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