Gerard Adriaan Heineken purchases his first brewery in Amsterdam at age twenty-two

Twenty-two year old Gerard Adriaan Heineken invested his inheritance in the purchase of the three hundred year old Den Hoyberg (the Haystack) Brewery in Amsterdam and began the brewing of what was to become one of the world's most recognizable brands of beer. The company and its subsidiaries by 2008 operated 125 breweries in seventy countries and sold over more than 200 brands of beer around the world.  (By John Osborne)