Chronography of the Faeroe Islands, Greenland
Page last modified 15 August
2023
Map
of Greenland, Arctic. Changes in sea ice limits 1900 to 2020
See also Denmark
See also Finland
See also Iceland
See also Norway (Vikings)
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
1 � Faeroe
Islands
1972, The Faeroe Islands voted
not to join the EC.
1948, Denmark granted Home Rule
to the Faeroe Islands.
1940 � 1945, British
troops occupied the Faeroe islands, to forestall any Nazi invasion during World War Two.
1397, The Faeroe Islands, as
part of Norway, became united to Denmark under the Union of Kalmar. They
remained Danish when Norway and Denmark separated in 1814.
1848, A measles epidemic
hit the Faeroe Islands. However Danish doctor peter panum found that 98 oolder
people were immune to it. They were the survivors of an earlier epidemic back
in 1781.
1035, The Faeroe islands
formally became part of Norway.
800, The Vikings began to
settle in the Faeroe Islands.
700s, First settlement of the
Faeroe Islands, by Irish monks.
2 �
Greenland, Svalbard/Spitsbergen, Arctic
Greenland separation from
Denmark
21 June 2009, Greenland
took steps towards further separation from Denmark; it took control of
police, law enforcement, the legal system and natural resources.
25 November 2008,
Greenland held a referendum on further autonomy from Denmark, with a result 75%
in favour.
23 February 1982. Greenland, a Danish
territory, with home rule, voted to leave the EC. It departed in 1985.
1 May 1979, Denmark
granted Greenland home rule.
17 January 1979, By a 70% majority
Greenland opted for home rule on domestic affairs, while remaining part of
Denmark. At the time, Greenland had about 50,000 inhabitants.
Political
integration with Denmark and Norway
1973, Greenland found itself
taken into the EC, along with Denmark, despite voting not to join.
1953, A new Danish Constitution
fully integrated Greenland with Denmark.
5 April 1933, The International Court at
The Hague ruled that Greenland was a Danish possession, against Norway�s claim.
1929, Jan Mayen Island was formally incorporated into
Norway.
16 June 1928, Arctic Norwegian explorer Roald
Engelbregt Amundsen died in a plane crash whilst searching fro
shipwreck victims.
1921, Norway established a
weather station and radio transmitter on the uninhabited Jan Mayen Island.
1920, The Spitsbergen Treaty awarded soveriegnty of Svalbard to Norway, but allowed other signatories to exploit
the coal deposits.
20 February 1920. Robert Peary,
American
Arctic explorer and first man to reach
the North Pole in 1909, died in
Modern
European exploration 1594-1909
6 April 1909.� �Commander Peary
of the
17 November 1907, Sir Francis
McClintock, British Arctic explorer, died (born 8 July 1819).
6 December1905, Norwegian
explorer Roald
Amundsen landed at Fort Egbert, Alaska, after a 2 � year exploration
of America�s Arctic coast.
16 July 1905. Commander Peary of the
18 September 1902, U.S. Navy
Lieutenant Commander Robert Peary, Arctic explorer, arrived in
Sydney, Nova Scotia, 4 years after having departed.
11 July 1897, The
Swedish balloonist S A Andree set off from Spitsbergen with two
companions to fly over the North Pole. After a few days all contact with them
was lost; their remains were discovered in 1930 on White Island.
3 November 1879, The
Arctic explorer, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, was born.
1888, Fridjtof Nansen explored the
interior of Greenland.
25 October 1888, Richard Byrd, US naval
officer and polar explorer, was born in Winchester, Virginia. In 1926 he became
the first person to fly over the North Pole.
30 October 1881, George Delong, US Arctic
explorer, died (born 20 August 1844).
8 November 1871, Charles Hall, US Arctic
explorer, died (born 1821).
10 October 1861, Fridjtof Nansen, Norwegian Polar
explorer, was born near Oslo. He became the first person to cross Greenland
overland in 1888.
6 May 1856, Robert Peary,
American
Arctic explorer, was born in Cresson Springs, Pennsylvania.
8 July 1855, Sir William
Edward Parry, British explorer of the Arctic, died.
22 August 1844, George Delong,
US Arctic explorer, was born (died 30 October 1881).
18 November 1832, Nils Adolf Erik
Nordenskiold, Arctic explorer, was born in Helsingfors.(died 12
August 1901 in Stockholm).
1 June 1831. Sir James Clark Ross located the Magnetic North Pole on his
Arctic expedition with Admiral Parry.
25 April 1822, Sherard Osborn, Arctic explorer,
was born (died 1875)
8 July 1819, Sir Francis McClintock, British Arctic
explorer, wa born (died 17 November 1907)
30 September 1813, John Rae, Scottish Arctic
explorer, was born in the Orkney Islands (died 1893)
19 December 1790, Sir Charles Parry, Arctic
explorer, was born in Bath (died 8 July 1855 in Greenwich)
1775, The settlement of
Julianehaab, southern Greenland (now known as Qaqortoq) was founded.
1733, Greenland was hit by a
smallpox epidemic.
1728, The Danish explorer Vitus Bering discovered the
Diomede Islands, midway between Siberia and Alaska.
3 May 1721, Hans Egede,
Norwegian missionary, set sail from Bergen with the aim of converting the
Norsemen of Greenland to Christianity. However on arrival he found no Norsemen,
only Eskimo, whose language he did not understand. The Norsemen may have
suffered disease or starvation, or migrated to America. He persisted, founding
the settlement of Godthaab, until ill-health forced his return to Norway in
1736 where he became Principal of a seminary in Copenhagen.
1611, Jan Mayen Land,
between Spitsbergen and Iceland, was
discovered by the Dutch explorer Jan Mayen.
1596, Svalbard (Spitsbergen) was (re-)
discovered by the Dutch explorer Willem Barents, who sighted the
islands whilst searching for the Northern Sea Route. By the 1600s the
importance of the whaling industry in the region attracted
claims from the British and Danish, as well as The Netherlands.
1594, Explorer Willem Barents
set sail for the Arctic, to find a northern sea route to east Asia. He believed
the myth of a warm Arctic, first proposed by the ancient Greeks.
1585, John Davis visited Greenland and
found no trace of any Norse colonists, just the Inuit. However a feew Inuit
traditions bore some resemblance to old Norse customs.
Norse
colonisation 982-1410
1410, The last recorded ship from Norway to
Greenland returned to Norway this year. The support from Norway for the
Norse colonists in Greenland gradually dwindled away as the Norway-Greenland
shipping became a monopoly of the King of Norway in the mid-1300s, and these
monarchs tended to send ships out to Greenland only at intervals of several
years apart. Also the maritime trade of Norway was becoming more tied to the
Hanseatic League, who had nointerest in Greenland.
16/9/1408, The last recorded event in Norse history in
Greenland; a wedding at Old Hvalsey church. The Norse colonists may have been massacred
by the Inuit, or more likely intermarried with them and were absorbed into
their culture, see 1585.
1397, Greenland found itself
joined to Denmark when the Union of Kalmar united Norway (along with Greenland)
to Denmark. When Norway separated from Denmark in 1814, Greenland remained as
part of Denmark.
1262, Greenland formally became
a Norwegian possession.
1194, Spitsbergen was first discovered by Norsemen.
986, Erik the Red was banished from Iceland, and
sailed to Greenland where he founded a new Viking colony. The name �Greenland�
may have been chosen to attract new colonists to an inhospitable place where
farming was only possible, with a short growing season, in the extreme
south-west. The Vinking colony died out in the 1400s as climatic conditiins
deteriorated.
982, Erik the Red set up a temporary
Viking camp on Greenland, the first settlement by man there. This camp was
replaced by a permanent colony in 986.
