0838 Large portion of northwest Netherlands flooded; over 2,400 died 

1170 First All Saints' Flood inundated Netherlands and Zuider Zee region 

1212 Large flood at Noordholland killed 60,000 

1219 St. Marcellus Flood killed 36,000 

1287 Zuider Zee seawall collapsed; 50,000 died 

1299 Count of Holland gained control of Zeeland 

1300-1390 French Dukes of Burgundy united all of the Low Countries 

1301 Holland defeated Lichtenberg at Battle of Breukelen

1345 Frisian defeated Dutch at Warns 

1362 Storm surge kills 25,000; sixty parishes destroyed in Slesvig 

1404 First St. Elizabeth's Flood occurred; towns washed away 

1421 Second St. Elizabeth's Flood; dike broke, villages swept away; many thousands died 

1432 Zeeland became part of Low Countries under Phillip the Good of Burgundy 

1460 Episcopal palace at Atrecht held witch burnings 

1477 Mary of Burgundy, heiress of all Netherlands, married Maximilian I of Habsburg family of Austria 

1489-1490 Plague killed thousands 

1492 German mercenaries killed 232 at Bread and Cheese rebellion 

1500-1599 Protestant Reformation swept across Europe; Dutch Protestants persecuted by Roman Catholics 

1511 Portuguese traders reached Banda Islands 

1516 King Charles I of Spain rules Netherlands 

1517 Protestants burned at the stake 

1519 King Charles I of Spain became Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V 

1520 Public burning of books took place in Louvain 

1521 Emperor Charles V banned wooden buildings in Amsterdam 

1524 Henry Van Zutphen, Dutch Protestant martyr, burned at stake 

1527 Wendelmoet Claesdochter first Dutch woman burned at stake as heretic 

1540 Emperor Charles V beat uprising against taxes in Ghent; nine leaders beheaded, one hanged 

1556 Emperor Charles V gave control of Low Countries to Son, King Philip II of Spain 

1567 Duke of Alba became guardian of Netherlands 

1568 William I, Prince of Orange, led revolt against Spanish government; Duke of Alba declared William of Orange an outlaw; Holy office condemned all inhabitants of Netherlands to death as heretics; Eighty Years' War (Dutch Revolt) began 

1568 King Phillip II of Spain banned foreign Dutch students; tidal wave in North Sea destroyed sea walls, over 1,000 killed 

1572 William of Orange became viceroy of Holland, Friesland, Utrecht; town of Naarden surrendered to Spanish, town burned, all residents massacred 

1574 Storm broke Leiden dike, 20,000 Spanish soldiers drowned 

1576 Netherlands' 17 provinces united in Pacification of Ghent; formed federation to maintain peace; Spanish forces attached Antwerp (the Spanish Fury) 

1579 Treaty of Utrecht signed, beginning of Dutch Republic; Friesland joined Union of Utrecht 

1580 States of Utrecht outlawed Catholic worship 

1581 Dutch declared independence from Spain 

1584 Gregorian (New World) calendar adopted; William of Orange assassinated; succeeded by son, Maurice of Nassau 

1585 Antwerp sacked by Duke of Parma 

1602 Dutch East India Company formed in Jakarta, Indonesia 

1604 Spanish took Ostend (northwest Belgium) from Netherlands 

1620 Pilgrims left Netherlands, landed in Massachusetts 

1624 Dutchman Cornelius Drebbel created world's first submarine 

1630-1654 Dutch conquered Brazil 

1648 Spain recognized Dutch independence 

1652 War broke out between Netherlands and England 

1661 Holland sold Brazil to Portugal 

1665 King Charles II of England declared war on Netherlands; British captured Banda Island of Run from Dutch 

1667 Dutch fleet sailed Thames, threatened London; burned three ships; William of Orange replaced James Stuart; Peace of Breda ended war; Surinam ceded to England by Dutch in exchange for New York 

1672 King Louis XIV of France invaded Netherlands; sluices opened in Holland to save Amsterdam from French 

1677 William of Orange married cousin Mary (daughter of James, Duke of York) 

1688 King Louis XIV of France declared war on Netherlands; King James II of England fled London, abdicated throne; King William (of Orange) and Queen Mary became rulers 

1689 King William III joined League of Augsburg and Netherlands, formed Grand Alliance to counter war of aggression by King Louis XIV 

1690 French defeated Grand Alliance forces at Fleurus in Netherlands 

1692 English and Dutch fleet beat France at Battle of La Hogue; French forces defeated English at Battle of Steenkerke in Netherlands 

1693 At Battle of Neerwinden in Netherlands, French destroyed Grand Alliance army 

1697 Treaty of Ryswick signed; ended war between france and Grand Alliance 

1701 England, Austria, Netherlands formed Alliance against France 

1741 Dutch protested against bad quality of bread 

1745 England, Austria, Saxony, Netherlands formed alliance against Russia; French forces defeated Ango-Dutch army at Fontenoy 

1747 French forces defeated Ango-Dutch at Battle of Lauffeld; French captured Bergen-op-Zoom; England and Netherlands singed military treaty 

1748 Riot broke out in Amsterdam after public execution; over 200 killed 

1780-1783 Netherlands at war with England 

1784 Peace of Versailles ended war between France, England, Holland; Holland banned orange clothes 

1788 Alliance between Britain, Prussia, Netherlands ratified 

1793 France declared war on Britain and Netherlands; French conquered Geertruidenberg, Netherlands 

1801 Napoleon Bonaparte imposed new constitution 

1814 William VI, prince of Orange, became King William I of the Netherlands 

1815 British, German, Dutch, Belgian troops assembled to face Napoleon 

1825 Dike breaks caused severe flooding, more than 800 died 

1830 Belgium rebelled against Netherlands 

1840 King William I of Holland abdicated 

1864 British, French, Dutch fleets attacked Japan in Shimonoseki Straits; Gerard Heineken founded beer Heineken brewery 

1870 Amstel Brewery opened 

1873 Holland American cruise line began operations from Netherlands; colonization efforts began in Aceh province (Indonesia), caused decades-long war 

1890 Grand Duchy of Luxembourg separated from Netherlands; Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. founded 

1894 Disastrous flooding occurred 

1899 First Hague Peace Conference held in Netherlands, 26 nations participated 

1903 Harry Houdini escaped from police station in Amsterdam 

1904 Two men (Weerdinge couple) found in bog, dated from 160BC - 220AD 

1914-1918 World War I; German Zeppelins bombed Antwerp twice; Netherlands maintained neutrality; Kaiser Wilhelm II of German went into exile in Netherlands 

1916 Zuyderzee Flood caused by dike breaks 

1917 Mata Hari (Dutch dancer who spied for Germans) executed by firing squad 

1920 Dutch government refused to hand over dethroned German monarch, Kaiser Wilhelm II, to Allies; League of Nations established International Court of Justice in The Hague 

1922 Dutch women received right to vote 

1928 Olympics opened in Amsterdam 

1932 Dutch textile strike broken by trade unions; Afsluitkijk Dam completed, sealed Zuider Zee from ocean, formed freshwater lake, IJsselmeer. 

1934 Jordanians revolted due to reduction in employment in Amsterdam 

1935 Dutch Revolutionary Socialist Worker's Party formed

1939 Netherlands declared neutrality at outbreak of World War II; Netherlands passenger ship hit German mine, 86 died 

1940 Germany invaded Netherlands; Royal family fled to England; Germans bombed Rotterdam from air, destroyed tens of thousands of buildings; Netherlands surrendered; Germans occupied Netherlands 

1941 Nazi police attacked, driven away from Koco in Amsterdam by young Jews; roundup of Jews in Amsterdam occurred; concentration camp at Amersfoort opened; German Jews in Netherlands declared stateless 

1942 Japan declared war against Netherlands; Japanese forces invaded Dutch East Indies; Nazis executed 72 in Sachsenhausen; Jews transported from Holland to extermination camp 

1943 US ship James Oglethorpe, Netherlands ship Terkolei torpedoed, sank; U S mistakenly bombed Rotterdam, 326 killed; Dutch struck against forced labor in Nazi German's war industry; Jews rioted in Amsterdam against Germans; Willem Kolff invented first dialysis machine 

1944 Nazi troops executed 96 prisoners by firing squad; 99 inhabitants of Tulle were hung; last transport of Dutch Jews, including Anne Frank, left for Auschwitz; 65,000 Dutch Nazi collaborators fled to Germany (Mad Tuesday); British and American troops parachuted into Holland to capture Arnhem Bridge; thousands of British troops killed by Germans at Arnhem Bridge 

1944-1945 Netherlands became site of fighting between Allied forces and Germany; food supply severely disrupted, many Dutch civilians suffered near-starvation 

1945 RAF bombing error hit The Hague, killed 511; Netherlands, Denmark liberated from Nazi control; Allies bombed The Hague; Queen Wilhelmina returned to Netherlands; Nazi occupiers executed; Canadian troops liberated Nazi concentration camp at Westerbork; Netherlands became charter member of United Nations 

1948 International Court of Justice opened at The Hague; Queen Wilhelmina abdicated throne due to health reasons; Queen Juliana crowned 

1949 Netherlands joined NATO 

1952 Netherlands founding member of European Coal and Steel Community 

1953 More than 1,800 killed in flooding 

1968 Greece, Portugal and Spain embassies bombed in The Hague 

1969 John Lennon, Yoko Ono staged bed-in for peace in Amsterdam; nuclear reactor in Dodewaard began use 

1975 Dutch colony of Surinam gained independence; hundreds of thousands of Surinamese emigrated to Netherlands; Rembrandt's "Nightwatch" slashed, damaged in Amsterdam; South Moluccan extremists surrendered after holding 23 hostages for 12 days on train near Beilen 

1977 Moluccan extremists held 105 school children, 50 others, hostage on train in Netherlands; Dutch Social Democratic party won Parliamentary election 

1980 Queen Juliana abdicated throne; Beatrix crowned queen 

1983 Alfred Heineken, Heineken Brewery, kidnapped, held for ransom of over $10 million; freed by police after 20 days 

1991 European community leaders met in Maastricht, agreed to begin using single currency by 1999 

1992 Earthquake struck Netherlands and Germany; Amsterdam apartment complex struck by El Al jet, 43 killed 

1995 Flooding forced evacuation of 200,000 people and millions of animals 

1997 European Union (EU) set common foreign, security policy in Amsterdam Treaty 

1999 Netherlands, 10 other EU nations began using Euro monetary system; Picasso painting slashed by mental patient in Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; student in Heghel shot teacher, four students in first school shooting in Dutch history 

2000 Parliament legalized euthanasia; fireworks depot exploded in Enschede, 20 killed, 489 injured, 400 houses flattened; Bill passed allowing same-sex partners to marry; brothels were legalized 

2002 Euro officially replaced Dutch guilder; prime minister Wim Kok's government resigned; anti-immigration party leader, Pim Fortuyn killed by gunman; Balkenende became prime minister; government collapsed three months later; eight men detained for providing financial aid, logistical services to al Qaeda 

2003 Bird flu found; 18-judge world court inaugurated at The Hague; pharmacies allowed to fill prescriptions for marijuana; flu epidemic broke out; high school student fatally shot teacher 

2004 200,000 demonstrated in Amsterdam, protested public spending cuts, welfare reforms; filmmaker, Theo van Gogh, murdered after receiving death threats about movie "Submission"; Dutch police raided Kurdish training camp in southern Netherlands, 29 arrested 

2005 Dutch voters rejected E U constitution; civil servants went on strike protesting declining benefits, low wages; authorities seized 5 tons of cocaine at Port of Rotterdam; police detained seven suspects in anti-terrorism operation in three cities; police arrested 45 members of Hell's motorcycle gang, seized assortment of weapons; fire at prison complex killed 11 illegal immigrants awaiting deportation; Dutch government agreed to send additional 1,400 troops to join NATO forces in Afghanistan 

2006 Parliament approved sending additional 1,200 troops to Afghanistan; former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, found dead in prison cell while being tried for war crimes; outbreak of bluetongue disease (transmitted to sheep by insects) discovered; center-right Christian Democrats won most seats in elections; Netherlands became first nation to use completely digital signals 

2007 Jan Peter Balkenende sworn in as head of three-party centrist coalition (three months after elections) 

