Vacation Lowdown

New York City, a thriving hub and popular holiday destination for many, is now seen as one of the largest cities in America and perhaps top financial city of the world. But how did it get to become this big and magnificent city that we all enjoy today.

The area where New York now sits was originally inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans when the Europeans first discovered America in 1524. The first European settlement in this area was New Amsterdam in 1614 which was founded by the Dutch as trading post. This remained the case until 1664 when the colony surrendered to the English and was renamed to New York after the English Duke of York and Albany.

the cities growth was far from easy as during the 18th century New York suffered from seven yellow fever epidemics and around 10% of its population. New York's next action came during the American Revolution where one of the largest battles, The Battle of Long Island, took place in August 1776 in the area that is now known as Brooklyn. The battle was won by the British and became a British military and political base of North America. During the British occupation the Great Fire of New York occurred which wiped out 25% of the buildings in New York.

After these initial problems the city began to rapidly grow in the 19th century when the city was transformed through immigration and city developments. The popular Central Park was constructed in 1857 helping make New York take the shape that it currently has. The Great Irish Famine added further immigration and in 1860 one in four New York Citizens has been born in Ireland.

The start of the 20th century saw the boom in skyscrapers making the New York Skyline begin to look like it does today with a number of impressive skyscrapers such as the Empire State building and Rockafeller center dominating the skyline. The city overtook London in 1920 to become the most populous city in the world and in 1930 the population hit the 10 million mark making the city the world's first megacity.

New York suffered from a raise in crime during the sixties and various economic problems. Although the economic issues were resolved during a boom in the 80's the crime rate continued to raise until the early 90's when it significantly declined.

New York suffered during the 2001 terrorist attack but continues to grow with the population hitting new time high that are approaching 20 million.

About the Author:

Matthew Smith has been wriiting about many cities around the world. Add some New York Wallpaperto your desktop.

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