A small wind powered device was constructed by Greek engineer Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century. Windmills were first put to wide use in Persia during the 9th century. The Netherlands made extensive use of the windmill with its most important function being land reclamation. Windmills created new agricultural fields and kept established fields dry from the encroaching sea. In 1850, over 10,000 windmills were in use throughout the Netherlands; today, less than 1,000 remain standing.
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The “Golden Age” for the Netherlands spanned much of the 17th century. The Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company established trading colonies stretching from New York to Indonesia and as far south as the Cape Colony of South Africa. It was a nation of seafarers having over 16,000 merchant ships flying the Dutch flag. Growing competition from England and internal political strife brought a spiral of decline to the Dutch Republic in the late 18th century.
