NOTABLE EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF ICELAND

16-18 million years BC: The formation of Iceland. Volcanic eruptions formed the landmass known as Iceland.

871 AD: The settlement. Ingólfur Arnarson killed a man in Norway and fled to Iceland.

930 AD: Alþingi (the Icelandic Parliament) was established. It’s the oldest still existing parliamentary institution in the world.

1000 AD: Conversion to Christianity, the discovery of America. Parliament decided everyone would be Christian or at least pretend to be. Leifur “the Lucky” Eiríksson got lost and found America, didn’t like it, and came home.

1262 AD: Iceland submits to Norway. Civil war between powerful clans was finally resolved by forfeiting independence and submitting to Norwegian rule, before winding up under Danish rule

1550 AD: Reformation. A violent conflict between Catholics and Lutherans ended with the beheading of Catholic bishop Jón Arason.

1602 AD: Monopoly (not the fun kind). The king of Denmark decided Icelanders could only trade with particular Danes, resulting in economic stagnation until the monopoly was abolished in 1786.

The 1750s: The Enlightenment and the birth of Reykjavík. Industrialisation and modernisation started when “Sheriff” Skúli Magnússon started wool manufacturing at Aðalstræti 10.

1944 AD: Independence. Iceland declared independence while Denmark was too busy being invaded by Germany to protest.

1955 AD: Nobel Prize. Halldór Laxness was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1980 AD: First female president. The world’s first democratically elected female head of state, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, took office.

2008 AD : Crash and miraculous recovery. Iceland’s banking system went spectacularly bankrupt. Since then, things have picked up surprisingly well.

2009 AD: First openly gay prime minister. The world’s first openly lesbian head of government, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, took office.

2010 AD: Volcano. International air traffic was delayed for weeks after the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption.

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