3. Ice Skating

Painting: “Skating Fun” by Henrick Avercamp. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Some would argue that the Scottish brought ice skating to America, but if you look closer at the timelines it’s hard to dispute the Dutch not taking to North American ice first. The Dutch were even credited with inventing the precursor to the modern ice skate by crafting the first steel blades back in the 13th Century. To the Dutch, ice skating was a form of sport considered proper for all classes. It was fabled that during freezing cold winters, New Amsterdam residents would skate over to their neighbors in the village of Breukelen (now Brooklyn).