I.H.C. (Ino) van den Besselaar (born 14 November 1948 in The Hague) is a former Dutch politician. As a member of the Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid) he was an MP from 23 November 2010 to 19 September 2012, succeeding James Sharpe. He focused on matters of social affairs, pensions and government spending.
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It evolved from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland spoken by the predominantly Dutch settlers and enslaved population of the Dutch Cape Colony, where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Glorious Revolution was the deposition of James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange, who was also James's nephew. The two ruled as joint monarchs of England, Scotland, and Ireland until Mary's death in 1694, when William became ruler in his own right. Jacobitism as a political movement persisted into the late 18th century. William's invasion was the last successful invasion of England.
The Netherlands, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces; it borders Germany to the east and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium. The official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. Dutch, English, and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean territories.
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, sometimes considered part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. Suriname is a developing country with a medium level of human development; its economy is heavily dependent on its abundant natural resources, namely bauxite, gold, petroleum, and agricultural products. Suriname is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the United Nations, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
William III, also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the 1670s, and King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. He ruled Great Britain and Ireland with his wife, Queen Mary II, and their joint reign is known as that of William and Mary.
Marcel "Marco" van Basten is a Dutch former football manager and player who played as a striker for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he scored 300 goals in a high-profile career, but played his last match in 1993, at the age of 28, due to recurring ankle injury which forced him to announce his retirement two years later. He was later the head coach of Ajax and the Netherlands national team.
Julian Miles Holland is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Joss Stone, Jayne County, Tom Jones, José Feliciano, Sting, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Ringo Starr, Bono, Rod Stewart and Ruby Turner.
Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij, commonly known as Ruudvan Nistelrooy, is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all-time, van Nistelrooy has been the top scorer in three separate UEFA Champions League seasons, and is the sixth-highest goalscorer in the competition's history with 56 goals. He has also been the top scorer in three different European domestic leagues. In 2004, he was listed in the FIFA 100 of the world's greatest living players.
Sinterklaas or Sint-Nicolaas is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other Dutch names for the figure include De Sint, De Goede Sint and De Goedheiligman. Many descendants and cognates of "Sinterklaas" or "Saint Nicholas" in other languages are also used in the Low Countries, nearby regions, and former Dutch colonies.
The Belgium national football team has officially represented Belgium in men's international football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian team's supervising body, the Royal Belgian Football Association. Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938, from 1980 to 2002 and again from 2014 onwards, have alternated with mostly unsuccessful qualification rounds. Most of Belgium's home matches are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.
Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director. He directed Submission: Part 1, a short film written by Somali writer and politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which criticised the treatment of women in Islam in strong terms. On 2 November 2004, he was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan Islamist who objected to the film's message. The last film Van Gogh had completed before his murder, 06/05, was a fictional exploration of the assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn. It was released posthumously in December 2004, a month after Van Gogh's death, and two years after Fortuyn's death.
Geert Wilders is a Dutch politician who has led the right-wing to far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives. Wilders is best known for his right-wing populism, anti-immigration, opposition to Islam and Euroscepticism. His views have made him a controversial figure in the Netherlands and abroad. Since 2004, he has been protected at all times by armed police.
Thomas Anthony Hollander is a British actor. Hollander trained with National Youth Theatre and won the Ian Charleson Award in 1992 for his performance as Witwoud in The Way of the World. He made his Broadway debut in the David Hare play The Judas Kiss in 1998. His performance as Henry Carr in a revival of the Tom Stoppard play Travesties earned nominations for both the Olivier Award and Tony Award.
Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th secretary-general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as the prime minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2024, and as the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2006 to 2023. Serving a total of almost 14 years, Rutte is the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history.
Luke Menzies is an English professional wrestler and a former professional rugby league player. As a professional wrestler, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Ridge Holland. He was a former one-time NXT Tag Team Champion.
Dutch is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the third most spoken Germanic language. In Europe, Dutch is the native language of most of the population of the Netherlands and Flanders. Dutch was one of the official languages of South Africa until 1925, when it was replaced by Afrikaans, a separate but partially mutually intelligible daughter language of Dutch. Afrikaans, depending on the definition used, may be considered a sister language, spoken, to some degree, by at least 16 million people, mainly in South Africa and Namibia, and evolving from Cape Dutch dialects.
Robin van Persie is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who is the head coach of Eredivisie club Heerenveen. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and was known for his technique, ball control, and vision. Van Persie is the all-time top scorer for the men's Netherlands national team.
Zwarte Piet, also known in English by the translated name Black Pete, is the companion of Saint Nicholas in the folklore of the Low Countries. Traditionally, Zwarte Piet serves as an assistant to the saint and distributes sweets and gifts to well-behaved children.
Thomas Stanley Holland is an English actor. His accolades include a BAFTA Award and three Saturn Awards. He featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list of 2019. Some publications have called him one of the most popular actors of his generation.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is a 2021 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, co-produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and the 27th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Jon Watts and written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. It stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man alongside Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire. In the film, Parker asks Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) to use magic to make his identity as Spider-Man a secret again after this was revealed to the world at the end of Far From Home. When the spell goes wrong because of Parker's actions, the multiverse is broken open and visitors from alternate realities are brought into Parker's universe.