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Norway

country in Northern Europe

92 dated entries naming Norway, drawn from 81 separate years between 793 CE and 2025 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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8th century

  • 793June 8 – Viking raiders attack the Northumbrian coast, arriving in longships from either Denmark or Norway, and sacking the monastery of Lindisfarne. Many of the monks are killed or enslaved. It is the first Viking attack on a monastery in the British Isles, although it is not the first known Viking attack in the British Isles. The first attack came in 789, when Vikings raided the settlement of Portland in Dorset.source

9th century

  • 825Grímur Kamban becomes the first man to set foot in the Faroe Islands, and settles down in Funningur, on the northwest coast of Eysturoy (beginning the Norwegian Viking era on the islands).source
  • 829Viking chieftain Halfdan the Black becomes king of Agder (modern Norway). He expands his realm through military conquest and political negotiations, dividing the kingdom of Vestfold with his half-brother Olaf.source
  • 834Summer – The Viking ship of Oseberg near Tønsberg (modern Norway) is buried in a mound, during the Viking Age (approximate date).source
  • 840Vikings from Norway capture Dublin and establish a Norse kingdom in Ireland, and also at about this date make their first overwintering at Lough Neagh in the north of Ireland.source
  • 841The town of Dyflin (meaning "Black Pool") or Dublin (modern Ireland) is founded by Norwegian Vikings, on the south bank of the River Liffey. The settlement is fortified with a ditch and an earth rampart, with a wooden palisade on top. The Norsemen establish a wool weaving industry, and there is also a slave trade. An artificial hill is erected, where the nobility meets to make laws and discuss policy.source
  • 848Máel Sechnaill mac Maíl Ruanaid, High King of Mide, defeats a Norse Viking army at Sciath Nechtain in Ireland (approximate date).source
  • 868King Áed Findliath drives the invading Danes and Norwegians out of Ireland, after defeating them at the Battle of Killineery.source
  • 874Ingólfr Arnarson arrives from Norway, as the first permanent Viking settler in Iceland. He builds his homestead and founds Reykjavík. The settlement of Iceland begins (approximate date).source
  • 875King Harald Fairhair of Norway subdues the rovers on the Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands, and adds them to his kingdom (approximate date).source
  • 880Battle of Fjaler: King Harald Fairhair moves east along the Norwegian coast with his fleet. He defeats his rival Atle Mjove at Fjaler in Sunnfjord, and lands with his longships at Tønsberg.source
  • 900Greenland is discovered by the Norseman Gunnbjörn Ulfsson, sailing from Norway to Iceland: he is blown off course by a storm and comes in sight of some islands off the coast (approximate date).source

10th century

  • 961Battle of Fitjar – A Viking force under the sons of Eric Bloodaxe lands on Hordaland. King Haakon the Good defeats the rebelling force, but is killed. Harald Greycloak becomes ruler of the western part of Norway.source
  • 970Harald II (Greycloak), king of Norwaysource
  • 981Erik the Red leaves Norway, to survey west of Iceland in Viking longships, that carry nearly 700 people with cattle, horses, and other necessities for starting a colony on the island. Erik finds land and calls it Greenland.source
  • 982King Harald Bluetooth invades Norway, pillaging southwest Norway all the way to Stad, where he encounters Haakon Sigurdsson (the de facto ruler of Norway) and his army. He flees back to Denmark, ending the invasion.source
  • 984Emma of Normandy, noblewoman, queen consort of England (twice), Denmark and Norway (d. 1052; approximate date)source
  • 985Harold II (Bluetooth), king of Denmark and Norwaysource
  • 986Battle of Hjörungavágr: The Earls of Lade under Haakon Sigurdsson (the Powerful) defeat a Danish invasion force led by the Jomsvikings in western Norway.source
  • 994Olaf Tryggvason, already a baptised Christian, is confirmed as Christian in a ceremony at Andover. After receiving gifts from Æthelred II, Olaf leaves for Norway.source
  • 995Olaf Tryggvason is crowned king of Norway (and ruled until 1000) and builds the country's first Christian church.source
  • 995Cnut (the Great), king of Denmark, Norway and England (d. 1035)source
  • 997Trondheim is founded by King Olav Tryggvason. This will function as the main city and capital of Norway, until Bergen is founded in 1070.source
  • 1000September 9 – Olaf Tryggvason (or Olaf I), king of Norwaysource

11th century

  • 1015Earl Eric Haakonsson outlaws berserkers in Norway.source
  • 1015Harald Hardrada, king of Norway (d. 1066)source
  • 1016Svein Knutsson, king of Norway (d. 1035)source
  • 1016March 25 – Battle of Nesjar (off the coast of Norway): Olaf Haraldsson is victorious over former co-regent Sweyn Haakonsson, confirming his status as king of Norway.source
  • 1024Magnus the Good, king of Norway (d. 1047)source
  • 1026Battle of Helgeå (off the coast of Sweden): Naval forces of King Cnut's North Sea Empire defeat the combined Swedish and Norwegian royal fleets.source
  • 1028Cnut the Great sails from England to Norway with a fleet of 50 ships. He defeats Olaf Haraldsson and is crowned king of Norway. Cnut becomes the sole ruler of England, Denmark and part of Sweden (known as the Danish North Sea Empire).source
  • 1030July 29 – Battle of Stiklestad: King Olaf II Haraldsson (St. Olaf) attempts to reconquer Norway with help from King Anund Jakob of Sweden. He is defeated by a superior Norwegian peasant and Danish army (14,000 men). Olaf is killed in the battle. He is later canonized and becomes the patron saint of Norway and Rex perpetuum Norvegiae ('the eternal king of Norway').source
  • 1030July 29 – Olaf II Haraldsson (St. Olaf), king of Norwaysource
  • 1035Svein Knutsson, king of Norway and son of Cnut the Greatsource
  • 1035October 16 – Conrad II grants the right to hold the first Freimarkt festival in Bremen. The city increases her trade with Norway, and the northern Netherlands.source

12th century

  • 1130March 26 – Magnus IV and his uncle Harald Gille become joint kings of Norway, starting the civil war era in Norway.source
  • 1177January – Eystein Meyla, leader of the Birkebeiner in Norway, is killed. Sverre Sigurdson (Later, King Sverre I, of Norway) becomes the new leader.source
  • 1177January – Eystein Meyla, leader of the Birkebeiner in Norway. (b. 1157)source
  • 1179June 18 – Battle of Kalvskinnet: Norwegian forces led by King Sverre Sigurdsson defeat and kill Earl Erling Skakke, outside Nidaros in Norway. The battle changes the tide of the civil wars.source

13th century

  • 1204Valdemar II of Denmark is recognized as king in Norway.source
  • 1251Alexander Nevsky signs the first peace treaty between Kievan Rus' and Norway.source
  • 1294John Balliol, King of Scotland, decides to refuse King Edward I of England's demands for support in a planned invasion of France, the result being the negotiation of the Auld Alliance with France and Norway in the following year. These actions play a part in precipitating the Scottish Wars of Independence, which begin in 1296.source

14th century

  • 1316Magnus Eriksson, king of Sweden and Norway from the House of Bjälbo (d. 1374)source
  • 1319August – Magnus Eriksson, grandson of the recently deceased king Haakon V and already proclaimed King of Sweden, is recognized by the Norwegian assembly as King Magnus VII of Norway, thus establishing a personal union with Sweden and Norway.source
  • 1319May 8 – King Haakon V Magnusson of Norway dies at the age of 49 with no sons, leaving the throne empty until the nobles can agree on his successor. Havtore Jonsson manages a guardianship government until the nobles choose Magnus VII Eriksson, son of Haakon's daughter Ingeborg.source
  • 1343August 15 – Magnus IV of Sweden abdicates from the throne of Norway, in favor of his son Haakon VI of Norway. However, Haakon is still a minor, allowing Magnus to remain de facto ruler.source
  • 1349The Black Death in England spreads to the north and a ship from England carries it to Askøy and Bjørgvin (modern-day Bergen) in Norway. The disease also breaks out in Mecca and is prevalent in the Île-de-France and the Kingdom of Navarre.source
  • 1358March 16 – King Haakon VI of Norway designates the city of Skien as a city with trading privileges, making it the sixth town with city status in Norway.source
  • 1368A peace treaty is signed between Norway and the Hanseatic League.source
  • 1368The King of Norway sends the last Royal Ship from Norway to the Greenland Eastern Settlement. This event is part of both the Norse colonization of the Americas, and of the History of Greenland.source
  • 1380July 29 – At the age of 10, King Olaf II of Denmark is proclaimed as King Olaf IV of Norway, with his mother Margete) as regent. Iceland and the Faroe Islands, as parts of Norway, pass under the Danish crown.source
  • 1396July 20 – Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden publishes the Treaty of Kalmar, proposing the personal union of the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway (with Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney) and Sweden (including Finland and Åland).source
  • 1397June 17 – Erik of Pomerania is crowned in Kalmar (Sweden) as ruler of the Kalmar Union, a personal union of the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway (with Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney) and Sweden (including Finland and Åland) engineered by Queen Margaret I of Denmark, his great-aunt and adoptive mother, who retains de facto power in the realm.source

15th century

  • 1450August 29 – The Treaty of Bergen is signed by officials of Norway and Sweden to reunite the two kingdoms under the rule of King Christian I. Both Norway and Sweden retain self-government and their own governing bodies.source
  • 1457February 24 – King Charles VIII of Sweden is declared deposed after fleeing from Stockholm to Danzig following a rebellion. The Archbishop of Sweden, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna, and statesman Erik Axelsson Tott become co-regents of Sweden. The coup leaders then offer the throne to Christian I, King of Denmark and Norway.source
  • 1472February 20 – Orkney and Shetland are returned by Norway to Scotland, as a result of a defaulted dowry payment.source

16th century

  • 1514July 20 – King Christian II is crowned King of Norway in Oslo. This coronation will be the last in Norway for 304 years until the crowning of King Karl III Johan in 1818.source
  • 1520January 19 – King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes, at Lake Åsunden in Sweden. The Swedish regent Sten Sture the Younger is mortally wounded in the Battle of Bogesund. He is rushed towards Stockholm, in order to lead the fight against the Danes from there.source
  • 1537April 1 – The Archbishop of Norway, Olav Engelbrektsson, flees from Trondheim to Lier, Belgium.source
  • 1537May 17 – The siege by Norwegian and Danish Protestants of Steinvikholm Castle in Norway, the former residence of the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Norway, ended after a month when the Catholic defenders surrendered to the Danish commander, Tord Roed.source
  • 1567King Frederick II of Denmark and Norway founds Fredrikstad in Norway.source
  • 1589October 22 – King James VI of Scotland sails to Norway to meet his bride, Anne of Denmark as part of a fleet of six Scottish Navy ships, and is accompanied by Lord Maitland of Thirlestane, the Lord Chancellor of Scotland.source

17th century

  • 1608June 15 – During a voyage in the Arctic Ocean, explorer Henry Hudson and the crew of the Hopewell sight what they claim to be a mermaid, swimming in the seas near Norway.source
  • 1617December 24 – An unexpected storm strikes off the coast of Finnmark in Norway, sinking 10 ships and drowning at least 40 people. A little more than three years later, Mari Jørgensdatter tells interrogators that she and several other witches caused the storm, prompting the Vardø witch trials.source
  • 1624February 28 – A decree is issued in Norway making it illegal for Jesuits or Roman Catholic monks to be harbored in the country.source
  • 1695The Great Famine of 1695–1697 begins as the Great Famine of Estonia (1695–97) in Swedish Estonia and spreads across Finland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden, while the "seven ill years" of famine in Scotland are ongoing.source

18th century

  • 1702May 19 – Over 90% of the city of Bergen, Norway, is destroyed and reduced to ashes in a Great Fire.source
  • 1716March 8 – King Charles XII of Sweden leads an invasion of Norway, crossing the border at Basmo, near the modern-day town of Marker.source
  • 1742Molde, Norway, becomes a city.source
  • 1758A fire destroys parts of Christiania, Norway.source
  • 1767July 3 – Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is first published.source
  • 1768December 1 – The slave ship Fredensborg sinks off Tromøya, Norway.source

19th century

  • 1814January 14 – Treaty of Kiel: Frederick VI of Denmark cedes the Kingdom of Norway into personal union with Sweden, in exchange for west Pomerania. This marks the end of the real union of Denmark-Norway.source
  • 1818September 7 – Carl III of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Norway, in Trondheim.source
  • 1859July 8 – Charles XV succeeds his father Oscar I of Sweden and Norway (as Charles IV).source
  • 1871April 1 – F. Melius Christiansen, Norwegian-born violinist and choral conductor (d. 1955)source
  • 1876February 24 – The first stage production of the verse-play Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen premieres, with incidental music by Edvard Grieg, in Christiania (modern-day Oslo), Norway.source
  • 1898May 23 – Josef Terboven, German Nazi politician, Reichskommissar for Norway 1940–1945 (d. 1945)source

20th century

  • 1905December 2 – Norsk Hydro, predecessor of Equinor, a state-run energy product and grid brand in Scandinavia, is founded in Norway.source
  • 1905January 15 – A series of three 41 m ft high tsunamis kill 61 people in Norway, after a rockslide sweeps down Mount Ramnefjell and crashes into Lake Lovatnet.source
  • 1905November 12 – Norway holds a plebiscite on the monarchy, resulting in popular approval of the Storting's decision to authorise the government to make the offer of the throne of the newly independent country.source
  • 1914May 5–October 11 – The Jubilee Exhibition (Jubilæumsutstillingen) is held at Kristiania, Norway, to mark the centennial of the country's constitution.source
  • 1920February 9 – The Svalbard Treaty, signed by members of the League of Nations in Paris, recognises the sovereignty of Norway over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard (at this time called Spitzbergen), while giving the other signatories economic rights in the islands.source
  • 1962August 18 – Norway launches its 1st sounding rocket, Ferdinand 1, from Andøya Space Center and becomes a space nation.source
  • 1985May 4 – The 30th Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden and is won by the Bobbysocks! song La det swinge for Norway.source
  • 1989June 1–10 – Pope John Paul II visits Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Sweden.source
  • 1997September 15 – The Norwegian parliamentary election is held in Norway.source

21st century

  • 2008October 6 – A controversial Peruvian tape regarding a Norwegian oil company causes the 2008 Peru oil scandal, sparking protests which cause Jorge de Castillo to resign from office.source
  • 2010May 25–29 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 takes place in Oslo, Norway, and is won by German entrant Lena with the song "Satellite".source
  • 2011July 22 – In Norway, Anders Behring Breivik kills 8 people in a bomb blast which targeted government buildings in central Oslo, then kills 69 at a massacre at a Workers' Youth League camp on the island of Utøya.source
  • 2019August 31 – 2019 Alta helicopter crash: A sightseeing helicopter crashes in the mountains of Skoddevarre in Alta Municipality, Norway, killing all 6 occupants.source
  • 2025January 14 – February 2 – The 2025 World Men's Handball Championship is held in Croatia, Denmark and Norway, and is won by Denmark.source

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