Quasicrystals -- The impact of N.G. de Bruijn

In this paper we put the work of Professor N.G. de Bruijn on quasicrystals in historical context. After briefly discussing what went before, we shall review de Bruijn's work together with recent related theoretical and experimental developments. We conclude with a discussion of Yang-Baxter integrable models on Penrose tilings, for which essential use of de Bruijn's work has been made.