This article lists some of the events that took place in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 2008.

Incumbents

*Monarch:

Beatrix Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from ''Viatrix'', a feminine form of the Late Latin name ''Viator'' which meant "voyager, traveller" and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word ''beatus'' or "ble ...

*Prime Minister:

Jan Peter Balkenende Jan Pieter Balkenende Jr. ( ; born 7 May 1956), commonly known as Jan Peter Balkenende, is a Dutch jurist and politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 20 ...

Events

January

*January 1:

Wim Deetman Willem Joost "Wim" Deetman (born 3 April 1945) is a retired Dutch politician and teacher who served as Minister of Education and Sciences from 1982 to 1989, Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1989 to 1996 and Mayor of The Hague from ...

resigns as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. *January 12: Two soldiers of Task Force Uruzgan,

Lance Corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many English-speaking armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal. Etymology The presumed origin of the rank of lance corp ...

Aldert Poortema (22) and Private First Class Wesley School (20), both of the

Regiment Infanterie Johan Willem Friso The Regiment Infantry Prins Johan Willem Friso is a line infantry regiment of the Royal Netherlands Army. Named after Johan Willem Friso of Orange-Nassau, it is the oldest and most senior regiment in the current order of battle. The regiment curr ...

, are killed in

Uruzgan Uruzgan (Pashto: ; Dari: ), also spelled as Urozgan or Oruzgan, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Uruzgan is located in the center of the country. The population is 436,079, and the province is mostly a tribal society. Tarinkot ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

*January 15: Farshad Bashir (20) of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

is sworn in as member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, becoming the youngest member in history. *January 26: Bishop

Wim Eijk Willem Jacobus "Wim" Eijk (born 22 June 1953) is a Dutch prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal since 2012. He has been the Metropolitan Archbishop of Utrecht since 2007. He was Bishop of Groningen-Leeuwarden from 1999 to 2007. Before hi ...

of Groningen-Leeuwarden is installed as Archbishop of Utrecht.

February

*February 3:

Joran van der Sloot Joran Andreas Petrus van der Sloot (; born 6 August 1987) is a Dutch murderer who was convicted in the 2010 killing of Stephany Flores Ramírez in Lima, Peru. He first came to public attention as the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natal ...

is unmasked in a high-profile TV-episode, made by

Peter R. de Vries Peter Rudolf de Vries (14 November 1956 – 15 July 2021) was a Dutch Investigative journalism, investigative journalist and crime reporter. His television program (''Crime Reporter''; 1995–2012) covered high-profile cases and set a Dutch te ...

, about the disappearance of

Natalee Holloway Natalee is a female given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other me ...

May

* 9: During a huge fire on a shipyard in

De Punt De Punt is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Tynaarlo, and lies about 11 km south of Groningen. The village closely cooperates with Yde and they are often referred to as Yde-De Punt, however both ...

(Drenthe) 3 firemen of the Eelde corps perish.

June

* 4: The rebuilt Wilms' Boô is officially opened by

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands Princess Margriet of the Netherlands (Margriet Francisca; born 19 January 1943) is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. As an aunt of the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, she is a member of the Dutch Royal House a ...

. * Undated: ** Sweet Empire, punk rock band from the Amsterdam is formed.

July

* 1: Most exceptions on the smoking ban are dropped. * 10: The movie Hoe overleef ik mezelf? (How to survive myself?) gets a Gouden Film for getting 100.000 visitors.

September

* 24: Beginning of the

Netherlands Film Festival The Netherlands Film Festival () is an annual film festival, held in September and October of each year in the city of Utrecht. During the ten-day festival, Dutch film productions and co-productions are exhibited. Besides feature films, the prog ...

. * 28:

Fortis Fortis may refer to: Business * Fortis (Swiss watchmaker), a Swiss watch company * Fortis Films, an American film and television production company founded by actress and producer Sandra Bullock * Fortis Healthcare, a chain of hospitals in ...

is partially nationalized by

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

whom together get 49% of the stocks in their control. * 30: The

Gouden Griffel The Gouden Griffel (Golden Stylus) is an award given to authors of children's or teenagers' literature in the Netherlands. History Since 1971, it is awarded each year during the Dutch Children's Books Week, by the Stichting Collectieve Prop ...

for the best children-book goes to

Jan Paul Schutten Jan Paul Schutten (born 30 November 1970) is a Dutch writer of children's literature. Career Schutten's debut book ''Ruik eens wat ik zeg, de taal van dieren en planten'' was awarded in 2004 with the Vlag en Wimpel award. The book was illustr ...

for his book Children of Amsterdam (Kinderen van Amsterdam).

October

* 3: The Dutch branch of

becomes completely nationalized and taken over by the

Dutch government The Netherlands is a parliamentary representative democracy. A constitutional monarchy, the country is organised as a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke, Frits M. Meer, Edward E ...

. * 5: Huge fire in a shopping mall in

Spijkenisse Spijkenisse () is a large town in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. Following an administrative reform in 2015, it is part of the List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Nissewaard, and ha ...

. * 8: The Maasvlakte Light is deactivated. * 11: TV presenter Ernst-Paul Hasselbach (43) dies together with a female

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

colleague in a traffic accident in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

November

* 14:

Domino Day ''Domino Day'' is a world record attempt for the highest number of toppling domino stones, organized from 1998 to 2009 by Endemol Netherlands. Together with Weijers Domino Productions of Robin Paul Weijers, also known as Mr. Domino, parties ...

2008 is held in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

Sports

*January 1:

Koninklijke HFC Koninklijke Haarlemsche Football Club (Royal Haarlem Football Club) is a football club based in Haarlem, Netherlands. It is the oldest existing club in Dutch football, founded by Pim Mulier in 1879. During the club's early years, the team only ...

win the traditional New Year's match against former international footballers 6–1. *January 2: The '' Federatie Eredivisie Basketball'' of the Netherlands Basketball Association takes BC Omniworld of

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands across the IJmeer fro ...

out of the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

. The club had gone into administration. *January 4: Jermo Ribbers (14), a member of the Dutch national youth ski jumping team, dies after a fall following a jump in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in German ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. *March 26–30 Netherlands at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships :: March 30:

Ellen van Dijk Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk (; born 11 February 1987) is a Dutch professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam . Besides road cycling she was also a track cycling, tr ...

becomes World Champion at the

2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place at the Manchester Velodrome in Manchester, United Kingdom from 26 to 30 March 2008. Eighteen events were scheduled: the women's team pur ...

in the Women's scratch *July 3–6 Netherlands at the 2008 European Road Championships ::

won the gold medal in the Women's time trial, the only Dutch medal at the championships. *August 8–24 Netherlands at the 2008 Summer Olympics *September 3–7 Netherlands at the 2008 UEC European Track Championships ::The Netherlands won 6 medals: 2 gold, silver and 2 bronze medals.

won four of them including the two gold medals. She won gold in the Women's under-23 points race and the Women's under-23 scratch and silver in the Women's omnium and Women's under-23 individual pursuit. *September 6–17

Netherlands at the 2008 Summer Paralympics The Netherlands competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. A total of 83 Dutch competitors took part in 13 sports. The athletes that qualified for the 2008 Summer Paralympics are listed below. Medalists Archery 1 competitor: ;Women ...

Deaths

January

*January 1: Dirk van Egmond, 54, journalist for Veronica,

KRO Kro or KRO may refer to: *, Dutch public broadcasting organization * Kro (comics), character from the Marvel Comics, also known as Warlord Kro *IATA code for Kurgan Airport *ISO code for Kru languages The Kru languages are spoken by the Kru ...

Omroep Flevoland The Dutch public broadcasting system () is a group of organizations that are responsible for public service television and radio broadcasting in the Netherlands. It is composed of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) foundation, which acts as its ...

TROS TROS, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting ("Television Radio Broadcasting Foundation"), was a Dutch television and radio organisation part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. This broadcasting association was partic ...

AVRO Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the d ...

and RTL Veronique. *January 4:

Anton P. de Graaff Anthonie Peter de Graaff (Amsterdam, 12 April 1928 – Waalwijk, 4 January 2008) was a Dutch writer. The author, who himself served in the Dutch East Indies from March 1949 to the beginning of October 1950 as sergeant combat medic of the 425th I ...

, 79, author *January 28:

Ginty Vrede Ginty Vrede (July 18, 1985 – January 28, 2008) was a Dutch kickboxer and 2008 WBC Muaythai Heavyweight World champion. Biography and career Vrede won the WBC Muaythai heavyweight World title by beating the previously unbeaten Shane del Rosari ...

, Surinamese-Dutch kick-boxer

February

*February 7:

Benny Neyman Wilhelmus Albertus "Benny" Neyman (9 June 1951 in Maastricht, Netherlands - 7 February 2008 in Soesterberg, Netherlands) was a Dutch singer. Biography Neyman was born in Limburg. In the beginning of the 1970s, he took a course at Kleinkunst Ac ...

, 56, singer *February 22:

Henk Bruna Henk Bruna (11 June 1916 – 22 February 2008) was a Dutch publisher and director of the stationery and bookstore chain Bruna. He was a brother of A.W. (Abs) Bruna (1902–1996) and an uncle of the artist Dick Bruna. From 1935 till 1982 Bruna wa ...

, 91, businessman, founder of the Bruna retail chain

March

*March 17: Ed Leeflang, 78, poet *March 23:

Wim Mager Wim Mager (26 September 1940 in Rotterdam – 23 March 2008 in Silvolde) was a Dutch photographer who is mainly known for founding the Apenheul Primate Park near Apeldoorn of which he was the director until 1997. When he had found a successor he ...

, 67, photographer, founder of Apenheul

April

*April 6:

Jeu Sprengers Mathieu Gerardus Marie "Jeu" Sprengers (24 May 1938, Tegelen – 6 April 2008) was the Dutch chairman of the Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherland ...

, 69, chairman of the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues ( Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and w ...

August

*August 14: Percy Irausquin, 39, fashion designer.

References

{{Commons category

Years of the 21st century in the Netherlands 2000s in the Netherlands

Incumbents

Events

January

February

May

June

July

September

October

November

Sports

See also

Deaths

January

February

March

April

August

See also

References