X-Nico

90 unusual facts about Amsterdam


1976 Winter Olympics

The chart below displays the original vote count for the 69th IOC meeting at Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1970, before the Denver rejection and the installation of Innsbruck, Austria, as alternate host.

Aire-sur-la-Lys

The architect, Pierre Framery was inspired by the former Hotel de Ville at Amsterdam.

Albert Mol

Mol was born in Amsterdam, and was one of the first openly gay actors in the Netherlands.

Allochtoon

In 2013, the city council of Amsterdam decided to stop using the term because of its divisive effect.

Art zuid

ARTZUID is an open air sculpture biennial in Amsterdam's Southern district in The Netherlands.

Artificial respiration

Thomas Cogan, another English physician, who had become interested in the same subject during a stay at Amsterdam, where was instituted in 1767 a society for preservation of life from accidents in water, joined Hawes in his crusade.

Azem Maksutaj

Maksutaj returned to the local circuit to stop his losing streak and took a number of wins including a points victory over Erhan Deniz in Bratislava, Slovakia on September 7, 2007 before returning to K-1 at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Amsterdam on April 26, 2008 to face an up-and-coming Tyrone Spong.

Beit Ha'Chidush

Beit Ha'Chidush (meaning House of Renewal in Hebrew) (BHC) is a Jewish congregation founded in 1995 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, by Jews who at that time didn't feel at home anymore in the existing Jewish congregations.

Bicker family

They were at the centre of Amsterdam oligarchy from the begin of the 17th century until the early 1650s.

Bill Glerum

Herman Wilhelm ("Bill") Glerum (born 28 August 1911 in Amsterdam – died 24 August 2002) was a Dutch cricket player.

British propaganda during World War I

Special telegraph agencies were established in various European cities, including Bucharest, Bilbao and Amsterdam, in order to facilitate the spread of information.

Bunge y Born

The company superseded the Bunge Company founded in Amsterdam by Johann Bunge, in 1818.

Cals cabinet

There was also social unrest ('the sixties'), which became apparent in the Provo movement, construction worker protests, riots over the marriage of princess Beatrix in Amsterdam and the rise of new parties like Boerenpartij, Pacifist Socialist Party, GPV and D'66.

Cape Dutch architecture

Houses in this style have a distinctive and recognisable design, with a prominent feature being the grand, ornately rounded gables, reminiscent of features in townhouses of Amsterdam built in the Dutch style.

Coca Braun

coca braun is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices located in Amsterdam, Munich and Berlin.

Dee Dee Ramone I.C.L.C.

After several live shows and drummers in the three piece line up the two members decided to move to Amsterdam to record two albums for Rough Trade Records World Services.

Defence lines of the Netherlands

The main principle was defence by flooding where as the army of the Netherlands would withdraw to the area around Amsterdam.

Diamond hoax of 1872

Further investigation showed Arnold and Slack bought cheap cast-off diamonds, refuse of gem cutting, in London and Amsterdam for $35,000 and scattered them to "salt" the ground.

Dutch Brazilian

The Dutch West India Company was established in Amsterdam in 1621 and soon came into contact with the overseas domains of Portugal and Spain.

Eagle Strike

Alex goes to Cray Industries in Amsterdam, where he hears Yassen and Cray conversing about a flash drive.

Ebba Bernadotte

She was a lady-in-waiting of the Crown Princess, Victoria of Baden, who in 1885 visited her brother-in-law in Amsterdam, where he was to undergo a medical examination for a heart difficulty.

El Palacio de Hierro

In 1879, they began planning to build a department store in Mexico City similar to famous upscale, and high class stores in Paris (Le Bon Marché), New York City (Saks Fifth Avenue), London (Harrods), and Amsterdam (De Bijenkorf).

Europa Galante

The ensemble has been invited to play at important festivals and concert halls and has performed at La Scala in Milan, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, Lincoln Center in New York, the Sydney Opera House, and at Kraków Philharmonic.

European route E231

The E 231 is a European B class road in the Netherlands, connecting the cities of Amsterdam and Amersfoort.

Frank Ammerlaan

Ammerlaan graduated as an independent artist from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam in 2007.

George Prévost

Prévost's maternal grandfather was a wealthy banker in Amsterdam, and his money is considered to have certainly been responsible for his grandson's quick advancement up the chain of command in the British Army, as promotion could then be obtained "by purchase".

Gerrit Bol

Gerrit Bol (born May 29, 1906 in Amsterdam, died 1989) was a Dutch mathematician, who specialized in geometry.

Graffiti My Soul

According to a post on his website, Brian Higgins visited Amsterdam and asked permission to sample the main guitar riff of "It's Not the Drug" for Girls Aloud.

H. Evan Runner

He was a graduate of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (where he was deeply influenced by the thought of Professor Cornelius Van Til), and The Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

H. Robert Reynolds

In Europe, he conducted the premiere of an opera for La Scala Opera (Milan, Italy), and concerts at the prestigious Maggio Musicale (Florence, Italy), the Tonhalle (Zurich, Switzerland), and at the Holland Festival in the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), as well as the 750th Anniversary of the City of Berlin.

Heinz Edelmann

In 1970 Edelmann moved to Amsterdam and designed book jackets and posters for plays and films.

Hendrick van Brederode

In March of the year 1567, backed by his friend Lenaert Jansz de Graeff and a large part of the bourgeoisie Brederode became the Generalcaptain of the city of Amsterdam.

Henlopen Acres, Delaware

The name "Henlopen" probably is derived from that of Thijmen Jacobsz Hinlopen (1572–1637), a merchant in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Henri Lloyd

In 2001, Henri Lloyd’s TP3 Reflex Jacket and Hi-Fit Trouser won the Design Award METS, at the Marine Equipment Trade Show in Amsterdam.

Henrietta Montalba

She mainly devoted herself to portrait or fancy busts; some executed in marble, like those of Doctor Mezger of Amsterdam (Grosvenor Gallery, 1886), and Dr. Schollander, the Scandinavian artist; others in bronze, like that of the Marquess of Lorne; but the greater part of her work was executed in terra cotta, as in the case of her bust of Robert Browning (Grosvenor Gallery, 1883).

Henrik af Trolle

In 1766, after years that had seen the Swedish Navy being reduced, he travelled on his own expense to Brest, Flanders and Amsterdam, where he observed shipbuilding and fortress construction techniques.

History of the Marranos in England

Petitions favoring readmission had been presented to the army as early as 1649 by two Baptists of Amsterdam, Johanna Cartwright and her son Ebenezer ("The Petition of the Jews for the Repealing of the Act of Parliament for Their Banishment out of England"); and suggestions looking to that end were made by men of the type of Roger Williams, Hugh Peters, and by Independents generally.

Israel Luna

His movie Fright Flick played at numerous venues on the 2008/2009 festival circuit in the United States and made its international screening debut in Amsterdam.

Jacob von Sandrart

At age ten Sandrart obtained his artistic training from his better-known uncle Joachim von Sandrart in Amsterdam.

Janwillem van de Wetering

Van de Wetering was born and raised in Rotterdam, but in later years he lived in South Africa, Japan, London, Colombia, Peru, Australia, Amsterdam and most recently in Surry, Maine, the setting of two of his Grijpstra and de Gier novels and his children's series about the porcupine Hugh Pine.

Jesse Moren Bader

From 1937 onwards he attended all the major ecumenical gatherings related to the formation and establishment of the World Council of Churches including Oxford and Edinburgh (1937), Amsterdam (1948), Evanston (1954), New Delhi (1961) and the annual meetings of the World Council of Churches executive committee once it was set up in 1948.

Jewish Tilburg

In contrast to other Jewish communities in the so-called "mediene" (the Jewish communities outside the major cities in the western part of the country, such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague), the community did not decrease in numbers due to the favorable economic position of Tilburg.

Joseph Athias

Born in Spain, probably in Córdoba, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, he settled in Amsterdam.

Keep It Dark

In the first and second verses and the fade out, the band walks along bleak city streets (in Amsterdam) wearing trenchcoats and fedoras.

Life net

During the Hotel Polen fire in Amsterdam on May 9, 1977, firefighters could not successfully deploy a life net in a narrow, congested alley.

Live for Life

He takes her along on an assignment in Kenya and later establishes an "arrangement" with her in Amsterdam.

Malvik

The airport has frequent connections to many locations in Norway, and a growing range of direct air links abroad (currently including London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Prague).

Max Kohnstamm

He was educated at Amsterdam University, where he studied Modern History, before taking up a fellowship at American University, Washington, D.C..

Mazda Kazamai

It was first introduced at the 2008 Moscow International Automobile Salon in August and later shown at the 2009 AutoRAI Amsterdam held in April.

Megamix '93

The promotion campaign of this anthology CD was launched in a notorious Amsterdam gay club (De iT) where the Luv' singers appeared in concert.

Megaritual

Megaritual is the fifth and final album in the series initiated and recorded by Omar Rodriguez Lopez in Amsterdam in 2005.

Melechesh

The band started their career in Jerusalem (and Bethlehem) and operated from there between 1993–1998; however, they have resided mainly in Amsterdam since 1998 for several personal, professional and demographic reasons.

Muiden Fortress

It is part of the defence line of Muiden, that is part of the Stelling van Amsterdam, the UNESCO World Heritage site that consists of a set of forts around the city of Amsterdam.

New York Court of Common Pleas

Together the Governor, Schout, and Council were supervised by the Dutch colonial authorities at Amsterdam.

Nicholas Pope

His most important early shows included solo exhibitions at the Garage Gallery (1976), the Anthony Stokes Gallery (1979), and the Art & Project Gallery in Amsterdam (1979).

NSD

It was developed by NLnet Labs of Amsterdam in cooperation with the RIPE NCC, from scratch as an authoritative name server (i.e., not implementing the recursive caching function by design).

Olier Mordrel

While in Amsterdam, the two leaders issued a Manifesto calling for the Bretons not to back the French forces.

Oneminutes

In 2006, the award evening was held on 19 November in Paradiso, Amsterdam.

Piccalilli

Tourists visiting the Netherlands, and especially Amsterdam, are often unaware of this which can lead to unexpected results.

Plexi

After embarking to Amsterdam, where they recorded a follow-up album in late 1998, the band dissolved.

Poikilospermum

Alexander Zippelius (1797-1828) is given authorship of the genus, publishing in Annales Musei Botanici Lugduno-Batavi (Amsterdam), 1: 203, in 1864.

Pole baronets

Born Charles Van Notten, he was the son of Charles Van Notten, a merchant, of Amsterdam and London, (who was a descendant of Charles Van-Notten, who was created Lord of Ath and Van der Notten by Emperor Charles V, only son of Henry Van Notten, who was ennobled by Emperor Maximilian I in 1499).

Quint Ondaatje

At the age of 14 year he came to Amsterdam, becoming a pupil at the Athenaeum Illustre.

Rage Hard

Having topped the charts around the world with Welcome to the Pleasuredome and its accompanying singles, Frankie Goes to Hollywood took off to Amsterdam to record the follow-up album, Liverpool.

Richard Bluestein

After working in the health care industry for several years and dabbling in radio hosting in Amsterdam, Bluestein moved to Chicago in 1998 and started becoming involved with the underground film and performance scene.

Richard Douglass

Already in 1760 where there more than 40 ships from Brigs to Sloops registered in New London many under the Shaw Family flag conducting business in the East and West Indies as well as such foreign ports at Lisbon, Barcelona, Amsterdam and even as far as Russia in addition to the mother country England.

Salomon van Abbé

Salomon van Abbé (born Amsterdam, 31 July 1883, died London, 28 February 1955), also known as Jack van Abbé or Jack Abbey, was an artist, etcher and illustrator of books and magazines.

Sandar

To get there, directions are as for Sandefjord - by road from the south or the north via E18; via traintrain; by ferry from Strömstad in Sweden, or via air to Torp airport from places such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

Shai Biruk

Biruk accepted an offer to join the youth system in Amsterdam only to come back to Israel six months later citing homesickness.

While playing for the Israeli youth academy, Beitar Nes Tubruk his footballing talent was noticed by scouts from the Dutch football club Ajax.

Sloten

Sloten, Amsterdam, a, village in the municipality of Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

Sport policies of the Arab League

Sixteen years later, Egypt won its first two gold medals, in weightlifting and wrestling, and a silver and bronze in diving at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.

St. Nicholas Park

Like the streets on its eastern and western borders, the park was named after St. Nicholas, the patron saint of Amsterdam whose likeness adorned one of the ships that brought the first Dutch settlers to New Amsterdam.

Stena Line Holland BV

The new route enabled passengers to leave London in the evening and, after arrival in the Hook before 6 am, be in Amsterdam at breakfast time and reach Berlin by the end of the day.

Summer Carnival

She was part of the Kingdoms under the Sun Group from Amsterdam.

SV Alsenborn

While watching the 1962 European Cup Final in Amsterdam, Walter and Hannes Ruth, another former 1. FC Kaiserslautern player, vowed to build up the little club and take it to the top level of German football.

Tama Morita

In 1954, she was selected as the Japanese delegate to the International PEN meeting in Amsterdam.

The Coffee Trader

The Coffee Trader is an historical novel by David Liss, set in 17th century Amsterdam.

Theodore of Corsica

After sounding out the possibility of protection from Spain and Naples, he set off to Holland where he was arrested for debt in Amsterdam.

To Hull and Back

In the episode, the Trotters agree to smuggle diamonds from Amsterdam for Boycie.

Tom Manders

Later he also designed decors for theatre and cabaret, regularly for Lou Bandy, Wim Kan and theatre Carré in Amsterdam.

Transport in the Netherlands

The busiest 4-lane motorway in the Netherlands is the A10 in the Coen Tunnel in Amsterdam with 110.000 vehicles per day.

Victorian Dad

He once took his family to Amsterdam, hoping to take in some fine scenery and continental culture.

Viking Death March

It is a live music video compiled from live footage that was shot during the band's performances at the Rock am Ring festival in Nürburg, Germany on June 2, and at the Melkweg in Amsterdam, Netherlands on June 6.

WeTransfer

WeTransfer is a cloud-based file transfer service based in Amsterdam designed to send small to large files.

When Love Comes to Town

It was played at 46 of the 47 shows; the only concert it missed was 18 December 1989 in Amsterdam, as the show concluded prematurely due to Bono suffering vocal problems.

Who's That Knocking at My Door

Scorsese shot and edited a technically beautiful but largely gratuitous montage of J.R. fantasizing about bedding a series of prostitutes (shot in Amsterdam, the Netherlands with a visibly older Keitel) and the film finally became Who's That Knocking at My Door (named for the song which closes the film).

William II, Prince of Orange

In 1650 William II became involved in a bitter quarrel with the province of Holland and the powerful Regents of Amsterdam, Andries Bicker and his cousin Cornelis de Graeff.

Wolfgang Ratke

In addition to Augsburg and Köthen, he put his method of instruction into operation in Amsterdam, Basel, Strassburg, Frankfurt, Weimar, and various other places.

Zelandia Illustrata

The collection was founded by the Amsterdam lawyer Jacob Verheye van Citters (1753–1823) in the 18th century.


Abraham Asscher

In 1907 the brothers opened a new factory at 127 Tolstraat in Amsterdam and soon they received a request from King Edward VII of Great Britain to cleave the legendary Cullinan Diamond, the largest rough gem-quality diamond ever found.

Bardo State

Frank is the son of Jan Wijn; a famous Dutch concert pianist, while Dorian attended the conservatory in Amsterdam and has a background in pop and dance music.

Carl Friedrich Wenzel

Disliking his father's trade of bookbinding, for which he was intended, he left home in 1755, and after taking lessons in surgery and chemistry at Amsterdam, became a ship's surgeon in the Dutch service.

Carwyn James

In 1983 James was on a private visit to the Netherlands and staying alone at the Kras Nabolsky Hotel in Dam Square, Amsterdam.

Coat of arms of Amsterdam

Both the colours and the crosses are also found in the escutcheons of two towns near Amsterdam: the village of Ouder-Amstel on the banks of the river Amstel to the southeast, and Nieuwer-Amstel (now the suburb Amstelveen) to the southwest.

Colonial Institute

The Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, originally called the Colonial Institute

David de Castro Tartas

David ben Abraham de Castro Tartas (Tartas, 1630-Amsterdam, 1698) was a Portuguese Jewish printer in Amsterdam.

Eugenio Miccini

He participated in the most important international exhibitions, such as: Biennale di Venezia (four times), Quadriennale of Rome (as commissar), Stedelijik Museum of Amsterdam, Palazzo Forti of Verona, Palazzo Vecchio of Florence, Museums of Marseille, GAM, Palazzo dei Diamanti of Ferrara.

Eva Bendien

However her family was forced to go underground and Eva spent time at diverse underground addresses in Amsterdam, Bergen, Haarlem, Sneek, Boekelo, and Bornebroek, with the last few months spent in the "Verscholen dorp" a colony of earthen huts housing 86 people in the woods between Nunspeet and Vierhouten.

Gable stone

They are a particularly charming feature of the urban fabric of Amsterdam, and are also found in cities such as Brussels, Lille and Copenhagen.

Green politics

In June 1970 in the Netherlands a group called Kabouters won 5 of the 45 seats on the Amsterdam Gemeenteraad (City Council), as well as two seats each on councils in The Hague and Leeuwarden and one seat apiece in Arnhem, Alkmaar and Leiden.

Harry van Bommel

The incident was reason for the Rabbi Raphael Evers of the "Dutch Israelite Religious Community" (Nederlands Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap - NIK) to require that van Bommel would not be present at the Auschwitz Memorial in Amsterdam on January 25.

João Silvério Trevisan

The film was shot in Brooklyn, and entered more than 80 film festivals and won 21 awards all over the world, including Best of the Fest at Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Storyteller Award at Savannah Film Fetival, and the Van Gogh Award at the Amsterdam Film Festival, among others.

John Bagford

Originally a shoemaker by trade, he was active on the book-trading market from 1680 in and around Holborn, travelling to Haarlem, Leiden, and Amsterdam on this business and aiding such collectors as John Moore, Robert and Edward Harley, Sir Hans Sloane, Samuel Pepys and John Woodward.

Joseph Jaquet

In 1864, he secured his first commission in Amsterdam: The Victory for the Volksvlijt Palace (nl), then a second commission for the decoration of the national monument in The Hague Willemspark (nl).

Joseph Wijnkoop

Joseph David Wijnkoop (Amsterdam, 14 August 1842 - Amsterdam, 1 October 1910) was a Dutch rabbi and scholar in Jewish studies.

Lawrence Krader

For his study of the roots of the theory of evolution in the 19th century he received support from the International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam) during 1963-1975.

Leilei Tian

She has been awarded the Prix de Rome, and other awards from the Besançon Composition Competition for orchestra in France, the Contemporary Music Contest "Citta' di Udine" in Italy, Composition Competition of GRAME in Lyon, Gaudeamus Competition in Amsterdam and International Society of Contemporary Music Cash Young Composer's Award.

Liberal State Party

The party performed particularly well in the major trading cities Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the rich municipalities around Hilversum and the Hague and in northern rural provinces, like Groningen and Drenthe.

Maarheeze railway station

With an interchange at Eindhoven passengers are able to reach many major places in the Netherlands, such as: Amsterdam, Utrecht, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, The Hague, Venlo and Eindhoven Airport (by bus).

Michel Tapié

Tapié organized and curated scores of exhibitions of new and modern art in major cities all over the world, including not only Paris and Turin but also New York, Rome, Tokyo, Munich, Madrid, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Milan, and Osaka.

Nereus Rowing Club

The Amsterdam Student Rowing Club (ASR) Nereus, (Dutch De Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging (ASR) Nereus) is a rowing club in Amsterdam, Holland which was founded in 1885 by Mr. J. Schölvinck as a subsidiary organization of The Corps, an Amsterdam student fraternity.

Nick Dompierre

Dompierre came in first in the amateur class at the 2006 Vans Downtown Showdown in Los Angeles and placed in its best trick contest, as well as the street and best trick contests at Volcom's Damn Am in Amsterdam.

Nikolai Khardzhiev

Khardzhiev and Chaga flew to Amsterdam in November 1993 and checked into the Hilton Hotel, where they were to stay for four months.

Novastar

After a sold out club tour in the Fall of 2008, Novastar performed in February in a fully packed Antwerp based Lotto Arena and Amsterdam’s Heineken Music Hall.

Opta Sports

Opta Sports is a sports data company with headquarters in London and other offices in Leeds, Munich, Bassano del Grappa, Milan, Paris, Madrid, Montevideo and Amsterdam.

Ray Stern

In 2005 he received the New York State Award (now since renamed the Senator Hugh Farley Award) from the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Amsterdam, New York.

Reactions to the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 attack

The international flight originated in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Amsterdam, Netherlands and made an emergency landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Detroit, Michigan, United States.

Rob Grootendorst

He studied Dutch studies at the University of Amsterdam since 1980, and became a Ph.D. in 1982 in Speech Communication.

Robert Rowlette

He was Honorary Physician to the British Olympic team at the 1920 Summer Olympics (Antwerp) and to the Irish teams at the 1924 Summer Olympics (Paris) and 1928 Summer Olympics (Amsterdam), the first two occasions on which an independent Irish team competed.

Rochefoucauld Grail

The three-volume manuscript was sold by its previous owner, Mr Joost Ritman, for the benefit of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam.

Roxana Briban

She also appeared at the Vienna Volksoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Théâtre du Capitole, the Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile and the Muziektheater in Amsterdam.

Ruben Hakhverdyan

Three songs that Hakhverdyan himself says have influenced him most and have been his all-time favorites are Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles, Amsterdam by Jacques Brel and It's a Man's World by James Brown.

Stille Omgang

The biggest and best known is the Stille Omgang of Amsterdam, which is still performed every year in March.

Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

Von der Heide performed at the "Eurovision in Concert" preview concert in the Amsterdam municipality of Zaanstad in the Netherlands on 24 April, along with 17 other competitors.

Sylvia Hollamby

Sylvia's worst fears become reality as Shell is found alive and heavily pregnant in Amsterdam, and extradited back to G-Wing.

Tasmanian Devil: Munching Madness

Players take control of Taz to eat all the food in each of the nine levels - Tasmania, Australia, China, Greece, Switzerland, Amsterdam, Amazon River, Las Vegas and Transylvania.

Werner Schaaphok

Back in the Netherlands, he tried to sign with local Amsterdam side AFC DWS, but the club was unable to come to terms with his former club the Chicago Mustangs, where he was still under contract.

Westergasfabriek

Amsterdam went over to gas from Hoogovens in IJmuiden, so the production of coal gas from the Factory decreased.

Wim Hesterman

Willem "Wim" Hesterman (26 November 1897, Amsterdam – 2 December 1971, Amstelveen) was a Dutch boxer who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.

Wythoff construction

W.A. Wythoff, A relation between the polytopes of the C600-family, Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam, Proceedings of the Section of Sciences, 20 (1918) 966–970.

XS4ALL

Because international telephone connections from Egypt to the rest of the world are not blocked people can dial into the modems in Amsterdam and then log into the internet using username and password xs4all.