Chronography of the Faeroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland
Page last modified 30/5/2022
See also Denmark
See also Finland
See also Norway (Vikings)
See also Sweden
Colour key:
People
Amundsen-Scott Antarctic
Arctic exploration
Iceland
For main
European events of World War Two see France-Germany
See also Russia for more
events of Finland-Russia conflict 1939-40
Faeroe Islands � see
Appendix 2
Greenland, Svalbard/Spitsbergen,
Arctic � see Appendix 3
Iceland � see Appendix 4
Appendix 2
� 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.
Appendix 3
� Greenland, Svalbard/Spitsbergen, Arctic
Greenland separation from
Denmark
21/6/2009, Greenland
took steps towards further separation from Denmark; it took control of
police, law enforcement, the legal system and natural resources.
25/11/2008,
Greenland held a referendum on further autonomy from Denmark, with a result 75%
in favour.
23/2/1982. Greenland, a Danish territory, with home
rule, voted to leave the EC. It departed in 1985.
1/5/1979, Denmark
granted Greenland home rule.
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.
5/4/1933, 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.
16/6/1928, 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.
20/2/1920. Robert Peary,
American
Arctic explorer and first man to reach
the North Pole in 1909, died in
Modern
European exploration 1594-1909
6/4/1909.� �Commander Peary
of the
17/11/1907, Sir Francis
McClintock, British Arctic explorer, died (born 8/7/1819).
6/12/1905, Norwegian
explorer Roald
Amundsen landed at Fort Egbert, Alaska, after a 2 � year exploration
of America�s Arctic coast.
16/7/1905. Commander Peary of the
11/7/1897, 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.
3/11/1879, The
Arctic explorer, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, was born.
1888, Fridjtof Nansen explored the
interior of Greenland.
25/10/1888, 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.
30/10/1881, George Delong, US Arctic explorer, died (born
20/8/1844).
8/11/1871, Charles Hall, US Arctic explorer, died (born
1821).
10/10/1861, Fridjtof Nansen, Norwegian Polar explorer, was
born near Oslo. He became the first person to cross Greenland overland in 1888.
6/5/1856, Robert Peary,
American
Arctic explorer, was born in Cresson Springs, Pennsylvania.
8/7/1855, Sir William
Edward Parry, British explorer of the Arctic, was born.
22/8/1844, George Delong,
US Arctic explorer, was born (died 30/10/1881).
1/6/1831. Sir James Clark Ross located the Magnetic North Pole on his Arctic expedition with Admiral Parry.
8/7/1819, Sir Francis McClintock, British Arctic
explorer, wa born (died 17/11/1907).
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.
3/5/1721, 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.
Appendix 4
� Iceland
2013, After new elections Iceland became cooler
about joining the European Union, and formally withdrew its application in
2015.
16/7/2009, Iceland�s Parliament voted to begin negotiations to join the European
Union. The country had a new leftist Government, following the near-
collapse of the Icelandic banking system after the 2007 Credit Crunch.
1/2009, Johanna
Sigurdardottir became Prime Minister of Iceland; she was Europe�s first openly lesbian
head of state.
5/2007, The Iceland Movement, an ecological,
Green, Party chaired by Omar, first contested elections. It got 3.3% of the
vote, failing to achieve the 5% needed for representation in Parliament;
however the Green agenda was becoming more prominent in Icelandic politics.
1885, Iceland
declared itself a nuclear-free zone.
14/11/1985,
Holmfriour Karlsdottir of Iceland, 22, was crowned the 35th Miss World.
1/6/1976. Britain
and
19/2/1976. Iceland
broke off diplomatic relations with
10/12/1975, The first
shots were fired in the Cod War between
24/10/1975, Women in Iceland staged a one-day general
strike.
For events of Cod War see also Great Britain 1970s
15/10/1975, Iceland unilaterally extended its fishing
grounds to 200 miles, leading to a resumption of the Cod War with
25/7/1974, The International
Court of Justice at The Hague ruled that Britain was not bound to observe Iceland�s
unilateral extension of its fishing rights from 12 to 50 miles in 1972.
23/2/1974, Iceland
was hit by a General Strike; only civil servants and printers remained at work.
Workers demanded a 28% pay rise.
8/11/1973, The Cod War between
7/9/1973, Iceland
threatened to break off diplomatic relations with Britain over the fishing dispute.
24/5/1973, The Cod War continued between Britain and
25/10/1972, Iceland
boycotted British goods as part of the Cod War.
1/9/1972, Iceland extended its fishing
limit from 12 to 50 miles.
27/2/1961, Britain
and Iceland settled their fishing dispute. British ships would no longer fish
within 12 miles of the Icelandic coast.
10/12/1959, US troops
began to leave
6/5/1959, The
1/9/1958, British
trawlers defied the Icelandic 12-mile fishing limit, which came into force this
day.
1/6/1958, Iceland extended
its fishing limits to 12 miles.
29/9/1952, Asgeir Asgeirsson (born
13/5/1894) was elected President of Iceland by 32,294 votes against 31,094 for Bishop Bjarni
Jonsson and 4,155 for Gisli Svensson.
1951,
The US
built an air base at Keflavik, despite strong local opposition.
17/6/1944, Iceland
became an independent republic. The 25-year Union with Denmark had expired, see
1/12/1918.
1940-1944, Iceland was occupied by US and British troops, as a
precuation against Nazi occupation during World War Two.
13/12/1922, Hannes Hafstein, Prime Minister
of Iceland, died.
1/12/1918, Denmark
granted independence to Iceland; a
25-year union with Denmark was instituted.
1915, Iceland instituted universal suffrage.
1914, Iceland became autonomous.
13/5/1894, Asgeir
Asgeirsson, President of Iceland, was born.
1874, Iceland achieved limited self-rule.
1847, A theological seminary (Lutheran) was constructed in
Reykjavik.
1800, The Althing
(Icelandic Parliament), which had lost influence under Danish rule, ceased
to exist. It was reconstituted in 1843.
8/6/1783, The Laki Volcano in Iceland erupted;
the world�s largest volcanic eruption. One fifth of Iceland�s inhabitants, over
10,000 people, died as a 28km long fissure opened up, from which lava covered
an area of 570 square kilometres. Some 12-15 cubic kilometres of lava were
ejected. Deaths were from poisonous gases then from famine and disease as
11,500 cattle (53%of total), 28,000 horses (77% of total) and 190,500 sheep
(82% of total) also perished.
1627, Reykjavik, Iceland, was attacked by pirates.
1380, Iceland came under Danish
rule, as Norway united with Denmark.
1262, Icelandic chieftains
accepted rule by Norway.
1000,
Iceland�s Althing chose to adopt Christianity
over Odin-worship.
939, Major volcanic eruption in Iceland,
affected climate and crops worldwide.
928, The Althing, the Icelandic Parliament, was founded at Thingvellir. It
is the world�s oldest Parliament.
874, Norse settlement of Iceland
began. Ingolfur Arnason brought in the first settlers.
866, Floki Vilgeroarson, Norseman,
made an early expedition to Iceland, and named it �Ice-Island� due to the
quantity of ice in its fjords.