Norway; key historical events
Page last modified 1/4/2020
See also Finland
See also Scandinavia
See also Sweden
For main
European events of World War Two see France-Germany
See also Russia for more
events of Finland-Russia conflict 1939-40
22/7/2011, Anders Behring Brevik shot 77 people on Utoya
Island as a protest against immigration to Norway.
22/8/2004, Edvard Munch’s famous painting, The Scream, was stolen at gunpoint from Norway’s Munch Museum,
Oslo.
28/11/1994, Norwegians, in a
referendum, rejected membership of the EU, for a second time.
17/1/1991. King Olaf V of Norway died, aged 87. He was
succeeded by his 53-year-old son, Harald V.
30/10/1990, In Norway, Gro Harlem
Brundtland formed a minority Labour government.
29/10/1990, The coalition government in Norway resigned.
1986, Large demonstrations, by
over 100,000, for improved worker conditions.
1985, Norway agreed to suspend
commercial whaling.
However it later allowed fishing for Minke Whale, and the export of whale
products.
3/2/1981, Gro Harlem Brundtland became the first woman
Prime Minister of Norway.
30/4/1977, Red Adair successfully put out an oil rig fire
in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
1975, Norway met the recommended
UN
target of 0.7% of GDP each year for international development, and has
kept this up since then. Aid is sent to Africa, south and central Asia, and
more recently, Eastern Europe.
1/11/1975, 3 died and 6 were injured in an explosion aboard the
Ekofisk A oil rig.
26/9/1972. Norway voted in a referendum
against joining the Common Market.
17/3/1971, In Norway, Per Borten's Cabinet ended its term in
government, replaced by Bratteli's First Cabinet.
30/12/1968, Trygve Lie, Norwegian ambassador and
Secretary-General to the UN, 1946 to 1952, died.
1967, Norway considered, for a
second time, joining the Common Market.
1962, Norway unsuccessfully applied
to join the Common Market.
1960, Norway joined the European Free Trade Area (EFTA),
21/9/1957, Norway’s King Haakon VII died, aged 85, after a 52-year reign. Born 1872, he became King in 1905. Known as
the ‘people’s King’, he dispensed with much of the pomp and ceremony of
royalty. He refused to abdicate when the Nazis invaded Norway in 1940, and
carried on the resistance from England when further armed resistance in Norway
was impossible. His son, aged 54, succeeded him as King Olav V.
1949, Norway became a founder member of NATO.
31/5/1945, The Norwegian Government returned to govern in
1942-1945, Norway was under Nazi
occupation, during World War Two.
20/3/1935, Following elections in Norway, Labour formed a
government with Johan
Nygaardsvold as Prime Minister.
16/10/1933, In Norway, the Labour Party won the general
elections. Labour won 69 seats, Conservatives 30 seats, Liberals 24 seats,
Farmers Party 23 seats, Others 4 seats.
25/1/1933, In Norway, a L:iberal Government succeeded the
Agrarian Party administration.
8/5/1931, In Norway
the Farmers’ Party was in power.
13/5/1930, Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian Arctic explorer and
subsequently politician, and Nobel Prize winner in 1922, died in
17/10/1927, Norway elected its first Labour
government.
1925, Norway
gained Spitsbergen.
1/1/1925. Norway’s capital, Christiana, reverted to its historic name of Oslo.
9/2/1920, By a treaty signed in
6/10/1919. Norway adopted alcohol
Prohibition.
25/9/1919, The Paris Peace Convention awarded sovereignty of
the Spitzbergen Islands to Norway.
15/5/1912, Crown Prince
Christian, brother of King Haakon VII of Norway, was proclaimed as King Christian
X of Denmark.
8/12/1907, King Oscar II of Sweden died, aged 78, after a
35-year reign; he also ruled Norway until 1905. His eldest son, Gustav V,
49, became King, and ruled until 1950.
18/11/1905. Prince Carl of
26/10/1905. Norway and
13/8/1905, A referendum in
7/6/1905. Norway declared independence from
22/1/1904, The Norwegian city of
23/9/1896, Ivar Aaasen, Norwegian philosopher, died in
Christiania, (born in Sondmore, 5/8/1813).
16/7/1896,
Trygve Lie,
Norwegian politician and Secretary General at the United Nations, was born in
Oslo.
1884, The Norwegian Labour Party
was founded, as Norway began to transition from an agricultural to an
industrial society.
27/3/1882, Peter Asbjornsen, Norwegian folklorist, died
in Christiansand.
3/8/1872, King Haakon VII of Norway was born in
Charlottenlund. He refused to surrender to the Germans in World War Two.
21/1/1829, Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway, was born.
4/11/1814, Norway united with Sweden, see 7/6/1905.
17/5/1814, The independence of Norway (from Denmark) was
proclaimed.
5/8/1813, Ivar Aaasen, Norwegian philosopher, was born
in Sondmore (died in Christiania, 23/9/1896).
3/3/1813, Britain agreed with Sweden that it would not
oppose a union of Sweden and Norway.
15/1/1812, Peter Asbjornsen, Norwegian folklorist, was
born in Christiania.
24/12/1715, Swedish troops occupied Norway.
1/1/1559, Christian
III, King of Denmark and Norway, died aged 55 after a reign of
nearly 24 years. He was succeeded by his 24-year-old son as Frederick II,
who reigned for 29 years.
1533, King Frederick I of Denmark died
aged 62. He was succeeded as King of Denmark and Norway by his 30-tear-old son,
who ruled as King
Christian III until 1559.
1513, King John I of Denmark (who was
also King
John II of Sweden, 1497-1501), died after a 32-year reign. He was
succeeded by his 32-year-old son as King Christian II of Denmark and Norway,
but Sweden refused to accept his rule.
21/5/1481, Christian I, King of Denmark and Norway, died
(born 1426) and was succeeded by his son John (1481-1513).
28/10/1412, Margaret, Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, died.
20/6/1397. The Union of Kalmar united Denmark, Norway, and
Sweden under one monarch. See 1380.
1380, Hakon, King of Norway, died. His surviving wife was Queen Margaret
(born 1353, married 1363, and daughter of Waldemar III, King of Denmark). Her son Olaf
died in 1387, which meant she became ruler of Denmark also. She defeated Albert,
King of Sweden, thereby gaining that country too. Margaret then instituted the Union of Kalmar, 1397, to permanently
unite these three countries. Margaret died in 1412.
8/7/1319, Three-year-old Magnus Eriksson was elected king of Sweden, thus uniting it
with Norway. His mother Ingeborg of Norway was given a place in the
regency in both Sweden and Norway.
31/8/1314, King Hakon V Magnusson moved the capital of
Norway from Bergen to Oslo, where he built Akershus Fortress.
Norway ws ruled from this fortress the next 500 years.
15/12/1263, Haakon IV, King of Norway, died.
1070, Bergen, Norway, was founded by Olaf Kyrre.
1063, Haakon the Old, King of Norway
from 1217, born 1204, died.
1048, Oslo was founded by Harold Haadraade.
1047, Magnus I died after 12 years
rule as King of Norway and five years as King of Denmark. He was succeeded I
Norway by Harald
Haadraade, 32, who ruled until 1066 as Harald II. In Denmark he was
succeeded by Sweyn
Estrithson, grandson of Sweyn Forkbeard, who ruled until 1075 as Sweyn II.
1016 – 1035, Under King Canute the
Great, all of Scandinavia and England were united.
9/1000, Alarmed by the growing
power of Olaf
Tryggvason, King of Norway, King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark, King Olaf
Eriksson of Sweden and Earl Eirik Hakonarson of Lade united to
eliminate him. Olaf
travelled to Wendland to seek allies,but his fleet was caught by the three
allies off Svolder Island (probably, modern Rugen). Most of Olaf’s
mercenary fleet abandoned him, and he was drowned when he jumped ship and his
men surrendered. However the allied affort was in vain, because within 35 years
Norway was a united Christian Kingdom under Olaf’s son Magnus.
961, Haakon the Good, King of Norway
from ca. 945 (born ca. 914), died.
907, The city of Trondheim,Norway, was founded.
872, For a few centuries
earlier, the Kings of Vestfold had
been consolidating their power, uniting the small statelets of south-eastern
Norway by war, marriage and diplomacy. This process alarmed neighbouring
rulers, who resolved to eradicate the current monarch, King Harald Fairhair. To achieve
this, King
Erik of Hordeland, King Sulke of Rogaland, King Kjotve the Rich of Agder
and Earl
Sote united and formed a fleet which sailed south to find Harald.
Harald was with his fleet in Hafrsfjotd, a large
bay near Stavanger that had a narrow entrance Hardald’s ships met the invading
fleet at this entrance and despatched them one at a time; however ome famous
warrior, Thor
Haklang, managed to get alongside Harald’s ship and actually board
it. Nevertheless, Thor was killed, and his loss demoralised the
allies, who retreated back north. Harald’s position was strengthened and he was
able now to extract tribute from the areas of northern Norway which he did not
actually rule. This date is considered by some to be the origin of the State of
Norway.
517, The first documented Viking
raid on Gaul.
The Viking King
Hygelac was killed and his fleet defeated.
8,000 BCE, Start of hunter-gatherer
peoples in Scandinavia, as the climate warmed.