AP, 7/1/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, In southern
Portugal a bus carrying Dutch tourists crashed, killing 3 tourists
and injuring 30 others and the Portuguese bus driver.
   (AP, 6/18/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, A Dutch court
ordered the state to slash greenhouse gas emissions nationwide by at
least 25 percent by 2020.
   (AFP, 6/24/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, In the Netherlands
Mitch Henriquez (42), from the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, died
in the hands of police. Preliminary findings from an autopsy
indicated that Henriquez died of asphyxiation after being held in a
chokehold and pinned down by five white police officers.
   (Reuters, 7/2/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, Dutch police fired
warning shots and arrested 34 people during a third straight day of
unrest triggered by the June 28 death of a Caribbean man in police
custody. A temporary ban on public gatherings was imposed in a
neighborhood hit by rioting.
   (Reuters, 7/2/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, Dutch police have
detained some 200 people for ignoring a ban on public assembly
imposed in a neighborhood hit by four days of late-night rioting
following the death of a man in police custody.
   (AP, 7/3/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, Royal Dutch Shell
announced deep cuts to jobs and investment on as the global energy
giant prepares for a prolonged period of low oil prices.
   (AP, 7/30/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, Russia tightened
controls on imports of cut flowers from the Netherlands, a move that
comes amid a strain in ties over the downing of a Malaysia Airlines
plane in Ukraine.
   (AP, 8/4/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, An international
arbitration panel said Russia must compensate the Netherlands for
seizing a Greenpeace ship protesting at an oil platform in Arctic
waters in breach of an international treaty regulating the laws of
the sea. The Arctic Sunrise, sailing under a Dutch flag, was seized
by Russian authorities in September 2013 during a protest against an
offshore oil platform.
   (AP, 8/24/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, Joost Zwagerman
(b.1963), Dutch writer, poet and essayist, committed suicide. In
2017 “The Penguin Book of Dutch Short Stories,” edited by Zwagerman,
was published.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joost_Zwagerman)(Econ, 3/11/17, p.79)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, The Netherlands
said police will carry out spot border checks in response to a surge
in asylum seekers into the European Union.
   (Reuters, 9/14/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, The International
Criminal Court unveiled at least 60 new war crimes charges against
Dominic Ongwen, the deputy leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance
Army, including the use of child soldiers and keeping sex slaves.
   (AFP, 9/24/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, At the Hague-based
Special Tribunal for Lebanon tribunal set up to try the killers of
former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri fined journalist Karma Khayat 10,000
euros for obstruction of justice. The judge found her guilty of
obstruction of justice because she failed to remove the broadcasts
from the Al-Jadeed TV website and social media as ordered.
   (AFP, 9/28/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, The Dutch Safety
Board concluded that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over
eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile in its final report on
the crash on July 17, 2014, that killed all 298 people on board,
most of them Dutch.
   (Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, Dutch electronics
giant Philips announced the inking of a multi-million-euro contract
with Canada's Mackenzie Health to install and run a raft of
state-of-the-art hospital equipment over the next 18 years.
   (AFP, 11/10/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 10, A Dutch court
convicted six men of belonging to a network recruiting young Muslims
to join the Islamic State jihadist group, handing them jail terms of
up to six years.
   (AFP, 12/10/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 16, Dutch police fired
warning shots and arrested 14 demonstrators when a protest by
hundreds of people against the opening of a refugee center turned
violent, leaving several injured.
   (AFP, 12/17/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, A Dutch appeals
court ruled that Royal Dutch Shell may be held liable for oil spills
at its subsidiary in Nigeria, potentially opening the way for other
compensation claims against multinationals in the Niger Delta and
elsewhere.
   (Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands the
flow of refugees rose to a record 59,100 this year.
   (SFC, 1/9/16, p.A2)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, The Netherlands
took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European
Union.
   (Econ, 1/9/16, p.10)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, In the Netherlands
police, politicians and intelligence officials from more than 50
countries met at The Hague to discuss how to improve coordination in
the fight against extremist violence and crack down on foreigners
traveling to fight in conflict-torn countries like Syria and Iraq.
   (AP, 1/11/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 12, In the Netherlands
five sperm whales beached on Texel Island. All 5 died before anyone
could attempt a rescue operation. Sperm whales began to wash up on
German, Dutch, French and British shores. Over the next two months
29 beached whales surprised scientists after only 82 previous
beaching of sperm whales had been documented since the 1990s. In
2017 German scientists said the mass beachings could have been due
to solar storms.
   (AP, 1/13/16)   (Reuters, 9/5/17)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, Judges at the
International Criminal Court gave its prosecutor a green light to
launch a new inquiry into allegations of war crimes during a brief
but bloody 2008 war between Russia and Georgia.
   (AFP, 1/27/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, Bosnian Serb Gen.
Zdravko Tolimir, jailed for life for committing genocide during the
Balkans wars, died of natural cases in a UN detention center at The
Hague.
   (AFP, 2/12/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, The Netherlands
said it would create a 300-strong rapid response security team that
could be deployed for border control anywhere, but primarily within
the European Union.
   (Reuters, 2/11/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, A Dutch passenger
train derailed after hitting a maintenance crane during rush hour,
killing one person and injuring several others.
   (Reuters, 2/23/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 16, Royal Dutch Shell
PLC and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. said they will split up the assets of
their joint US venture, which will see the kingdom's state-owned
producer take full ownership of America's biggest oil refinery. The
Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, had been part of a 50-50 joint venture
between the two companies called Motiva Enterprises LLC, which
formed in 1998.
   (AP, 3/17/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, At The Hague
Florence Hartmann, now a freelance journalist, was arrested outside
the UN war crimes tribunal just before the court convicted Bosnian
Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. Her attorney said it was almost
certainly an attempt by the UN to make her serve out a previous
sentence for contempt of court. The tribunal convicted her in 2009
for publishing confidential material, giving her a fine which was
later converted into a seven-day prison sentence. Hartmann was
released on March 29.
   (AP, 3/28/16)(AP, 3/29/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, Dutch police found
ammunition in the house of a French national arrested in Rotterdam
on suspicion of plotting an attack. The man (32), thought to be
called Anis B., was detained on suspicion of receiving orders from
the Islamic State group to attack targets in France along with Reda
Kriket, who was detained near Paris last week.
   (AFP, 3/28/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Dutch voters went
to the polls and rejected a key EU pact with Ukraine in a referendum
triggered by grassroots eurosceptic groups and seen as a yardstick
on ties with Brussels.
   (AFP, 4/6/16)(Reuters, 4/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, A Dutch court
quashed a $50 billion award Russia had been ordered to pay the
former majority shareholders of Yukos, a major win for Moscow in the
high-stakes dispute over the dismantling of what was once Russia's
largest oil producer. The Dutch court said a Hague-based arbitration
panel in 2014 did not have jurisdiction to rule in the case because
the arbitration was based on an energy treaty that Russia had signed
but had not ratified.
   (AP, 4/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, Dutch prosecutors
said the former spokesman of Geert Wilder, the far-right Dutch
politician who wants to ban Muslim immigration in Europe, embezzled
nearly 180,000 euros ($203,000) in party funds to finance a luxury
lifestyle.
   (Reuters, 4/26/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, The Dutch finance
minister said the country's national debt declined last year for the
first time since 2006 as the economy reaped the benefits of reforms
and recovered from the global economic turmoil of recent years. The
2015 national debt was 442 billion euros, 10 billion less than the
previous year. The debt equals 65.1 percent of gross domestic
product.
   (AP, 5/18/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, European Union
ministers meeting in the Dutch capital endorsed a "Pact of
Amsterdam" aimed at improving living conditions in towns and cities
throughout the 28-nation bloc.
   (AP, 5/30/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, Dutch prosecutors
raided a string of locations and seized cash and hundreds of
thousands of fraudulent letters in an investigation into worldwide
mail scams. The next day US law enforcement authorities said the
scams had defrauded "elderly and vulnerable" Americans out of tens
of millions of dollars.
   (AP, 6/2/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, It was reported
that the Dutch Ocean Cleanup Foundation has developed floating
barriers to try to collect trash from the world's oceans, and will
launch a 100 meter-long prototype in the North Sea this week to see
how it fares during storms. Chief Executive Boyan Slat (21) first
had the idea for the system as a teenager.
   (Reuters, 6/22/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, Geert Wilders, the
leader of the Dutch anti-immigrant PVV party, said the Netherlands
should hold its own referendum on whether to leave the European
Union following Britain's vote in favor of exiting the bloc.
   (Reuters, 6/24/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, A Dutch court
ruled that Aydin Coban (38) can be extradited to Canada to face
charges of using a computer to harass and blackmail teenager Amanda
Todd. She committed suicide in October 2012, a month after releasing
a widely-viewed YouTube video in which she detailed her suffering.
   (Reuters, 6/28/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, An international
tribunal at The Hague rejected China's extensive claims in the South
China Sea in a landmark ruling that also found the country had
aggravated the regional dispute and violated the Philippines'
maritime rights by building up artificial islands that destroyed
coral reefs and by disrupting fishing and oil exploration. China
immediately rejected it.
   (AP, 7/12/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, A Dutch court
sentenced a Turkish-born man (44) to 30 days imprisonment for
calling the country's king a "murderer, rapist and thief," in a rare
use of a law against insulting the monarch. He has spent two weeks
in pretrial detention and will not have to serve any prison time.
   (AP, 7/14/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, In the Netherlands
Mark Langedijk (41), a long-term alcoholic, chose to end his life by
lethal injection saying he could no longer go on.
   (AP, 12/1/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, A Dutch court
convicted four men in absentia for travelling to Syria to join
extremists, including the Islamic State group, and sentenced them to
six years in prison. All four suspects were believed to be in Syria,
where some 260 Dutch citizens have gone to fight in recent years.
   (AP, 7/22/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, Israeli PM Benjamin
Netanyahu, during a visit to the Netherlands, said the Dutch
government will assist Israel in improving water and gas supplies to
energy-strapped Gaza.
   (Reuters, 9/6/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, The Dutch
government says it is extending its involvement in a military
training mission in Iraq until the end of 2017.
   (AP, 9/9/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, A Dutch-led
inquiry into the July 2014 downing of Flight MH17 over eastern
Ukraine said the Boeing 777 was shot down by a BUK missile system
from an area in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian
separatists, and that the system was brought in from Russia and then
taken back there. Russian missile-maker Almaz-Antey said the BUK
missile was fired from territory held by the Ukrainian army and the
prosecutors' findings were not supported by technical evidence.
   (AFP, 9/28/16)(Reuters, 9/28/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, In China Dutch
artist Daan Roosegaarde opened what he calls the world's largest air
purifier in Beijing, beginning the first leg of a China tour to
raise awareness of environmental problems. The seven-meter-high
(7.66-yard-high) Smog Free Tower, part of the Smog Free Project
started by the artist, creates a bubble of clean air enabling
citizens to experience clean air for free.
   (Reuters, 9/29/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, Investigators said
Italian police have found two Van Gogh paintings that were stolen
from an Amsterdam museum in 2002 hidden in a farmhouse near an
organized crime syndicate's Naples-area stronghold. Investigators
seized some 20 million euros ($22 million) worth of assets,
including farmland, villas and apartments, which they say are linked
to two Camorra drug kingpins, Mario Cerrone and Raffaele Imperiale.
   (AP, 9/30/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, A trio of European
scientists has won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for developing
molecular machines that could one day be injected to fight cancer or
used to make new types of materials and energy storage devices.
Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Scotland's J. Fraser Stoddart and
Dutchman Bernard Feringa developed molecules that produce mechanical
motion in response to a stimulus, allowing them to perform specific
tasks.
   (Reuters, 10/5/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 10, Royal Dutch Shell
confirmed that it had signed an initial deal with Iran's National
Petrochemical Company, paving the way for its return to the Islamic
republic.
   (AFP, 10/10/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 27, Dutch officials
said they have culled 190,000 ducks on a farm where inspectors have
confirmed the presence of a highly infectious strain of bird flu.
   (AFP, 11/27/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, Belgium and the
Netherlands signed a deal for a peaceful exchange of land between
them for the mere fact that it makes sense to do so. Belgium gave up
a tiny peninsula on the Meuse river linked only to the Netherlands
and got in return a nearby piece from its neighbor.
   (AP, 11/28/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 29, The Dutch
parliament voted to ban face veils in some public places, a law the
government said was essential for security but which opponents said
pandered to anti-Muslim sentiment.
   (Reuters, 11/29/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, The Dutch
government backed a multi-year inquiry into the end of its colonial
period in Indonesia in the 1940s, when troops from the Netherlands
are accused of massacres in Southeast Asia's largest nation.
   (Reuters, 12/2/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, Netherlands said it
will gradually phase out subsidizes for renewable energy and shift
its climate change strategy to areas such as energy saving and
carbon capture.
   (Reuters, 12/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, In the Netherlands
police acting on a tip-off from the Dutch intelligence agency
arrested a 30-year-old "terrorist" suspect and seized an arsenal of
weapons in the port city of Rotterdam.
   (Reuters, 12/9/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, Dutch populist
anti-Islam Dutch MP Geert Wilders was found guilty on of
discrimination against Moroccans, but acquitted of hate speech in a
closely-watched trial ahead of next year's key elections. Judges
decided not to impose any sentence or fine, and Wilders immediately
vowed to appeal against what he said was a bid to "neutralize" him
ahead of the March polls.
   (AFP, 12/9/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 14, A Dutch court
ruled that a priceless collection of gold artifacts from Crimea that
was on loan to a Dutch museum when Russia seized the peninsula must
be returned to Ukraine and not Crimea.
   (Reuters, 12/14/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Mark Spoerer, German
historian, authored “C&A: A family business in Germany, the
Netherlands and the United Kingdom 1911-1961.”
   (Econ, 10/29/16, p.57)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â In the Netherlands Thierry
Baudet (33) co-founded the Forum for Democracy (FVD). In 2019 the
far right party won the largest vote share in provincial elections.
   (Econ., 12/5/20, p.53)(Econ., 1/9/21, p.45)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, Authorities in the
Netherlands and Spain arrested five male and two female suspects,
all Dutch nationals, over the last 24 hours over the robbery of $72
million in jewelry, one the world's biggest ever heists, from
Amsterdam's airport in 2005.
   (AFP, 1/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, Britain’s High
Court ruled that Royal Dutch Shell cannot be sued in London over oil
spills in Nigeria, in a setback to attempts to hold British
multinationals liable at home for their subsidiaries' actions
abroad. The court also said the claimants should be able to use
Nigerian courts.
   (Reuters, 1/26/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, German geologist
Kay Holtzmann, contracted by the Dutch-British multinational Royal
Dutch Shell's Nigeria subsidiary, wrote a letter to the Bodo
Mediation Initiative saying the company "fiercely opposed"
environmental testing and is concealing data showing thousands of
Nigerians are exposed to health hazards from a stalled cleanup of
the worst oil spills in the West African nation's history.
   (AP, 3/24/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, It was reported
that Belgium has sealed an agreement with France and the Netherlands
to draw up passenger lists and introduce passport checks on Thalys
and Eurostar international rail services.
   (AP, 1/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In the Netherlands
a major computer malfunction crippled traffic at Amsterdam's
Schiphol airport for hours, causing delays or cancellations of more
than 100 flights at one of Europe's largest transportation hubs. The
outage was caused by faulty hardware.
   (Reuters, 2/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, Dutch artist and
illustrator Dick Bruna (89), creator of beloved children's character
Miffy the white rabbit, died in Utrecht. Miffy, the white bunny with
two dots for eyes and a cross for her mouth, was inspired by a
rabbit seen hopping around the garden during a family seaside
holiday in 1955.
   (AFP, 2/17/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, Dutch lawmakers
voted in favor of tolerating the cultivation of cannabis, a move
that could bring to an end a key paradox of the relaxed Dutch policy
on marijuana and hashish.
   (AP, 2/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 24, Guatemala's
immigration office ordered the expulsion of a ship run by a Dutch
nonprofit organization that performs free abortions onboard in
international waters. The ship, operated by Women on Waves, travels
the globe offering abortion services to women in countries where the
procedure is illegal.
   (AP, 2/25/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, A European Union
court struck down a 2013 decision by EU regulators to block a
planned takeover of Dutch-based package delivery company TNT Express
by United Parcel Services Inc.
   (AP, 3/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, The Netherlands
barred Turkey's foreign minister from landing in Rotterdam in a row
over Ankara's political campaigning among Turkish emigres, and
President Tayyip Erdogan retaliated, branding his NATO partner a
"Nazi remnant". Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said family
minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya will travel to the Dutch city of
Rotterdam by land. Dutch authorities expelled Kaya for seeking to
woo the vote of expatriate Turks for a key referendum at home.
   (Reuters, 3/11/17)(AFP, 3/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on international organizations to "raise
their voices" against the Netherlands after it escorted a minister
out of the country and prevented another one from landing in the
country.
   (AP, 3/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, Hundreds of
Twitter accounts were hijacked amid the ongoing diplomatic feud
between Turkey and two European nations, Germany and the
Netherlands. Most if not all high-profile accounts soon returned to
normal.
   (AP, 3/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, Millions of Dutch
flocked to the polls in a test of the "patriotic revolution"
promised by far-right MP Geert Wilders. PM Mark Rutte's conservative
VVD party won the elections with 33 seats. Wilders increased his
bloc from 15 in 2012 to 20. The Denk party, catering to Dutch
Muslims, won three seats.
   (AFP, 3/15/17)(AP, 3/16/17)(Econ, 3/18/17, p.59)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, Turkey said its
red meat association has ordered a consignment of prize Dutch cattle
to be sent back to the Netherlands, saying it no longer wants to
farm the cows due to the diplomatic crisis between the countries.
   (AFP, 3/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, At the Hague
International Criminal Court judges sentenced former Congolese VP
Jean-Pierre Bemba to a year in jail and fined him 300,000 euros for
bribing witnesses during his war crimes trial in an unprecedented
case before the ICC.
   (AFP, 3/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, The International
Criminal Court at The Hague awarded $250 dollars as "symbolic"
damages to each victim of former Congolese warlord Germain Katanga,
a sum swiftly dismissed as meaningless by those who lost homes and
loved ones in a militia attack on their village 14 years ago.
   (AFP, 3/24/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, In the northern
Netherlands two people were killed when a train hit a car at a rail
crossing near Harlingen.
   (AP, 3/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, A Dutchman
convicted of cyberbullying lost his appeal against being extradited
to Canada to face charges linked to the 2012 suicide of Amanda Todd
(15), who suffered online harassment. Aydin C. was sentenced last
month to almost 11 years in jail, after being found guilty of 72
charges including computer sex crimes.
   (AFP, 4/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Dutch public
broadcaster NOS reported that as many as 100 Dutch citizens of
Turkish descent are being prevented from leaving Turkey. NOS said
those affected, many of whom had been to Turkey on holiday or to see
their families, had all been publicly critical of President Tayyip
Erdogan.
   (Reuters, 4/6/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, Dutch prosecutors
said they have arrested eight people suspected of involvement in
robbing or extorting money from tourists by forcing them to pay
extreme prices for journeys from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport into
the popular Dutch city.
   (AP, 4/14/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, Dutch timber
trader Guus Kouwenhoven (74) was convicted as an accessory to war
crimes for selling weapons to Liberia's then-President Charles
Taylor between 2000 and 2003 in violation of a UN embargo. He was
sentenced to 19 years in prison. Kouwenhoven was initially sentenced
to eight years by the Dutch district court for Den Bosch in 2008 on
weapons smuggling charges, but was acquitted on appeal.
   (Reuters, 4/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, In the southern
Netherlands police searching a barn discovered a large quantity of a
synthetic drug that is popular in the Arab world. The pills with
captagon logos contained amphetamines and caffeine. They also
uncovered laboratory equipment, a pill making machine and some 80
kilograms (176 pounds) of amphetamines and MDMA, also known as
ecstasy.
   (AP, 5/10/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, In the Netherlands
an asylum-seeker (33) from Eritrea was sentenced to 12 years in
prison for raping a 17-year-old woman last September after
attempting to strangle and drown her.
   (AP, 5/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, A Dutch appeals
court ruled that Russian authorities knowingly plunged oil giant
Yukos into bankruptcy in 2006 by ordering it to pay huge tax bills,
the latest ruling in a long-running battle over the assets of a
Dutch Yukos subsidiary.
   (AP, 5/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15,
Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher said it will pay $35 for each
share of Patheon NV, based in the Netherlands, a 35 percent premium
to the company's last closing price of $26. The $5.2 billion deal
will give the scientific instrument maker more access to the
contract development and manufacturing organization market.
   (AP, 5/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, Boyan Slat, a
22-year-old Dutchman, said it would be possible to reduce by half
the millions of tons of plastic garbage in the Pacific by deploying
floating barriers.
   (Reuters, 5/16/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, A Dutch court
convicted 20 people of insulting or threatening Sylvana Simons, a
former dancer and television presenter of Surinamese descent, in a
racially charged case that shocked the nation. One person was
acquitted.
   (AP, 5/18/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, Organizations from
Netherlands and Qatar said they are joining forces to get 6,000
Syrian refugees into higher education courses, a move aimed at
helping them integrate in the countries where they live now and
rebuild their own nation if they are able to return.
   (AP, 5/19/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, The Dutch Senate
approved legislation that obliges all new migrants to sign a
declaration pledging to respect "the values and rules of Dutch
society" as part of a civic integration test to help them gain
citizenship or residency.
   (AP, 6/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, In Belgium
thousands of protesters demanded that Belgium immediately shut down
two nuclear reactors because of safety concerns. People from
Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands formed a human chain across the
border triangle of the three countries over the safety of the
pressure vessels at the Tihange 2 and Doel 3 reactors in Belgium.
   (AP, 6/25/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, A Dutch court
ruled that the state was partly to blame for the deaths of hundreds
of Muslims in Srebrenica, as the 1995 genocide cast another shadow
over the country two decades on.
   (AFP, 6/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, In the Netherlands
an appeals judge confirmed that a 12-year-old boy does not have to
undergo chemotherapy if he does not want it.
   (AP, 7/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, An international
tribunal ordered Russia to pay damages and costs of nearly 5.4
million euros ($6.2 million) to the Netherlands for unlawfully
seizing a Greenpeace ship protesting at an oil platform in Arctic
waters. The Arctic Sunrise, sailing under a Dutch flag, was seized
by Russian authorities in September 2013 during a protest against an
offshore oil platform.
   (AP, 7/18/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, European and US
authorities said they had shut down AlphaBay and Hansa Market and
arrested their operators. AlphaBay, the largest so-called darknet
market, was taken down in early July at the same time that
authorities arrested Alexandre Cazes (25), a Canadian man living in
Bangkok. Dutch police said they had taken control of Hansa market in
June. Two men accused of operating Hansa were arrested in Germany.
   (SFC, 7/21/17, p.C1)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, The Netherlands'
highest court told the government it must fund an Islamic school in
Amsterdam that authorities had tried to ban, tapping into a divisive
debate about the role of Muslim culture in Dutch society.
   (Reuters, 7/26/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, Dutch police
arrested five Romanian men suspected of stealing iPhones worth
500,000 euros ($590,000) in a dangerous heist on a moving truck.
   (AP, 7/31/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, Researchers said
euthanasia has become a common way to die in the Netherlands,
accounting for 4.5 percent of deaths, and that requests are
increasing from people who aren't terminally ill.
   (AP, 8/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, Dutch
investigators detained two men suspected of being involved in the
illegal use of pesticide at poultry farms that sparked a food safety
scare in several European countries.
   (AP, 8/10/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, A Dutch court
sentenced a 47-year-old woman to 40 hours of community service for
threatening the country's prime minister in a Facebook post. The
woman from Leiden posted an image of PM Mark Rutte with a noose
around his neck.
   (AP, 8/23/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, Hungary said it is
recalling its ambassador to the Netherlands and suspending
high-level diplomatic ties in response to critical remarks by the
Dutch ambassador about Hungary. Scheltema was critical of Hungary's
unwillingness to participate in a European Union plan to relocate
asylum-seekers from Greece and Italy. He also criticized the
Hungarian government's campaign against billionaire financier and
philanthropist George Soros and drew parallels between the
government's efforts to "create enemies" and those of the Islamic
State group.
   (AP, 8/25/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, A Dutch court
ordered the government to take immediate action to limit air
pollution, as emissions in various parts of the country were in
breach of European rules.
   (Reuters, 9/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, Britain, France and
the Netherlands sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to
their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma.
   (AFP, 9/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, The Dutch
government said it will continue contributing to the fight against
the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, the UN peacekeeping
mission in Mali and NATO's force in Afghanistan.
   (AP, 9/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, Netherlands'
Justice Minister Stef Blok said he has revoked the Dutch citizenship
of four people the government alleges traveled to a foreign conflict
zone to join a terrorist organization.
   (AP, 9/13/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, Unilver, an
Anglo-Dutch behemoth, said it will buy Carver Korea, a Korean beauty
firm for 2.27 billion euros.
   (Econ, 9/30/17, p.61)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, In the Netherlands
the bodies of a couple, reportedly 63 and 62, were discovered in
Katlijk, a rural village with some 600 inhabitants that lies 140 km
(87 miles) northeast of Amsterdam. Police detained the son (14) the
same evening on suspicion of involvement in the deaths. The boy soon
confessed to killing his parents with a knife.
   (AP, 9/29/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, In the Netherlands
a former spokesman for Geert Wilders was convicted of buying
cocaine, alcohol and clothes and funding personal travel with money
embezzled from the Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker's party. He was
sentenced to 14 months in prison.
   (AP, 10/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, In the Netherlands
thousands of primary school teachers went on a one-day strike to
back demands for better pay and conditions.
   (AP, 10/5/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, In the Netherlands
Eberhaard van der Laan (62), the popular mayor of Amsterdam who ran
the city with both a firm hand and compassionate touch, died after a
long battle with lung cancer.
   (AP, 10/6/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 10, The Netherlands'
new center-right, four-party coalition led by PM Mark Rutte
published its policy blueprint for the coming four years, including
everything from a raft of tax cuts to an experiment with
state-sanctioned cannabis plantations. It included plans to shut all
coal-fired power plants by the year 2030.
   (AP, 10/10/17)(Reuters, 10/10/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, A report on human
trafficking published at least 1,320 underage Dutch girls between
the ages of 12 and 17 fall victim to sexual exploitation in the
Netherlands each year.
   (Reuters, 10/18/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 26, Netherlands PM
Mark Rutte presented his third government, a new coalition that is
set to move the country further to the right.
   (AP, 10/26/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 2, The Dutch defense
minister announced an investigation after soldiers revealed fresh
allegations of harassment, abuse, assault and rape in the army.
   (AFP, 11/2/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 3, Britain, Canada,
Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands issued a statement late today
critical of Egypt’s detention of Ibrahim Metwaly, who was helping
investigate the 2016 murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni.
Metwaly was taken by airport security in September while heading to
Geneva to attend a UN conference on enforced disappearances.
   (Reuters, 11/5/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, In the Netherlands
Iranian political activist Ahmad Mola Nissi (52), who founded an
Arab nationalist group seeking an independent state inside Iran, was
shot dead at The Hague. A suspect was detained at the scene. Nissi
had established the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of
Ahwaz (ASMLA), which seeks a separate state in the country's
oil-rich southwestern Khuzestan province.
   (Reuters, 11/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, German police
detained a 29-year-old man suspected of trading narcotic drugs
internationally over the internet through anonymous websites and
sending them by mail to customers in Germany. A day earlier, in
Ingolstadt in Bavaria, police had arrested a man who had ordered
marijuana and amphetamines. In cooperation with Dutch authorities,
police soon seized 400,000 euros ($470,840) and 75 kg (165 lb) of
ecstasy, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamine and heroin at the
apartments of the suspect and at his mother in the Netherlands.
   (Reuters, 11/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, The International
Criminal Court (ICC) approved a prosecution request to investigate
war crimes allegedly committed in Burundi by the government and
government-linked groups against political foes from April 2015 to
October 2017.
   (Reuters, 11/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, In the Netherlands
Laura Hansen (22), who had traveled to Syria and Iraq to support her
family while her husband fought with the Islamic State group, was
convicted of supporting terrorist acts and sentenced to two years'
imprisonment. Judges suspended 13 months of Hansen's sentence,
meaning she won't have to go to prison following the conviction
since she spent a year in pretrial detention.
   (AP, 11/13/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 14, In the Netherlands
Human rights lawyers presented evidence to International Criminal
Court prosecutors alleging that forces loyal to Field Marshal
Khalifa Hifter, a key player in Libya's ongoing power struggle, are
responsible for crimes including murder, torture and persecution.
   (AP, 11/14/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 29, At The Hague
appeals judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal upheld the
convictions of six Bosnian Croats found guilty of war crimes and
crimes against humanity during the 1990s.
   (Reuters, 11/29/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 29, At The Hague
Slobodan Praljak (72), a convicted Bosnian Croat war criminal, died
after drinking from a small bottle in court. Praljak drank from a
bottle shortly after judges at the tribunal upheld his sentence for
involvement in a campaign to drive Muslims out of a would-be Bosnian
Croat mini-state in Bosnia in the early 1990s. A toxicological test
revealed potassium cyanide in Praljak’s blood.
   (AP, 11/29/17)(SSFC, 12/3/17, p.A7)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, Dutch authorities
said two men suspected of having fought for an al Qaeda-linked group
in Syria were among four Syrian migrants arrested in the
Netherlands.
   (Reuters, 12/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, The Dutch
government ordered the country's farmers to keep all poultry indoors
after H5 bird flu was discovered at a duck farm.
   (AP, 12/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, High winds and
heavy snow in Europe stranded thousands of travelers, kept
schoolchildren at home and even played havoc with international
diplomacy. A second day of snowfall closed schools and disrupted
travel across parts of Britain and the Netherlands.
   (AFP, 12/11/17)(Reuters, 12/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, The Dutch
government said it is joining Austria's lawsuit against Germany at
the European Court of Justice over plans for a road toll for foreign
drivers.
   (Reuters, 12/13/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 14, In the Netherlands
a man (37) was arrested late today in a mosque in Maastricht shortly
after a man and a woman were killed and two other people were
injured.
   (AP, 12/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 15, In the Netherlands
judges at the International Criminal Court ruled that former Congo
DRC warlord Thomas Lubanga, convicted in 2012 of using child
soldiers, is liable for $10 million in reparations to victims in the
African nation.
   (AP, 12/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, A court in the
Netherlands banned the Dutch branch of the Bandidos motorcycle club,
ruling in a civil case that the biker gang is a threat to public
order.
   (AP, 12/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, A Dutch court said
that the government could not be accused of doing too little to
improve the quality of the air, although emissions in various parts
of the country are in breach of European rules.
   (Reuters, 12/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Netherlands stood as the
world’s fifth largest exporter of goods. A third of its GDP came
from exporting goods and services.
   (Econ, 3/11/17, p.72)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, It was reported
that the Dutch government has told the highest representative of
Eritrea in the Netherlands to leave the country as the government
saw mounting evidence of Eritrea continuing to force tax payments
from people who fled the country.
   (AP, 1/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, Air France-KLM
canceled 228 European flights to and from Amsterdam's Schiphol
airport planned for Jan. 18, as a storm is expected to disrupt
traffic at the Dutch national airport.
   (Reuters, 1/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 18, In the Netherlands
at least 260 flights were scrapped and falling roof tiles led to the
closure of airport terminals as powerful winds toppled trees and
blew trucks off the road. Three people were killed in the
Netherlands, three in Germany and one person in Belgium.
   (Reuters, 1/18/18)(AFP, 1/18/18)(SFC,
1/19/18, p.A5)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, A Dutch newspaper
and television show jointly reported that the Netherlands' spy
service in 2014 broke into the computers used by a powerful Russian
hacking group, often nicknamed Cozy Bear, and may be sitting on
evidence relating to the breach of the US Democratic National
Committee.
   (AP, 1/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31, A Dutch appeals
court convicted a man for helping his ailing, 99-year-old stepmother
take her own life a decade ago, a case that has become a focal point
in the fierce debate in the Netherlands about end-of-life issues.
The city court in Den Bosch gave Albert Heringa a suspended
six-month sentence.
   (AP, 1/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A mining watchdog
advised the Dutch government to significantly reduce the amount of
gas extracted from the Groningen region, saying a cut is necessary
to lower the risk of damage from subsequent earthquakes.
   (AP, 2/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, In the Netherlands
former prime minister Ruud Lubbers (b.1939), died in Rotterdam. He
had governed the country from 1982 to 1994.
   (SSFC, 2/18/18, p.C12)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, Former Georgian
president Mikheil Saakashvili vowed to press on with his fight, as
the stateless politician arrived in the Netherlands to join his
family after being expelled from Ukraine.
   (AFP, 2/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, Dutch anti-smoking
activists vowed to fight after prosecutors rejected their call for a
criminal investigation into four major tobacco companies on charges
including attempted murder or manslaughter, on the grounds that such
a case would be unlikely to lead to a conviction.
   (AP, 2/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, US delivery giant
UPS said it is suing the European Union's antitrust regulator for
blocking a merger with Dutch firm TNT Express, which later was
snapped up by UPS rival FedEx Corp.
   (AP, 2/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, The Maersk Honam
container vessel, a unit of Danish shipping firm A.P. Moller-Maersk
A/S built in 2017, caught fire in the Arabian Sea. 23 crew members
were safely evacuated from the vessel, but four remained missing.
   (Reuters, 3/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, The EU’s executive
branch pointed the finger at Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary, Ireland,
Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands for "aggressive" tax policies
designed to undercut others to attract multinational companies.
   (AP, 3/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, In the Netherlands
trams ground to a halt across Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum was
evacuated after workers hit an electricity cable in the Dutch
capital, causing a power outage that left 28,000 homes without
electricity.
   (AP, 3/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, Anglo-Dutch
consumer giant Unilever chose The Netherlands over London to host
its headquarters, dealing a blow to Britain's efforts to keep
multinational companies onside following Brexit.
   (AFP, 3/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, The Netherlands
held municipal elections. Thierry Baudet (35) and his Forum for
Democracy won two seats in the March 2017 parliamentary election and
was expected to make major gains. Baudet has been called sexist and
racist for various remarks, including saying last year that women
"generally excel less in many occupations and lack ambition" and
that Dutch "people are being homeopathically diluted by mixing them
with all the peoples of the world". The Christian Democrats emerged
with the most votes — around 13.5 percent — slightly ahead of PM
Mark Rutte's center-right Party of Freedom and Democracy. The
right-wing populist party of anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders
gained footholds for the first time in dozens of municipalities.
   (Reuters, 3/21/18)(AP, 3/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, A new study from
the Netherlands-based Ocean Cleanup Foundation said that the mass of
floating plastic between San Francisco and Hawaii contains 1.8
trillion pieces of trash and covers an area nearly four times the
size of California. This was sixteen time more than previous
thought.
   (SFC, 3/23/18, p.A1)(SSFC, 4/1/18, p.C14)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, In the Netherlands
an appeals court ruled that Dutch police were liable for the April
9, 2011, mall shooting in which six people were killed as the gunman
should never have been granted an gun license.
   (AFP, 3/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, At The Hague
Britain and Russia accused each other of duplicity and
untrustworthiness. London slammed as "perverse" a Russian proposal
for a joint probe into the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and
his daughter Yulia at the start of a meeting of the Organization for
the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
   (AFP, 4/4/18)(AFP, 4/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, European law
enforcement agencies said a British and Dutch-led operation brought
down webstresser.org, a website linked to more than four million
cyberattacks around the world, with banking giants among the
victims. Authorities in five countries including the Netherlands,
Serbia, Croatia and Canada, with support from Scotland and Europol,
targeted six members of the crime group.
   (AFP, 4/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, In the Netherlands
Russian officials brought purported Syrian witnesses for a briefing
at The Hague headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons. Moscow says they were filmed in "staged videos" in
the aftermath of the April 7 reported chemical weapons attack in
Douma. Britain and France denounced this as a stunt and an "obscene
masquerade".
   (AP, 4/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, A two-day
operation led by Belgian prosecutors seized servers and data from
Islamic State propaganda outlets in a multi-country effort aimed at
tracking down radicals and crimping the group's ability to spread
its violent message. The operation involved authorities in the US,
Canada, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Romania.
   (AP, 4/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, The European
Union's executive branch proposed a budget to finance new priorities
like defense and border control as well as compensating for
Britain's departure from the bloc. Dutch PM Mark Rutte says the new
seven-year budget is unacceptable because it will mean the
Netherlands' EU bill will increase too much.
   (AP, 5/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, A team of experts
from the OPCW returned to the Netherlands from their mission after
going to Damascus on April 14. Inspectors for the Organization for
the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had completed their work
at the site of a suspected gas attack in the Syrian town of Douma.
   (Reuters, 5/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, Dutch police shot
and arrested a man know for confused behavior after three people
were stabbed in the center of The Hague.
   (SSFC, 5/6/18, p.A4)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, The Netherlands
announced that it will ban the use of coal in electricity generation
in the coming decade and shut down two of its five coal-fired plants
at the end of 2024 unless they switch fuels.
   (Reuters, 5/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, Dutch prosecutors
said a detailed analysis of video and photos by an international
team of investigators has unequivocally established that the Buk
missile that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern
Ukraine nearly four years ago came from a Russia-based military unit
in Kurst. Russia's military denied that any Russian missile complex
had ever crossed the border between Russia and Ukraine.
   (AP, 5/24/18)(Reuters, 5/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, The Netherlands
and Australia announced they were holding Moscow legally responsible
for its role in the July 17, 2014, missile attack and downing of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine nearly four years ago.
   (AP, 5/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, At The Hague
hundreds of Rohingya victims appealed to judges at the International
Criminal Court to grant prosecutors jurisdiction to investigate
deportations from Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh.
   (Reuters, 5/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, The Dutch
government apologized and agreed to compensate military personnel
who contracted illnesses including cancer after working with paint
containing the toxic element chromium-6. The apology followed
publication of a critical report into the use of paint containing
chromium-6 by staff at five NATO storage depots in the Netherlands
from 1984-2006.
   (AP, 6/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, At The Hague
International Criminal Court appeals judges overturned the
convictions of former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba for
atrocities committed by his forces in Central African Republic.
Bemba was sentenced in 2016 to 18 years in prison.
   (AP, 6/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, Dutch King
Willem-Alexander started a tour of three Baltic countries in Riga,
Latvia, where he met with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis. He is
scheduled to go to Estonia on July 12 and will be in Lithuania on
July 14. The trip was to coincide with the Baltic nations
celebrating the centenary of their declarations of independence from
the Russian Empire.
   (AP, 6/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, In the Netherlands
a van ran into a small group of pop music fans near the Pinkpop
festival, killing one person and injuring three others before
fleeing the scene. A suspect turned himself in to police hours
later.
   (AP, 6/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, The Dutch Upper
House of parliament passed a law banning the wearing of
face-covering veils in public buildings, such as schools, government
offices and hospitals.
   (AP, 6/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, At The Hague the
world's chemical weapons watchdog won new powers to assign blame for
attacks with banned toxic munitions. The rare special session agreed
that the OPCW's secretariat "shall put in place arrangements to
identify the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in the
Syrian Arab Republic." Russia and 23 other countries voted against
the move, which was initiated by Britain.
   (Reuters, 6/27/18)(AFP, 6/27/18)(AP, 6/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Police in Brazil
searched the offices of Philips and executed arrest warrants for two
people linked to the Dutch electronics company as part of an
investigation into suspected fraud in the supply of medical
equipment to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics
and the Rio de Janeiro Health Department.
   (AP, 7/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, Judges at the
International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a second arrest warrant
for Mahmoud al-Werfalli, a Libyan National Army (LNA) commander
accused of executing dozens of prisoners.
   (Reuters, 7/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, The Dutch
Intelligence service AIVD said two Iranian embassy staff have been
expelled. No further information was provided.
   (Reuters, 7/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Netherlands
and Turkey said they were resuming full diplomatic ties for the
first time since Dutch officials barred two Turkish ministers from
attending an election rally in 2017.
   (AFP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, Netherlands-based
Heineken, the world's second-largest brewer, said it has struck a
deal to expand in China, the world's biggest beer market.
   (AP, 8/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, Dutch cyber
security expert Arjen Kamphuis (47), a WikiLeaks associate, was last
seen in Bodo, Norway. On Sept. 12 a fisherman found some of
Kamphuis's personal belongings floating in the waters about 50 km
(30 miles) east of Bodo.
   (AFP, 9/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, Dutch PM Mark
Rutte distanced his government from a Prophet Muhammad cartoon
contest being organized later this year by anti-Islam lawmaker Geert
Wilders.
   (AP, 8/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, Spanish police
arrested Joseph Brech (55) in a mountainous area near the town of
Castelltercol some 50 km (30 miles) from Barcelona for the brutal
1998 rape and killing of Dutch boy Nicky Verstappen (11). The boy
vanished two decades ago on August 9 at a summer camp in southern
Limburg province.
   (AFP, 8/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, Far-right Dutch
politician Geert Wilders said he had canceled a Prophet Muhammad
cartoon contest following death threats and concerns other people
could be put at risk.
   (AP, 8/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 31, In the Netherlands
two visiting American citizens were wounded in a knife attack at
Amsterdam's busy main railway station. Police shot and wounded a
19-year-old Afghan man immediately after the attack and questioned
him as a suspect.
   (AP, 9/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, Dutch former
defence minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert (45) was appointed as
the United Nation's envoy to Iraq, to head a mission which plays an
essential role in the country's political and economic spheres.
   (AFP, 9/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, Dutch prosecutors
said bank ING has paid 775 million euros ($897 million) to settle a
huge money laundering case in the Netherlands.
   (AP, 9/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Freddie Oversteegen
(b.1925), Dutch communist resistance member, died in Driehuis. She,
her sister, and friend Hannie Schaft had worked to sabotage the Nazi
military presence in the Netherlands during WWII. They used dynamite
to disable bridges and railroad tracks. Additionally, they aided
Jewish children by smuggling them out of the country or helping them
escape concentration camps. They also lured soldiers to the
woods under the pretense of a romantic overture and then killed
them.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Oversteegen)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, The Hague-based
International Criminal Court said it had jurisdiction to probe the
forced exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar as a possible crime
against humanity.
   (AFP, 9/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, Turkey's foreign
ministry said the country and the Netherlands have taken a further
step in normalizing relations by re-appointing ambassadors to each
other's capitals.
   (AP, 9/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, Engineers set to
sea from San Francisco to deploy a trash collection device to corral
plastic litter floating between California and Hawaii in an attempt
to clean up the world's largest garbage patch in the heart of the
Pacific Ocean. The system was created by The Ocean Cleanup, an
organization founded by Dutch innovator Boyan Slat (24).
   (AP, 9/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, The Hague-based
International Criminal Court said its work would continue
"undeterred" after Washington threatened to prosecute its officials
if Americans are charged with war crimes committed in Afghanistan.
   (AFP, 9/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, The Hague-based
International Criminal Court said its work would continue
"undeterred" after Washington threatened to prosecute its officials
if Americans are charged with war crimes committed in Afghanistan.
   (AFP, 9/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, In the Netherlands
four people who say Tibetan Buddhist teachers abused them physically
or psychologically presented the Dalai Lama with written accounts
from 12 alleged victims and appealed to him to address the problem.
   (AP, 9/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, Swiss authorities
said that the Netherlands arrested and expelled two suspected
Russian spies earlier this year who allegedly tried to hack a Swiss
laboratory that conducts tests for the UN-backed chemical weapons
watchdog.
   (AP, 9/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, A weekend report
by respected Dutch daily NRC linked 20 of 39 bishops and cardinals
to (sexual) abuse. The paper reported that four bishops committed
abuse and a further 16 senior clergymen transferred priests who had
been accused of abuse to new locations.
   (AP, 9/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, A Dutch firm
started building the country's first recycling plant to turn plastic
from used nappies into household items like garden furniture or
flower pots.
   (AFP, 9/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, In the Netherlands
a train slammed into an electric cargo bike in the southern town of
Oss, killing four young children and leaving two other people
critically injured.
   (AP, 9/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, In the Netherlands
anti-terror units found a large quantity of bomb-making materials
including fertilizer likely to be used in a car bomb following the
arrest of seven terror suspects in the cities of Arnhem and Weert.
   (AFP, 9/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, The US Justice
Department charged seven Russian military intelligence officers with
hacking anti-doping agencies and other organizations. Britain and
the Netherlands condemned the Russian GRU military intelligence for
a series of alleged global cybercrimes. Konstantin Kosachev, the
head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of Russian
parliament, denounced the accusations as fake.
   (AP, 10/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, Anglo-Dutch
consumer goods multinational Unilever, whose brands include Knorr
and Dove, said it has scrapped a plan to consolidate its
headquarters in the Netherlands following opposition from British
shareholders.
   (AP, 10/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, Russia's foreign
ministry said four Russians, accused by the Netherlands last week of
hacking, were traveling with technical equipment intended to test
their embassy's IT systems in the Hague.
   (Reuters, 10/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, The Dutch
government lost a legal appeal against a landmark 2015 court ruling
which ordered it to slash greenhouse gases by at least 25 percent by
2020.
   (AFP, 10/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang reaffirmed pledges to open up his country to foreign
investment as a way of promoting commerce between his country and
the Netherlands.
   (AP, 10/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, In the Netherlands
former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed for a sense of
urgency as he launched the Global Commission on Adaptation that aims
to accelerate and expand ways the world can prepare for climate
change.
   (AP, 10/16/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, At The Hague four
alleged members of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency were
caught red-handed with a car full of electronic gear in a carpark
next to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
   (AFP, 10/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, A court in the
Netherlands banned Ryanair from transferring 16 pilots overseas
following the closure of its Dutch base in Eindhoven, saying that
the move appeared to be a reprisal by the budget carrier for strikes
by Dutch employees.
   (AP, 11/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, In Poland a North
Korean worker who claims he is a victim of modern slavery in a
Polish shipyard filed a criminal complaint against a Dutch
shipbuilder that bought products from the Polish firm. Dutch lawyer
Barbara van Straaten filed the case on the worker's behalf.
   (AP, 11/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, Dutch officials
said they will prosecute a nursing home doctor for euthanizing an
elderly woman with dementia, the first time a doctor has been
charged since the Netherlands legalized euthanasia in 2002.
   (AP, 11/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, A court in the
Netherlands convicted 34 people for blocking a highway last year to
prevent anti-racism demonstrators from protesting at a festive
parade featuring the Dutch version of Santa Claus and his helpers,
called Black Petes.
   (AP, 11/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, The Netherlands
resumed visa and passport services in Pakistan following a brief
suspension, denying that its embassy had closed over security
concerns after the country gave shelter to the lawyer of a Christian
woman in a blasphemy case.
   (Reuters, 11/12/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, In the Netherlands
scattered confrontations broke out between supporters and opponents
of the divisive helper of the Dutch version of Santa Claus, amid a
fierce and increasingly polarized debate about the helper known as
Black Pete.
   (AP, 11/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 27, Britain's
Information Commissioner's Office said it fined Uber 385,000 pounds
($491,000) and Dutch officials imposed a 600,000-euro ($679,000)
fine for failing to protect customers' data during a cyberattack in
2016.
   (AP, 11/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, In the Netherlands
a rotating roster of preachers continued to lead a non-stop,
round-the-clock service at a small Protestant chapel in The Hague in
an attempt to shield a family of Armenian asylum-seekers from
deportation. The Tamrazyan family has been living in the Netherlands
for nearly nine years, as their asylum application and various
appeals proceeded slowly through the courts. The Council of State,
the country's highest administrative court, has ruled they must
return to their home country, which is considered safe by the Dutch
government.
   (AP, 11/30/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 5, Police arrested
dozens of suspected mobsters in Europe and South America in dubbed
"Operation Pollina," a huge international swoop targeting Italy's
notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia clan. Police seized four tons of
cocaine, 120 kilos of ecstasy and two million euros (dollars) in
cash across Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and
Suriname.
   (AFP, 12/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, A Dutch court gave
the go-ahead for a cull of hundreds of red deer in a nature reserve
north of Amsterdam, in a wildlife management case that has sparked
fierce opposition from animal rights activists.
   (AP, 12/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, In the Netherlands
Sarah Papenheim (21), a native of Minnesota, was fatally stabbed at
her home in an apartment building near Erasmus University, where she
had been studying since 2016. A suspect (23) was arrested the same
day.
   (AP, 12/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, Eight European
Union nations (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland,
Sweden and the United Kingdom) underlined their commitment to the
Iran nuclear deal while urging Tehran to stop its "destabilizing
regional activities" especially the launch of ballistic missiles.
   (AP, 12/12/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 14, The Amsterdam
Appeals Court confirmed the maximum 10 years and eight months
sentence imposed in March last year on the man identified by Dutch
authorities as Aydin C., who was convicted of fraud and blackmail
via the internet for the online abuse.
   (AP, 12/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, In the Netherlands
an appeals court has upheld a ban on a Dutch arm of the Bandidos
Motorcycle Club, agreeing with a lower court's conclusion that the
biker gang forms a threat to public order.
   (AP, 12/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, The Dutch Supreme
Court upheld the war crimes conviction of timber dealer Guus
Kouwenhoven, who was found guilty last year of selling arms to
former Liberian leader Charles Taylor, and of complicity in war
crimes committed by Taylor's forces in Liberia and Guinea from 2000
to 2003.
   (AP, 12/18/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, In the Netherlands
Humeyra Ergincanli (16) was shot dead in front of fellow students in
her high school's bicycle shed. Suspect Bekir E. (31) was arrested
shortly after the shooting at the Rotterdam Design College.
   (AP, 12/18/18)(AP, 12/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 29, Dutch police on
horseback broke up a "Yellow Vest" protest in The Hague and arrested
eight people after the demonstration turned violent.
   (AP, 12/29/18)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, The Dutch Coast
Guard said up to 270 containers had fallen off the
Panamanian-flagged MSC ZOE, one of the world's biggest container
ships, in rough weather near the German island of Borkum and floated
southwest toward Dutch waters. Three missing containers contained an
organic peroxide, a flammable and highly toxic compound. In Feb. the
estimate of fallen containers was raised to 345.
   (Reuters, 1/2/19)(AP, 1/3/19)(AP, 2/6/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 4, Dutch authorities
said they will hold Swiss shipping line MSC liable for the cost of
cleaning up debris from more than 270 cargo containers that fell off
one of its vessels and washed up on shore. Roughly 35 containers
have been located and the remainder were lost at sea.
   (Reuters, 1/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, The Int'l.
Criminal Court at The Hague acquitted former Ivory Coast president
Laurent Gbagbo over post-electoral violence that killed 3,000
people, the latest in a series of blows for beleaguered ICC
prosecutors.
   (AFP, 1/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, International
Criminal Court judges at the Hague said that former Ivory Coast
President Laurent Gbagbo and Mr. Ble Goude, a former government
minister, should be released immediately following their acquittal
on charges of involvement in deadly post-election violence in 2010.
   (AP, 1/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, Turkey deported
Dutch journalist Ans Boersma (31) after Turkish officials said
Ankara received a tip-off from police in the Netherlands that she
had suspected links to a jihadist group in Syria. Boersma was a
person of interest in an ongoing investigation into militant
activity.
   (AFP, 1/17/19)(Reuters, 1/17/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 18, At The Hague ICC
judges said former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo must spend
at least another two weeks in detention at the International
Criminal Court, despite being acquitted this week of involvement in
deadly post-election violence.
   (AP, 1/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, The Netherlands
refused an Italian request to take in 47 migrants on a humanitarian
ship that is being blocked from Italian ports, saying there was a
need to distinguish between genuine refugees and economic migrants.
   (Reuters, 1/28/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, In the Netherlands
a round-the-clock prayer service to stop an Armenian family being
deported was ended after 96 days, after the government agreed to
make an exception to immigration rules. Hundreds of supporters of
the Tamrazyan family have held rites non-stop at the Bethel church
in The Hague since Oct. 26 to block their deportation.
   (Reuters, 1/30/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, The Dutch water
authority said that at least 345 containers fell off the MSC Zoe
freighter on Jan. 2. The previous estimate was 291. The ship's owner
raised the estimate after unloading the final containers at the port
of Gdansk in Poland.
   (AP, 2/6/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, In the Netherlands
a man (31) was fatally shot by police near the central bank in
Amsterdam. Detectives the next day said he was carrying a fake
weapon and may have been attempting to incite officers into killing
him.
   (AP, 2/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, In the Netherlands
thousands of students skipped classes to march for action on climate
change, following the example of young demonstrators in Belgium and
other countries for the first time.
   (AFP, 2/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, Dutch fisherman
protested outside parliament in a last-ditch attempt to avert a
European Union ban on the practice of using electric shocks to stun
fish before scooping them up in nets.
   (AP, 2/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, Chinese tech
company SenseNets closed an open database that stored the records of
individuals "fully accessible to anyone," after Dutch security
researcher Victor Gevers reported leaks of personal information on
2.6 million people in Xinjiang to SenseNets. The database had been
exposed since last July.
   (AFP, 2/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, Dutch officials
said that an estimated 90,000 small bottles of Russian vodka, found
last week on a Chinese freighter in the port of Rotterdam, will
likely be sold at auction or destroyed.
   (AP, 2/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, Dutch prosecutors
said Uber has agreed to an out-of-court settlement of more than 2
million euros ($2.24 million) linked to an illegal service the ride
hailing company offered in the Netherlands.
   (AP, 3/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 10, In the Netherlands
thousands of people, many warding off rain under umbrellas, packed a
central square in Amsterdam to march for more progressive climate
policies.
   (AP, 3/10/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, Dutch police
arrested two men in Amsterdam for their suspected involvement in the
coordinated Islamic State attacks on Paris in November 2015 that
killed 130 people. One suspect (29) will be held in restrictive
custody for at least two weeks, while the other suspect (31) had to
be released for health reasons.
   (Reuters, 3/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, Dutch police
launched a huge manhunt for a gunman who killed three people and
wounded nine others in a suspected terror attack inside a tram in
Utrecht. Turkish-born suspect Gokmen Tanis (37) was arrested after a
seven-hour manhunt by security forces. Two other suspects were also
in custody, but were soon released. Another suspect was arrested the
next day. On March 20, 2020, Tanis was sentenced to life in prison
for killing four people.
   (AFP, 3/18/19)(Reuters, 3/19/19)(SFC, 3/20/19,
p.A2)(SFC, 3/21/20, p.A3)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, In the Netherlands
right wing populist Thierry Baudet's Forum for Democracy emerged
from the sidelines into the Dutch political mainstream as the
biggest winner in provincial elections that determine the makeup of
the parliament's upper house and also impact the coalition
government of PM Mark Rutte.
   (AP, 3/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, In Australia
Dutchman Wiebe Wakker completed an epic 95,000 km (59,000 mile)
journey by electric car in Sydney in a bid to prove the viability of
such vehicles in tackling climate change.
   (AFP, 4/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, Ties van der Meer
of the Dutch Donor Child Foundation said that three more people
contacted him over the weekend because they suspect they may also
have been conceived using the sperm of Dr. Jan Karbaat (d.2017), who
had used his own sperm to father 49 children, without telling their
mothers.
   (AP, 4/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, In Israel singer
Duncan Laurence (25) brought the Netherlands victory with a doleful
piano ballad, "Arcade," its first win in the Eurovision song contest
since the 1970s. His victory means the Netherlands will host next
year's edition.
   (AP, 5/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 23, Britain and the
Netherlands kicked off four days of phased voting for the 28 members
states of the European Parliament.
   (AP, 5/24/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 27, Nasdaq Nordic,
which owns most stock exchanges in the Nordic-Baltic region,
withdrew its offer to acquire Norway's main exchange, saying " under
the current circumstances the minimum acceptance condition for
completion" cannot be satisfied. This paved the way for rival
Netherlands-based Euronext to proceed with its buyout.
   (AP, 5/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 28, In the Netherlands
around 80 flights to and from Amsterdam Schiphol were canceled as a
24-hr nationwide public transport strike made it hard for passengers
and staff to get to Europe's third largest airport.
   (Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, Dutch judges
banned biker club Hells Angels and ordered all its chapters to close
in the Netherlands as authorities pursue a clampdown on so-called
outlaw motorcycle gangs.
   (AFP, 5/29/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May, In the Netherlands
around 18,000 building projects, worth billions of euros, risked
being shelved after the country's highest court ruled that the way
Dutch builders and farmers dealt with nitrogen emissions breached
European law.
   (Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, A Dutch court
outlawed the No Surrender motorcycle gang in another victory for
prosecutors in their fight against what they consider to be violent
groups.
   (SFC, 6/8/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, Twelve orphaned
children of French jihadists were flown home from camps in Syria,
along with two Dutch orphans who were handed over to the
Netherlands.
   (AFP, 6/10/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, Dutch-led int'l.
team charged three Russians (Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg
Pulatov) and one Ukrainian (Leonid Kharchenko) with murder over the
2014 shooting down of flight MH17 above rebel-held eastern Ukraine
in which 298 people were killed.
   (AFP, 6/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, Dutch national
railway company NS said that it will pay reparations to Jews, Roma
and Sinti whom it transported to camps in the Netherlands during
WWII, from where they were sent to Nazi concentration camps.
   (SFC, 6/27/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, Dutch police said
they had seized 2.5 tons of methamphetamine last week, in what they
said was the largest haul of the drug to date in Europe, with a
street value estimated in the "hundreds of millions of euros".
   (Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, The Dutch
intelligence agency (AIVD) warned of the escalating threat of
state-backed cyber espionage, saying the Netherlands was
particularly vulnerable as a hub for international business,
telecoms and human rights groups.
   (Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, The US women's
soccer team claimed a fourth World Cup in a 2-0 win over
Netherlands.
   (SFC, 7/8/19, p.C1)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, The Int'l. Criminal
Court (ICC) in the Netherlands convicted Bosco Ntaganda, a former
rebel commander known as "The Terminator," of 18 counts of crimes
against humanity for his role in a bloody ethnic conflict in the
Congo DRC in 2002-2003.
   (SFC, 7/9/19, p.A4)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Director-General
Fernando Arias of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons (OPCW), based in the Netherlands, said traces of what could
be a byproduct of a nerve agent or poison gas were found late last
year at Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center in Barzah.
   (AP, 7/9/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, An Amsterdam court
convicted a 38-year-old career criminal of organizing the murder of
an Iranian who lived in the Netherlands, but said the motive for the
killing remains unclear. The victim, Iranian-born Ali Motamed, was
gunned down outside his home by two hit men on Dec. 15, 2015.
   (AP, 7/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, The Dutch
government accepted that the state was partially liable for the
deaths in 1995 of 350 Muslim males who were expelled from a UN base
and killed by Bosnian Serb forces at Srebrenica.
   (Reuters, 7/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, Dutch film actor
Rutger Hauer (75) died at his home in the Netherlands. His films
included "Turkish Delight" (1973), "Nighthawks" (1981) "Blade
Runner" (1982), "Ladyhawke" (1985), "Escape from Sobibor" (1987),
"Sin City" (2005), "Batman Begins" (2005) and "The Hitchhiker"
(2006).
   (SFC, 7/26/19, p.A9)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Soaring
temperatures broke records in Germany, France, Britain and the
Netherlands as a heatwave gripped Europe for the second time in a
month.
   (Reuters, 7/25/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Soaring
temperatures broke records in Germany, France, Britain and the
Netherlands as a heatwave gripped Europe for the second time in a
month. The Paris area recorded 108.7 degrees F; 105.3 F in the
Netherlands; 105.3 F in Belgium; 108.7 F in Germany and 98.4 F at
Heathrow Airport.
   (Reuters, 7/25/19)(SFC, 7/26/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, In the Netherlands
a partial ban on face-covering clothing took effect. It covered
public transportation, government buildings and health and education
institutions.
   (SFC, 8/2/19, p.A4)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, In the Netherlands
one of Europe's biggest annual Gay Pride parades kicked off on the
canals of Amsterdam, with over 500,000 visitors from around the
world expected to cheer on 80 boats representing a wide variety of
organizations from the LGBTI+ community.
   (Reuters, 8/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, The Dutch Data
Protection Agency (DPA) said Microsoft is remotely collecting data
from users of Windows Home and Windows Pro, in a potential breach of
privacy rules.
   (Reuters, 8/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, Anglo-Dutch
consumer goods giant Unilever released a list of its global tea
suppliers, bolstering a drive to stamp out worker exploitation and
modern-day slavery on plantations.
   (Reuters, 9/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, The Dutch
government said it plans to reform a business tax rule that allows
wealthy multinationals to reduce the amount of tax they pay on their
profits.
   (AP, 9/17/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, Dutch-Palestinian
Ismail Zeyada went to court in the Netherlands seeking damages from
two former Israeli military commanders, Benny Gantz and Amir Eshel,
for their roles in a 2014 airstrike on a Gaza house that killed six
members of his family.
   (AP, 9/17/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, Derk Wiersum, a
Dutch lawyer in a high-profile case against a group of men charged
with drug-related killings, was gunned down in front of his
Amsterdam home.
   (AP, 9/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, An advisory
commission urged the Dutch government to adopt a broad package of
measures including lowering the speed limit on some roads and buying
up old, inefficient cattle farms to reduce the country's nitrogen
emissions.
   (AP, 9/25/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, Thousands of Dutch
children skipped school to join a global climate strike, blocking
traffic and asking their leaders "how dare you?" in a reference to
Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg's speech at the United
Nations.
   (Reuters, 9/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, In the Netherlands
an appeals court ruled that the statute of limitations does not
apply to allegations of colonial era crimes committed by Dutch
forces in Indonesia.
   (SFC, 10/2/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, Dutch police
arrested a man on suspicion of involvement in lawyer Derk Wiersum’s
Sept. 18 slaying in Amsterdam.
   (AP, 10/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, The Dutch
government said it would spend hundreds of millions of euros to
mitigate nitrogen emissions, in a move it hopes will pave the way
for thousands of building projects to be restarted.
   (AP, 10/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, Dutch health
authorities ordered a major recall of processed meats from grocery
stores after saying they had linked a spate of food poisonings over
the past two years to a likely single source. Experts had been
testing the DNA of listeria bacteria involved in cases that affected
20 people in all, killing three of them and causing one woman to
miscarry.
   (Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, Dutch police said
they had detained 130 protesters with environmental group Extinction
Rebellion who blocked locations in downtown Amsterdam to draw
attention to climate change.
   (Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, Greenpeace
activists boarded two Royal Dutch Shell oil platforms in the British
North Sea in protest against plans to leave parts of the giant
structures in place after production shuts down.
   (Reuters, 10/14/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, In the Netherlands
six young adults and their father were receiving medical treatment
after Dutch police acting on a tip-off discovered them locked away
in a secret room at an isolated farm. The family, according to local
news reports, had been waiting for the end of time.
   (Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Signify, a
Dutch-based lighting company, said it has agreed to buy US firm
Cooper Lighting Solutions from Eaton Corp. for $1.4 billion in cash
to boost its presence in North America.
   (Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, Police in the
Dutch city of The Hague closed its central parliament square to keep
out farmers protesting over what they see as attempts to blame them
for nitrogen pollution.
   (Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, Netherlands'
Environmental Assessment Agency said the country is unlikely to
reach its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 49% by 2030
despite a tough package of measures agreed in June.
   (AP, 11/1/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, Air France-KLM
outlined plans to expand its budget Transavia business and push the
core French carrier upmarket, while overhauling its fleet in pursuit
of improved sales and profitability.
   (Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 7, The International
Criminal Court at The Hague passed its highest ever sentence,
sending Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, known as "The Terminator,"
to prison for 30 years for crimes including murder, rape and sexual
slavery.
   (AP, 11/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, A Dutch court said
the government must attempt to bring home children whose mothers
traveled to Syria to join Islamic extremist groups. The case was
filed by lawyers on behalf of 23 women and their 56 children who
were being housed in camps in northern Syria.
   (AP, 11/11/19)  Â
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 14, The International
Criminal Court at The Hague said that it had approved a prosecution
request to investigate crimes against humanity against Myanmar's
Rohingya minority who were systematically driven across the border
to Bangladesh.
   (Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, The Netherlands
showed off the spoils of Brexit as it officially handed over the
European Medicines Agency's new building in Amsterdam after the
regulator was forced to move from London.
   (AFP, 11/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, In the Netherlands
anti-racism campaigners held protests in cities across the country
as Dutch children hailed the annual arrival of St. Nicholas and a
blackface character who traditionally accompanies him.
   (Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, A Dutch appeals
court overturned a lower court’s order that the government must
attempt to bring home children whose mothers traveled to Syria to
join Islamic extremist groups.
   (AP, 11/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 29, In the Netherlands
three teens were stabbed on a street in The Hague that was crowded
with Black Friday shoppers. Two girls (15) and a boy (13), were
treated in a hospital and released.
   (AP, 11/30/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, Dutch police
arrested a 35-year-old homeless man on suspicion of stabbing three
teens on a street in The Hague that was crowded with Black Friday
shoppers.
   (AP, 11/30/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, The Dutch
parliament voted to require companies listed in the Netherlands to
have at least 30% of supervisory board seats held by women. The
motion also requires around 5,000 other large companies to draw up
detailed plans to increase the number of women on their supervisory
and executive boards.
   (Reuters, 12/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, Canada and the
Netherlands put out a joint statement in support of Gambia, the
tiny, mainly Muslim West African country that filed the suit in
which the Buddhist-majority Myanmar is accused of genocide against
its Rohingya Muslim minority a day before genocide hearings begin at
the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
   (Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, At The Hague Nobel
Peace Prize winner and former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi
denied that Myanmar's armed forces committed genocide, telling the
United Nation's top court that the mass exodus of Rohingya people
from the country she leads was the unfortunate result of a battle
with insurgents.
   (AP, 12/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, The International
Criminal Court said it has confirmed the charges brought by
prosecutors against two men suspected of war crimes and crimes
against humanity in the Central African Republic. The court said
Alfred Yekatom and alleged co-conspirator and Patrice-Edouard
Ngaissona, who have said they are innocent, will face trial.
   (Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, At The Hague
lawyers seeking to halt what they allege is ongoing genocide in
Myanmar slammed leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s defense of her country’s
armed forces, saying that the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former
pro-democracy icon chose to ignore “unspeakable” crimes targeting
Muslim civilians.
   (AP, 12/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, In the Netherlands
an appeals court overturned a local ordinance banning catcalls in
the port city of Rotterdam. The court ruled that only Parliament has
the power to criminalize such behavior because doing so amounts to a
possible infringement of the freedom of expression.
   (SFC, 12/20/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, At The Hague the
prosecutor of the International Criminal Court took a major step
toward opening an investigation into alleged war crimes in the
occupied Palestinian territories, asking judges exactly what
territory a future investigation could cover.
   (AP, 12/20/19)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, Dutch police
detained four suspects following a suspected failed attempt to break
one or more prisoners out of a prison.
   (AP, 1/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 23, At The Hague the
International Court of Justice ordered Myanmar take all measures in
its power to prevent genocide against the Rohingya.
   (AP, 1/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, Dutch PM Mark
Rutte apologized for the failure of officials in the Nazi-occupied
country during World War II to do more to prevent the deportation
and murder of just over 100,000 Jews.
   (AP, 1/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, In the Netherlands
the University of Maastricht disclosed that it had paid hackers a
ransom of 30 bitcoin -- at the time worth 200,000 euros ($220,000)
-- to unblock its computer systems, including email and computers,
after an attack that unfolded on Dec. 24.
   (Reuters, 2/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 18, It was reported
that thousands of people in the Netherlands have signed a petition
objecting to the construction of an airport in Portugal that could
threaten the black-tailed godwit, the Dutch national bird.
   (Reuters, 2/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 18, A Dutch appeals
court reinstated an international arbitration panel's order that
Russia should pay $50 billion compensation to shareholders in former
oil company Yukos. The Hague court of Appeals had ruled in 2016 that
the decision was not correct. Russia said it would appeal the
verdict.
   (SFC, 2/19/20, p.A3)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 28, The list of
countries hit by the COVID-19 illness edged toward 60 as Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Nigeria
reported their first cases.
   (AP, 2/28/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, The Netherlands
reported its first coronavirus death.
   (AP, 3/6/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, In the Netherlands
the families of people killed when a missile shot down Malaysia
Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 set out 298 white
chairs outside the Russian Embassy in a silent protest against
Moscow’s lack of cooperation in the investigation into the downing
of the passenger jet.
   (AP, 3/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, In the Netherlands
the number of people infected with the new coronavirus increased to
321, up from 264 a day earlier.
   (Reuters, 3/9/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 10, Dutch health
authorities took action to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus in
a southern province, where a large group of employees at hospitals
tested positive for the illness. The number of confirmed coronavirus
cases had risen by 61 to 382. One more person had died, taking the
number of deaths so far to four.
   (AP, 3/10/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 10, In Indonesia
visiting Dutch King Willem-Alexander apologized for his country's
agression during its colonial rule and formally recognized the
country's independence date in his first formal visit to the former
Dutch colony.
   (SFC, 3/11/20, p.A4)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, The government of
Netherlands announced a ban on gatherings of more than 100 people,
told companies to encourage employees to work from home and said
anyone with flu-like symptoms should stay home.
   (AP, 3/13/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, In the Netherlands
new coronavirus infections reached 804, with 10 deaths. Dutch
shoppers stockpiled toilet paper, pasta and canned goods as worries
about the coronavirus outbreak spread.
   (Reuters, 3/13/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, Dutch health
authorities said the number of confirmed coronavirus infections in
the Netherlands has risen by 155 to 959. The number of deaths rose
by 2 to a total of 12.
   (Reuters, 3/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, In the Netherlands
the number of deaths rose by eight to 20, while confirmed cases
increased by 176 to 1,135.
   (AP, 3/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, In the Netherlands
organizers of the Eurovision song contest said it will not take
place this year due to the global coronavirus outbreak. The
Netherlands was to host the 2020 contest after Dutch
singer-songwriter Duncan Laurence won in 2019 with a song called
"Arcade".
   (AP, 3/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, Dutch health
authorities said the number of local confirmed cases of coronavirus
has risen by 409 to a total of 2,460, with 18 new deaths raising the
total death toll to 76.
   (Reuters, 3/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, In the
Netherlands, coronavirus fatalities increased by 30 to 136. The
total number of cases is 3,631.
   (Bloomberg, 3/21/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, The Netherlands
reported 573 more coronavirus virus cases for a total of 4,203 with
179 deaths.
   (AP, 3/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, In the Netherlands
the number of confirmed coronavirus infections increased by 13% from
a day earlier and 34 more people died. There were 545 new
infections, taking the total to 4,749 with 213 deaths.
   (Reuters, 3/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, Netherlands saw
the number of deaths rise by 63 to 276. The national tally of
confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 17% to 5,560.
   (Good Morning America, 3/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, In the Netherlands
the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 852 to 6,412.
Deaths rose by 80 to 356.
   (Reuters, 3/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, The number of
confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by 1,172, or
16%, to 8,603, with 112 new deaths. The country's death total is now
546.
   (Reuters, 3/27/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, The Netherlands
reported 93 deaths from the new coronavirus to take its total to 639
while another 1,159 cases of the virus were confirmed, both smaller
rises than a day earlier. The country has confirmed a total of 9,762
cases of the virus.
   (Reuters, 3/28/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 29, In the Netherlands
the number of confirmed coronavirus cases passed 10,000. Confirmed
cases rose by 1,104 to 10,866, an 11% increase. There were 132 new
deaths, bringing the number of fatalities to 771.
   (Reuters, 3/29/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, The Singer Laren
museum in the Netherlands announced that the painting "Spring
Garden" (1884) by Vincent Van Gogh vanished after thieves broke into
the building early in the morning.
   (The Week, 3/31/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar, Dutch government
officials earmarked $550 million to compensate more than 20,000
parents who had their child care benefit payments stopped or were
ordered to repay money amid fraud investigations into fraudulent
claims.
   (SFC, 5/20/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, Dutch brewer
Heineken said that it will suspend production and distribution from
its seven plants in Mexico, in response to the government's decision
to halt non-essential economic activity to contain the new
coronavirus.
   (Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, In the Netherlands
the number of deaths rose by 164, or 11%, to 1,651. The tally of
confirmed virus cases increased by 6% to 16,627, slightly below the
growth rate seen in the beginning of the week. The amount of people
hospitalized with the virus rose by 336 to 6,622.
   (Bloomberg, 4/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, In the Netherlands
the number of deaths caused by the new coronavirus increased by 115
to 1,766. Confirmed infections increased by 1,224 to 17,851.
   (Reuters, 4/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, The Netherlands
reported 101 new fatalities, the smallest increase since March 30.
Total reported cases rose 5% to 18,803.
   (Bloomberg, 4/6/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, In the Netherlands
the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 969 to 20,549,
with 147 new deaths. The country's total death toll from the disease
is now 2,248.
   (Reuters, 4/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 10, The Netherlands
statistics office said there were around 2,000 more deaths in the
Netherlands in the first week of April than would normally be
expected, likely the result of the coronavirus outbreak.
   (AP, 4/10/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, Dutch newspaper De
Telegraaf reported several cellular broadcasting towers have been
damaged by arson or sabotage in the past week by opponents of a
rollout of a new 5G telecommunications network. Major
telecommunications providers in the Netherlands are in a testing
phase and have not yet begun any nationwide rollout of 5G pending a
spectrum auction due to conclude in June.
   (Reuters, 4/11/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, The Netherlands'
National Institute for Health (RIVM) reported 1,188 new coronavirus
infections over the past 24 hours, taking the total to 25,587. The
number of deaths rose by 94 to 2,737.
   (Reuters, 4/12/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, In the
Netherlands, confirmed cases rose 3% to 27,419, the slowest rate
since the country reported its first case in late February. Deaths
from the virus increased 4% to 2,945, but the figure may reflect an
administrative processing backlog over the Easter weekend.
   (Bloomberg, 4/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, New coronavirus
cases in the Netherlands dropped for the fifth consecutive day.
Cases rose by 734, or 3%, to 28,153. Fatalities climbed 6%, a
steeper rate than the previous days because of a reporting backlog
over the Easter weekend.
   (Bloomberg, 4/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, A study of Dutch
blood donors found that around 3% have developed antibodies against
the coronavirus, an indication of what percentage of the population
may have already had the disease.
   (Reuters, 4/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, In the Netherlands
confirmed coronavirus infections rose by 1,235 to 30,449. The death
toll among people known to have been infected increased by 144 to
3,459.
   (Reuters, 4/17/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, The Netherlands
reported 129 new hospital admissions, up just 1%, marking a record
low since the daily statistic has been reported since late March.
Total confirmed cases grew 4% to 31,589, in line with recent trends.
Fatalities rose to 3,601, also in line.
   (Bloomberg, 4/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, The Netherlands
reported 83 coronavirus deaths. 110 patients were admitted to
hospitals, the smallest increase since the daily reporting of the
statistic started at the end of last month. Overall confirmed cases
grew by 3% to 32,655.
   (Bloomberg, 4/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, The Netherlands's
Supreme Court ruled that doctors can carry out ehthanasia in
patients with advanced dementia if the patient had earlier made a
written directive. The ruling solidified a law already in practice.
   (SFC, 4/22/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, In the Netherlands
the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 708 to 34,842 with
138 new deaths. The country's death toll now stands at 4,054.
   (Reuters, 4/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, The Netherlands'
number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 655 to 37,845 with 66
new deaths. The country's death toll stands at 4,475.
   (Reuters, 4/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, The Netherlands'
number of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen by 400 to 38,245
with 43 new deaths. The country's death toll stands at 4,518.
   (Reuters, 4/27/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, The Netherlands'
number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 475 to 39,791, with 98
new deaths. The country's death toll stands at 4,893.
   (Reuters, 5/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, In the Netherlands
the number of confirmed coronavirus infections increased by 445 to
40,236. 94 new deaths took the total COVID-19 fatalities to 4,987.
   (Reuters, 5/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, In the Netherlands
the number of confirmed coronavirus infections increased by 335 to
40,471. The National Institute for Public Health reported 69 new
deaths taking the total COVID-19 fatalities to 5,056.
   (Reuters, 5/3/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, In the Netherlands
the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 199 to 40,770,
with 26 new deaths. Total deaths in the country rose to 5,082.
   (Reuters, 5/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 11, In the Netherlands
five experienced surfers drowned when they went out for a session in
stormy weather off the coast of The Hague.
   (AP, 5/12/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, A court in the
Netherlands rejected a suit brought by a group seeking to halt the
country's 5G telecommunications network rollout over possible health
concerns.
   (Reuters, 5/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, Dutch broadcaster
RTL reported that the government intends to cull the mink at farms
where animals have been infected with the coronavirus. Coronavirus
has so far been detected on eight farms in the Netherlands. A law
banning mink farming in the Netherlands was passed in 2013, and the
remaining 120 farms are due to cease operations in 2023.
   (Reuters, 6/3/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, Netherlands-based
Signify, the world's largest lighting manufacturer, said researchers
at Boston University had confirmed an ultraviolet light made by the
company works to degrade most coronavirus in a laboratory setting in
a matter of seconds.
   (Reuters, 6/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, Dutch police
arrested six men after discovering sea containers that had been
converted into a makeshift prison and sound-proofed “torture
chamber” complete with a dentist's chair, tools including pliers and
scalpels and handcuffs. The arrests followed investigations
code-named 26Lemont.
   (AP, 7/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, A Hague-based
tribunal said Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has been charged with 10
counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the
country's conflict in the 1990s. Prosecutors at the Kosovo
Specialist Court (KSC) laid the charges on April 24, but decided to
unveil them publicly two months later.
   (AP, 6/24/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, Unilever, a
British-Dutch consumer products giant, said it is aiming for a “more
inclusive vision of beauty” in its skin care products and will
remove words such as “fair,” “whitening” and “lightening” from its
products, a move that comes amid intense global debate about race
sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement.
   (AP, 6/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, Anglo-Dutch firm Eat
Takeaway.com bought Grubhub, an American firm, for $7.3 billion.
   (Econ., 7/4/20, p.56)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, Netherlands-based
Mylan NV said it would launch a generic version of Gilead Sciences
Inc's COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir in India at 4,800 rupees
($64.31), about 80% below the price tag on the drug for wealthy
nations.
   (Reuters, 7/6/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, The Rijksmuseum
Boerhaave museum in the Dutch city of Leiden finally opened an
exhibition on contagious diseases through the ages after a long
delay caused by the disease currently sweeping the world — COVID-19.
   (AP, 7/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, A Dutch military
helicopter crashed near the island of Aruba, killing two of the crew
members.
   (SFC, 7/21/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Dutch electrical
equipment maker Philips said a recent surge in orders for scanners
and other medical equipment should enable group sales and margins to
rebound over the next six months from a slump in the second quarter.
   (Reuters, 7/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, It was reported
that authorities in the Netherlands and Spain have killed more than
1 million minks at breeding farms following outbreaks of coronavirus
in the animals.
   (SFC, 8/3/20, p.A6)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, Dutch health
authorities said new confirmed coronavirus cases nearly doubled in
the Netherlands over the past week to 2,588.
   (Reuters, 8/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, A surge in
coronavirus cases in the Netherlands continued, rising to 601 cases
in the past 24 hours from 427 cases a day earlier.
   (Reuters, 8/6/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, In the Netherlands
rioters clashed overnight with police during a 2nd night of unrest
in a low-income neighborhood of The Hague after authorities acted to
stop residents from opening fire hydrants to cool off amid a
weeklong heat wave.
   (SFC, 8/15/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Amsterdam's
Schiphol Airport announced that it will cut hundreds of jobs as it
warned that air traffic likely will not return to pre-coronavirus
pandemic levels until 2023-25.
   (AP, 8/28/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, The Dutch
government brought forward to March a ban on mink-farming that had
been scheduled to take effect in 2024.
   (Econ., 9/5/20, p.43)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, In the Netherlands
a group of activists took a Congolese funeral statue from the Afrika
Museum in Berg en Dal, saying they were recovering art looted during
the colonial era. The activists were quickly arrested and the statue
returned undamaged.
   (AP, 9/11/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, The Dutch public
health institute said that 1,270 people tested positive for COVID-19
in the last 24 hours, the highest number since mid-April and the
second time this week that Dutch daily infections have topped 1,000.
   (AP, 9/11/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, The number of new
coronavirus cases in the Netherlands hit a record high for the third
consecutive day. The health ministry warned that test capacity was
not nearly enough to deal with the wave of possible infections
expected in the coming months.
   (Reuters, 9/17/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, The Dutch
government announced it is holding Syria responsible under the UN
Convention against Torture for “gross human rights violations,” in a
process that could ultimately trigger a case at the United Nations’
highest court.
   (AP, 9/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, In the Netherlands
a friend of World War II Jewish diarist Anne Frank laid the first
stone at a new memorial under construction in Amsterdam to honor all
Dutch victims of the Holocaust.
   (AP, 9/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, Statistics
Netherlands (CBS) said at least 10,000 people in the country of 17
million are likely to have died of COVID-19 during the first wave of
infections between March and June. Health authorities had reported a
total of 6,406 deaths as a result of confirmed coronavirus
infections.
   (Reuters, 10/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, In the Netherlands
appeals judges at the International Criminal Court upheld the
detention of Ali Mohammed Ali Abdul Rahman Ali (aka Ali Kushayb), an
alleged Sudanese militia leader charged with more than 50 crimes
against humanity and war crimes in the Darfur conflict.
   (AP, 10/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, A Dutch court
convicted six men of plotting a large-scale jihadi attack on a
public event and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from 10 to
17 years. The suspects were arrested by heavily armed police in
September 2018.
   (AP, 10/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, The Netherlands
hit a new record in daily coronavirus cases with 7791 infections in
24 hours. Local hospitals said they would ask their German
counterparts to take patients after the number of those hospitalized
with coronavirus doubled in the past week, to 1,526.
   (Reuters, 10/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, Dutch poultry
farmers were keeping their birds indoors to comply with a government
order after a highly contagious form of the H5N8 bird flu was found
in two dead swans this week.
   (Reuters, 10/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, The Dutch
government said animal health authorities will cull 35,700 broiler
chickens after a highly contagious strain of bird flu was found on a
farm in the central Netherlands. The discovery came just days after
a pair of wild swans tested positive for the H5N8 virus.
   (Reuters, 10/29/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 30, In the Netherlands
the number of new coronavirus infections rose by 11,119 over the
past 24 hours, a new record.
   (AP, 10/30/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 31, The Dutch
government put on hold its plan to bail out KLM, the Dutch arm of
Air France, after pilots rejected a wage-freeze until 2025.
   (Reuters, 11/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 2, It was reported
that Paul Gicheru, a Kenyan lawyer wanted by International Criminal
Court prosecutors for allegedly bribing witnesses, has surrendered
to authorities in the Netherlands. Prosecutors alleged that Gicheru
and another lawyer, Philip Kipkoech Bett, corruptly influenced six
witnesses in their investigations into deadly violence that erupted
after Kenya's 2007 elections. Bett was not in custody.
   (AP, 11/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, The Dutch Ministry
of Agriculture ordered the culling of 200,000 chickens after highly
pathogenic bird flu was found at a farm in the eastern town of
Puiflijk.
   (Reuters, 11/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, The Dutch
Protestant Church made a far-reaching recognition of guilt for its
failure to do more to help Jews during and after World War II and
even for the church’s role in preparing ”the ground in which the
seeds of anti-Semitism and hatred could grow."
   (AP, 11/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, In the Netherlands
a bird flu outbreak prompted Dutch health officials to cull of
chickens.
   (Reuters, 11/10/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, An Amsterdam
appeals court upheld the terror conviction of an Afghan
asylum-seeker who stabbed two American tourists, seriously injuring
them, at Amsterdam’s main railway station in 2018. Judges slightly
reduced the sentence of the attacker, who has been identified only
as Jawed S. (21), from nearly 27 years to 25 years based on
sentences in similar cases and on his young age.
   (AP, 11/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, The Dutch public
health institute reported a “worrying rise" in the number of
coronavirus infections in the last week, as the government prepared
to announce whether it will allow any relaxations over the Christmas
holidays of its partial lockdown.
   (AP, 12/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, Netherlands-based
biopharmaceutical firm Halix said AstraZeneca has signed an
agreement with Halix B.V. for manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine
being developed by the British drugmaker and the University of
Oxford.
   (Reuters, 12/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 14, Fatou Bensouda,
the outgoing prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, hit out
at sanctions slapped on her by the Trump Administration in her final
speech to an annual gathering of the court's member states before
she leaves office next year.
   (AP, 12/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 22, Hospitals in the
Netherlands said they would postpone all non-critical care the
coming weeks in order to deal with the rapid rise in COVID-19
patients.
   (Reuters, 12/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 30, A Dutch aid group
says one of its staffers was “murdered” during the conflict in
Ethiopia’s Tigray region, bringing the number of humanitarian
workers killed during the nearly two months of deadly unrest to
five. ZOA International did not say when the 52-year-old staffer was
killed at the Hitsats refugee camp.
   (AP, 12/30/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, The Netherlands
began its COVID-19 vaccination program, with nursing home staff and
front-line workers in hospitals first in line for the shot.
   (AP, 1/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, Netherlands' PM
Mark Rutte and his Cabinet resigned over a report finding systemic
failure by his government to protect thousands of families from
overzealous tax inspectors. Rutte and his Cabinet will continue in a
caretaker capacity with general elections set for March. Over the
last decade government systems had wrongly labelled more than 20,000
parents as fraudsters. On Jan. 18 the government cancelled the
parents' debts.
   (SFC, 1/16/21, p.A3)(Econ., 1/23/21, p.42)Â
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, In the Netherlands
several thousand people held an unauthorized protest in Amsterdam
against a national lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus
pandemic, before being dispersed by riot police.
   (Reuters, 1/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, Drug kingpin Tse
Chi Lop (57), the alleged ringleader of Asia’s biggest crime
syndicate and one of the world’s most wanted men, was arrested in
the Netherlands. Lop is the suspected leader of the Asian
mega-cartel known as "Sam Gor", a major producer and supplier of
methamphetamines globally.
   (The Telegraph, 1/23/21)(Econ., 1/30/21, p.30)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 24, In the Netherlands
rioters set fires in the center of the southern city of Eindhoven
and pelted police with rocks at a banned demonstration against
coronavirus lockdown measures, while officers responded with tear
gas and water cannons, arresting at least 30 people.
   (AP, 1/24/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, Dutch police said
that the fourth night of the Netherlands' coronavirus curfew passed
more peacefully than the previous three nights marred by rioting.
Even so, officers arrested 131 people, mainly for public order
offenses and incitement.
   (AP, 1/27/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 29, A Dutch appeals
court ruled that the Nigerian branch of oil giant Shell is
responsible for damage caused by leaks in the Niger Delta.
   (AP, 1/29/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, The Netherlands
said new coronavirus infections fell 20% over the last week but more
transmissible variants now account for two-thirds of Dutch
infections.
   (AP, 2/2/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 4, In the Netherlands
ex-Ugandan rebel commander Dominic Ongwen was convicted of war
crimes at the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
   (BBC, 2/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, The Dutch
government suspended adoptions from foreign countries after an
investigative committee report criticized past ruling coalitions for
being “too passive” in the face of years of reported abuses
including impoverished mothers being coerced into putting up their
children for adoption.
   (AP, 2/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, Royal Dutch Shell
and renewables firm Eneco, owned by Japan's Mitsubishi Corp, said
they will provide Amazon.com Inc's European facilities with
electricity from an offshore wind farm off the Dutch coast.
   (Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, Royal Dutch Shell
predicted that its oil production had peaked and would never again
reach its 2019 level.
   (NY Times, 2/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, At The Hague
member states of the International Criminal Court elected British
barrister Karim Khan the next prosecutor of the war crimes tribunal.
He will replace incumbent Fatou Bensouda when her nine-year term
expires later this year.
   (AP, 2/12/21)(The Telegraph, 2/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, In the Netherlands
the national association of restaurants and catering businesses said
it will sue the Dutch state to overturn lockdown measures it fears
will lead to many bankruptcies.
   (Reuters, 2/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, The Netherlands's
public health institute announced that confirmed coronavirus
infections in the country rose by nearly 19% over the past week as
more people got tested following a week of icy conditions.
   (AP, 2/23/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Netherlands-based
ASML Holding NV said it has extended a deal to sell chip
manufacturing equipment to Semiconductor Manufacturing International
Corp, China's largest chipmaker, until the end of this year.
   (Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021      Mar 3, The
Hague-based International Criminal Court prosecutor said her office
will formally investigate war crimes in the Palestinian Territories,
a move welcomed by the Palestinian Authority and denounced by
Israel.
   (Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, Dance music lovers
in Amsterdam were offered a short relief from COVID-19 lockdown,
treated to their first live show in over a year while serving as
guinea pigs in a research project. All guests needed to test
negative for coronavirus 48 hours in advance and were urged to take
another test five days after the event.
   (Reuters, 3/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, At The Hague
International Criminal Court judges awarded $30 million (25.3
million euros) in reparations to victims of crimes for which
Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda was convicted including child
soldiers and victims of rape and sexual slavery.
   (AP, 3/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, Dutch police used
a water cannon and officers on horseback across a park in The Hague
to break up a protest against the government and its tough
coronavirus lockdown.
   (SFC, 3/15/21, p.A4)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, The Netherlands
began 3 days of general elections.
   (SFC, 3/16/21, p.A2)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 16, Dutch health
authorities said the number of new coronavirus infections in the
Netherlands increased by 24% over the last week, the biggest weekly
jump since mid-December.
   (Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, The process of
forming a new Dutch governing began after PM Mark Rutte's
conservative VVD party won 35 of the 150 seats in the lower house of
parliament. The centrist D66 garnered 24 seats. The far-right
populist Forum for Democracy rose from 2 to 8 seats.
   (SFC, 3/19/21, p.A4)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, In the Netherlands
coronavirus cases jumped by around 7,400 in the past 24 hours,
marking the biggest increase since early January.
   (Reuters, 3/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Netherlands's
health authorities said new coronavirus cases in the country
increased for a seventh consecutive week, despite lockdown and
social distancing rules aimed at curbing the virus' spread.
   (Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, At The Hague
International Criminal Court appeals judges upheld the acquittals of
former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo and former minister
Charles Ble Goude on charges of involvement in deadly post-election
violence.
   (AP, 3/31/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, The Netherlands
temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for
people under 60 following the death of a woman who had received a
shot.
   (Reuters, 4/2/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, The Eemslift
Hendrika, a Netherlands-registered special ship designed to carry
boats on its deck, went adrift in an area where the North Sea and
Norwegian Sea meet, some 40-50 km (25-31 miles) off the shore and
the city of Alesund. The crew of 12 was evacuated to shore by
helicopter after the ship sent a distress call following a power
outage in its main engine in heavy seas.
   (AP, 4/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Dutch police
arrested a suspect in the theft last year of two valuable paintings
by Vincent van Gogh and Frans Hals from different museums. The
paintings remained missing.
   (AP, 4/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, The Netherlands
began relaxing its lockdown even as infection rates reimained
stubbornly high.
   (SFC, 4/29/21, p.A4)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, The Dutch privacy
watchdog said it has fined the eastern city of Enschede for tracking
people using mobile phone Wi-Fi signals in a system used to measure
crowds. The city's municipality said it is appealing the ruling and
600,000-euro ($730,000) fine.
   (AP, 4/29/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, The Netherlands
postponed a further easing of lockdown measures until at least May
18 as COVID-19 infections remain high and hospitals are struggling
with large numbers of coronavirus patients.
   (Reuters, 5/1/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, A Dutch court
convicted five teens for their involvement in the fatal beating last
year of a 73-year-old man in what they described as a “pedophile
hunt.” The youths were given sentences ranging from six months to a
year in juvenile detention.
   (AP, 5/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, It was reported
that Dutch researchers have trained bees, which have an unusually
keen sense of smell, to identify samples infected with COVID-19, a
finding they said could cut waiting times for test results to just
seconds. The technique of "insect sniffing" was effectively tested
by the US Dept. of Defence to detect explosives and toxins in the
1990s.
   (AP, 5/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Amsterdam's
Rijksmuseum opened a new exhibition that takes unflinching look at
slavery. The exhibit tells the story of slavery by drilling down
into the personal stories of 10 people, ranging from enslaved
workers to a wealthy Amsterdam woman.
   (AP, 5/18/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, Twenty six nations
competed in the final of the Eurovision song contest in the
Netherlands, vying for votes in the world's most popular live music
event, which returns after being cancelled last year due to the
pandemic. Maneskin won the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song
“Zitti E Buoni” beat 25 other acts from across Europe to bring the
title home for Italy. France came in second, and Switzerland came in
third.
   (NY Times, 5/22/21)(Reuters, 5/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, A Dutch court
ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut its carbon emissions by net 45% by
2030 compared to 2019 levels in a landmark case brought by climate
activism groups, which hailed the decision as a victory for the
planet.
   (AP, 5/26/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, The Kurdish-led
administration in Syria's northeast handed over to the Netherlands a
Dutch woman, her two young sons, and a Dutch girl, who lived in a
camp for families of alleged Islamic State militants.
   (AP, 6/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, In the Netherlands
a group of lawyers presented a dossier of evidence to prosecutors at
the Int'l. Criminal Court (ICC) that they say establishes
jurisdiction for the global tribunal to investigate allegations that
Chinese authorities are involved in grave crimes targeting Uighurs.
   (SFC, 6/11/21, p.A2)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, Prosus NV, the
Dutch investor with a 28.9% share of Chinese software giant Tencent,
said it expected full-year earnings per share to have nearly doubled
in the past year, after a strong performance during the coronavirus
crisis. Prosus is majority-owned by Naspers of South Africa.
   (Reuters, 6/10/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 29, The Dutch health
council said children as young as 12 should be offered the
Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, the injection which was
authorized for use on children from the age of 12 by the European
Commission in May.
   (Reuters, 6/29/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, A Dutch court
ruled in favor of Inmarsat in a dispute over the use of 5G bandwidth
in the Netherlands, ordering the government to suspend a decision to
reserve the bandwidth for telecommunications as of Sept. 1, 2022.
   (Reuters, 6/30/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, The mayor of
Amsterdam apologized for the extensive involvement of the Dutch
capital's former governors in the global slave trade, saying the
moment had come for the city to confront its grim history.
   (AP, 7/1/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, In the Netherlands
journalist Peter R. de Vries (64), known for reporting on the Dutch
underworld, was shot in the head in downtwon Amsterdam. Two suspects
were soon taken into custody. The suspected shooter is a Dutchman
(21). A Polish man (35) living in the Netherlands was accused of
driving the getaway car. De Vries died of his wounds on July 15.
   (SFC, 7/8/21, p.A3)(AP, 7/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, Dutch PM Mark
Rutte conceded that coronavirus restrictions had been lifted too
soon in the Netherlands and he apologized as infections surged to
their highest levels of the year. The government cancelled all
multi-day festivals and events with large crowds until Aug. 14.
   (Reuters, 7/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, Health authorities
said in the Netherlands said almost 52,000 infections were confirmed
in the country of 17.5 million in the week through today. New
coronavirus cases jumped more than six-fold in the past week, mainly
among young adults, following a decision to largely scrap
restrictions.
   (Reuters, 7/13/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, A Dutch court
convicted a Syrian man (49) of committing a war crime in his country
for his role in the 2012 summary execution of a prisoner. The court
sentenced the man to 20 years in prison.
   (AP, 7/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, Thousands of
people fled their homes in the southern Netherlands as rising waters
swamped cities and broke through a dyke. Flooding that raged through
the tourist town of Valkenburg caused around 400 million euros ($470
million) in damage to homes and businesses.
   (Reuters, 7/16/21)(AP, 7/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, Germany said it is
listing Spain and the Netherlands as “high-incidence areas,” meaning
that most people arriving from those countries who aren’t fully
vaccinated will have to go into quarantine from next week.
   (AP, 7/23/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, The International
Criminal Court withdrew its 2021 arrest warrant for the wife of
former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo following her husband's
2019 acquittal on charges of involvement in deadly violence that
erupted following his country's disputed 2010 presidential election.
   (AP, 7/30/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, Netherlands-based
automaker Stellantis said it achieved faster-than-expected progress
on synergies and record margins in its first six months as a
combined company, despite suffering 700,000 units in lower
production due to interruptions in the semiconductor supply chain.
   (AP, 8/3/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, Germany and the
Netherlands said they have suspended any deportations of migrants to
Afghanistan due to the tense security situation as Taliban
insurgents make sweeping gains in the Central Asian country.
   (AP, 8/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, In the Netherlands
hundreds of performers and festival organizers held marches through
six cities to protest what they said were unfair coronavirus
restrictions that have forced cancellations of summer music
festivals and other events.
   (SSFC, 8/22/21, p.A8)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, In the Netherlands
a court in Amsterdam ruled that Uber drivers fall uinder the Dutch
taxi drivers' collective labor agreement, meaning they are entitled
to the same employment benefits as taxi drivers. Uber said it would
appeal.
   (SFC, 9/14/21, p.C2)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, A narrow majority
of Dutch parliament late today rejected a motion calling on the
government to change its mind about the 'corona' pass, as PM Mark
Rutte said it was needed to prevent a new wave of infections.
   (Reuters, 9/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, In the Netherlands
a monument listing 102,163 Dutch victims of the Holocaust was
unveiled by King Willem-Alexander in Amsterdam, the first national
memorial to be built in the country.
   (AP, 9/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, In the Netherlands
more than 80 Greenpeace activists blocked the entrance to Shell's
oil refinery in the Dutch port of Rotterdam to draw attention to the
launch of the European Citizens' Initiative calling for the
advertising ban. A coalition of more than 20 environmental and
climate groups launched a campaign calling for a ban on fossil fuel
advertising and sponsorship across the European Union, similar to
bans on tobacco advertising.
   (AP, 10/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, It was reported
that the Dutch antitrust authority has found that Apple’s rules
requiring software developers to use its in-app payment system are
anti-competitive and ordered it to make changes, four people
familiar with the matter said, in the latest regulatory setback for
the iPhone maker.
   (Reuters, 10/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, In the Netherlands
hundreds of protesters from climate activist group Extinction
Rebellion blocked a busy intersection near the temporary home of the
parliament, marking the start of a week of protests the group plans
in The Hague before a UN climate conference that opens on Oct. 31.
   (AP, 10/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, Respected Dutch
climate scientist Geert Jan van Oldenborgh (59) died. He co-founded
the World Weather Attribution network, a group that rapidly analyzes
the possible effects of climate change on extreme weather events. He
and co-founder Friederike Otto were recognized as one of Time
magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2021.
   (AP, 10/14/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 19, Dutch authorities
placed Eritrean national Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam (37) on the
Netherlands' most-wanted list, as they seek to prosecute him for his
alleged involvement in large-scale human trafficking, abuse of
migrants trying to reach Europe and extortion.
   (AP, 10/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 19, New coronavirus
infections in the Netherlands jumped 44% in the week through today,
forcing several hospitals in the country to cut back on regular care
to deal with a rising number of COVID-19 cases. Some 48 COVID-19
deaths were recorded, twice as many as in the previous week.
   (Reuters, 10/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 21, The Dutch
government's forensic lab said it had decrypted electric carmaker
Tesla Inc's closely guarded driving data-storage system, uncovering
a wealth of information that could be used to investigate serious
accidents.
   (Reuters, 10/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 26, A Dutch appeals
court ruled that a collection of ancient Crimean gold artefacts,
claimed both by Ukraine and by museums in the Russian-annexed
peninsula, should be returned to the Ukrainian state.
   (Reuters, 10/26/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, Government
formation talks in the Netherlands became the longest on record, 226
days after the March 17 elections delivered a fractured political
landscape that made parties more reluctant than ever to compromise.
   (Reuters, 10/29/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, Namibia suspended
imports of live poultry, birds and poultry products from Germany and
the Netherlands after outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird
flu in the European countries.
   (Reuters, 11/1/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 2, The Dutch
government decided to re-impose measures, including the wearing of
face masks, aimed at slowing the latest spike in COVID-19
infections.
   (Reuters, 11/3/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, The Netherlands
reported a new outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 bird flu among ducks
at a poultry farm in the central province of Flevoland. About 10,000
animals will be culled at the farm.
   (Reuters, 11/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, The Dutch Supreme
Court handed Russia at least a temporary victory in an appeal of
what’s believed to be the world’s largest award in an arbitration
case after former shareholders of bankrupted Russian oil giant Yukos
accused the Kremlin of taking down the company in 2003 to silence
Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a fierce critic of President
Vladimir Putin.
   (AP, 11/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, The Netherlands
announced a partial lockdown. Bars and restaurants will close early
and sporting events will be held without spectators under a
three-week effort to contain a rapid surge in COVID-19 cases.
   (Reuters, 11/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, The number of
COVID-19 patients in Dutch hospitals increased to around 2,000,
including almost 400 in intensive care, reaching the highest level
since May.
   (Reuters, 11/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, Royal Dutch Shell
said it would scrap its dual share structure and move its head
office to Britain from the Netherlands, pushed away by Dutch taxes
and facing climate pressure in court as the energy giant shifts from
oil and gas.
   (Reuters, 11/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, Dutch health
authorities said they were running short of COVID-19 tests, as the
Netherlands registered more than 20,000 new coronavirus cases for
the second day in a row, the highest since the pandemic began.
   (Reuters, 11/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 19, In the Netherlands
three people were hospitalized after police in Rotterdam fired shots
during a violent protest late today against COVID-19 measures. 51
people were arrested.
   (Reuters, 11/20/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, Five police
officers were injured in the Netherlands and at least 40 people
detained across three provinces as violent protests against COVID-19
restrictions continued for a second night.
   (Reuters, 11/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 21, In the Netherlands
riots broke out in cities across the country, the third night in a
row that police clashed with mobs of angry youths who set fires and
threw rocks to protest COVID-19 restrictions.
   (NY Times, 11/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, Dutch coronavirus
infection numbers hit a new weekly record, climbing 39% while
hospital and intensive care unit admissions also rose sharply,
prompting the government to make social distancing mandatory again
for all adults.
   (AP, 11/23/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 24, Coronavirus
infections broke records in parts of Europe. Slovakia, the Czech
Republic, the Netherlands and Hungary all reported new highs in
daily infections.
   (Reuters, 11/24/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 27, Dutch health
authorities said they had detected 61 COVID-19 cases among people
who flew from South Africa a day earlier and were now doing further
tests to see whether any are infected with the new Omicron variant.
   (Reuters, 11/27/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, Dutch health
authorities said that 13 cases of the new Omicron coronavirus
variant have been found in the Netherlands among passengers that
were on two flights from South Africa that arrived on Nov. 26.
   (Reuters, 11/28/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, Dutch health
authorities said most of the 62 people who tested positive for
COVID-19 after arriving on two flights from South Africa last week
had been vaccinated, lending weight to a call for pre-flight testing
regardless of vaccination status. All 14 passengers who were later
found to have been infected with the Omicron variant were
vaccinated.
   (Reuters, 12/2/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, In The Netherlands
dozens of flag-waving demonstrators from a Kurdish organization
broke into the Dutch grounds of the global chemical weapons watchdog
to protest what they alleged was the use of chemical weapons by
Turkish forces.
   (AP, 12/3/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, In The Netherlands
several thousand people gathered in the central town of Utrecht to
protest against new coronavirus restrictions that came into force
last weekend. Dutch health authorities said the final tally of
passengers on two flights from South Africa last week who had tested
positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant was 18.
   (Reuters, 12/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 10, The US announced
that Australia, Denmark and Norway would join it in an effort to
curb technology exports to governments that use the products for
repression. Canada, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
also supported the move.
   (Reuters, 12/10/21)
 2021      Dec 14, Dutch
broadcaster RTL said schools in the Netherlands will close a week
early for Christmas this year as coronavirus infections remain high
and hospitals struggle with a wave of COVID-19 patients.
   (Reuters, 12/14/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 15, Six European
supermarket chains, including two owned by Dutch firm Ahold Delhaize
and a Carrefour subsidiary, said they would stop selling some or all
beef products from Brazil due to links with destruction of the
Amazon rainforest.
   (Reuters, 12/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, Dutch urban
centers were largely deserted as the country began a snap lockdown
that, aimed at stemming an expected COVID-19 surge caused by the
fast-spreading Omicron variant, left people's Christmas plans in
disarray.
   (Reuters, 12/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 24, A Dutch court
imposed a 4-year prison sentence on a 41-year-old man convicted of
attempted murder for firing gunshots at the Saudi embassy in The
Hague on Nov. 12, 2020, after he was refused a visa to travel to
Mecca.
   (AP, 12/24/21)
2022Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, In the Netherlands
riot police with batons and shields tried to break up a crowd of
several thousand who had gathered in Amsterdam to protest against
COVID-19 lockdown measures and vaccinations.
   (Reuters, 1/2/22)
2022Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 4, Dutch health
authorities said around 190,000 chickens on two neighboring farms in
the east of the Netherlands will be culled after the highly
pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus was detected on one of the farms.
   (Reuters, 1/5/22)
2022Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 5, In the Netherlands
new coronavirus cases jumped to a record high of around 24,500 as
the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has become dominant in the
country.
   (Reuters, 1/5/22)
2022Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, The Netherlands
said it will stop funding a Palestinian civil society group recently
outlawed as a terrorist organization by Israel but rejected Israel's
main claims about the group following its own audit.
   (AP, 1/6/22)
2022Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, Dutch PM Mark
Rutte's fourth government was sworn in, a record 299 days after the
last election and a year after his previous administration was
forced to resign, with the coronavirus crisis looming over a big
spending push.
   (Reuters, 1/10/22)
2022Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, The Palestinian
Authority summoned the Dutch representative to object to the
Netherlands' decision to halt funding to a Palestinian civil society
group that Israel controversially outlawed as a terrorist
organization.
   (AP, 1/10/22)
2022Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 14, The Netherlands
said it will not send an official diplomatic delegation to the
Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics because of COVID-19 restrictions.
   (Reuters, 1/14/22)