Claim: Ludwig van Beethoven was born in the United States.
Evidence: Born in Bonn , then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire , Beethoven displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and by composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe.
The Federal City of Bonn -LRB- -LSB- ˈbɔn -RSB- -RRB- is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia , with a population of 311,287.