Present
Several tram lines traverse the Dam and have stops there. In the time of the horse tram (end 19th century) the Dam was the most important tram hub of Amsterdam. After 1900 this function moved to the Stationsplein (Station Square).
Over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, Amsterdam's main square became a "national" square well known to nearly everyone in the Netherlands. It has frequently been the location of demonstrations and events of all kinds, and a meeting place for many people. On 4 May every year, the Dutch celebrate National Memorial Day (Nationale Dodenherdenking), in observance of which the last addition to the square, the National Monument, was set up in 1956.
Several times a year, such as on Queens Day or near Christmas, there is a large funfair in Dam Square.
Read more about this topic: Dam Square
Famous quotes containing the word present:
“I foresee the time when the painter will paint that scene, no longer going to Rome for a subject; the poet will sing it; the historian record it; and, with the Landing of the Pilgrims and the Declaration of Independence, it will be the ornament of some future national gallery, when at least the present form of slavery shall be no more here. We shall then be at liberty to weep for Captain Brown. Then, and not till then, we will take our revenge.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The present is an age of talkers, and not of doers; and the reason is, that the world is growing old. We are so far advanced in the Arts and Sciences, that we live in retrospect, and dote on past achievement.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
“Though I do hate him as I do hell pains,
Yet, for necessity of present life,
I must show out a flag and sign of love,
Which is indeed but sign.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)