1275    Traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam.

1614    Adriaen Block and 12 Amsterdam merchants petition the States General for exclusive trading rights in the New Netherland colony.

1687    The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution.

1810    The French occupy Amsterdam.

1883    The last quagga dies at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.

1888    The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is inaugurated.

1910    In Amsterdam, 25,000 demonstrate for general suffrage.

1942    Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.

1944    The Holocaust: a tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse where they find Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family.

1945    The General Dutch Youth League (ANJV) is founded in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

1960    The Anne Frank House opens in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

1973    Palestianian terrorists hijack a Japan Airlines jet en route from Amsterdam to Japan and force it down in Dubai.

1992    El Al Flight 1862: an El Al Boeing 747-258F crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 39 on the ground.