The Bourse of Antwerp, originally built in 1531 and re-built in 1872, was the world's first purpose-built commodity exchange. It was founded before stocks and shares existed, ... In the early years after Belgian independence, Antwerp was governed by Catholic-Unionist mayors. Between 1848 and 1921, all mayors were from the Liberal Party (except ...

The population grew when Antwerp got to be ruled by the Dutch, and even more after Belgian independence. On the eve of World War II, there were some 50,000 Jews in the city, many connected to the diamond industry, and there was a lively Jewish culture, with various organizations, sports clubs, and cultural groups, including Zionist groups. When ...

The Belgian Congo (French: Congo belge, pronounced [kɔ̃ɡo bɛlʒ]; Dutch: Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.. Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King Leopold II of the Belgians attempted to …

Manneken Pis (Dutch: [ˌmɑnəkə(m) ˈpɪs] (); Dutch for 'Little Pissing Man') is a landmark 55.5 cm (21.9 in) bronze fountain sculpture in central Brussels, Belgium, depicting a puer mingens; a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. Though its existence is attested as early as the 15th century, it was designed in its current form by the Brabantine sculptor Jérôme Duquesnoy ...

Tulip mania (Dutch: tulpenmanie) was a period during the Dutch Golden Age when contract prices for some bulbs of the recently introduced and fashionable tulip reached extraordinarily high levels. The major acceleration started in 1634 and then dramatically collapsed in February 1637. It is generally considered to have been the first recorded speculative bubble or asset bubble in …

Lille (/ ˈ l iː l / LEEL, French: (); Dutch: Rijsel; Picard: Lile; West Flemish: Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders.On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord department, and the main city of the European Metropolis of Lille.. The city of Lille proper had a population …

Air Liquide S.A. (French pronunciation: ; / ˌ ɛər l ɪ ˈ k iː d /; literally "liquid air"), is a French multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services to various industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers. Founded in 1902, after Linde it is the second largest supplier of industrial gases by revenues and has operations in over 80 countries.

During the Dutch Golden Age in the late-16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch Republic dominated world trade, conquering a vast colonial empire and operating the largest fleet of merchantmen of any nation. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world. In 1650 the urban population of the Dutch Republic as a percentage of total population was 31.7 …

Bruges (/ b r uː ʒ / BROOZH, Dutch: Brugge ()) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population.. The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO.It is oval in shape and about 430 hectares in size. The city's total population …

Background. Belgium was a participant in the military intervention against ISIL, during the Iraqi Civil War. On 5 October 2014, a Belgian F-16 dropped its first bomb on an ISIL target, east of Baghdad. On 12 November 2015, Iraq warned members of the coalition that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIL, had ordered retaliatory attacks on countries involved in the …