The Dutch came to America as early as 1609 and founded New Amsterdam, today’s New York, in 1625. According to the 2000 United States Census, more than 5 million Americans claim total or partial Dutch heritage:
Presidents:
– Martin van Buren, 8th President of the United States.
– Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
– Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States
– George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States
– George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States
Other famous Dutch Americans:
Presenter and entertainer Dick Van Dyke, musicians Eddie and Alex van Halen, General David Petraeus, Thomas Edison and Cornelius Vanderbilt all have Dutch in their ancestry .
The U.S. partnership with the Netherlands is one of its oldest continuous relationships and dates back to the American Revolution. On October 11, 1614 (400+ years ago) the first trade free trade agreement between the Netherlands, and what is now the United States, was signed and trade and economic ties between the two nations began.
Many Dutch customs, habits and inventions have been adopted in the United States. Many examples can be found in the US government, legal and financial systems. The world’s first stock exchange was in The Netherlands. In 1606 The Amsterdam stock exchange was the first of its kind in the world, trading in shares from the Dutch East India Company (VOC), which was also the world’s first multinational corporation.
Other Dutch inventions include:
1608 – Telescope
1620 – Submarine
1672 – Fire hose
1828 – Chocolate bar
1903 – Electrocardiograph (ECG)
1903 – Four-wheel drive with internal combustion engine
1943 – Artificial kidney
1958 – Speed camera
1962 – Compact cassette
1969 – Laser disc
1979 – Compact disc
1990 – Bluetooth
1991 – Wi-fi
1995 – DVD
1997 –Blu-ray