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Historical Milestones

9000 BC - 8000 BC : Earliest signs of human settlement.

8000 BC - 4000 BC : Old Stone Age, hunters and fishermen, rock carvings.

4000 BC - 1500 BC : New Stone Age, early agriculture, livestock.

1500 BC - 500 BC : Bronze Age, agricultural tools, jewellery, glass, weapons.

500 BC - 800 AD : Iron Age, iron ploughs and scythes.

800 AD - 1050 AD : Viking Age, longships, trade and conquest, runic inscriptions, voyages of discovery, Leif Eiriksson discovers America and Vikings.

900 AD : Norway united into one kingdom.

1030 :  Christianity adopted in Norway.

1130 : Start of High Middle Ages, population growth, and consolidation of power both of church and crown.

1100 – 1200 : Monarchy controls the church, slavery abolished.

1350 :  The Black Death reduces the population by almost two-thirds.

1380 – 1397 : Union with Denmark through royal intermarriage.

1397 – 1536 : The Kalmar Union with both Denmark and Sweden. Strong conflicts within the union.


1536 : Norway ceases to be an independent kingdom and becomes a dependency under Denmark. Religius reformation.

1814 : The Norwegian Constitution adopted, based on the American Declaration of Independence. Still Norway fails to be an independent nation.

1814 – 1905 : Union with Sweden.

1905 : Full Norwegian independency. Haakon VII crowned king of Norway.

1913 : Universal suffrage for women introduced.

1914 : Norway, Sweden and Denmark agree to remain neutral during World War I.

1925 : The capital of Norway changes name from Christiania to Oslo.

1920 : Norway joins the League of Nations.

1929 : Norway suffers considerably as a result of the world economic depression.

1939 : Norway declares its neutrality at the outbreak of World War II.

1940 : German forces invade Norway on 9 April. A government-in-exile is set up in London. Vidkun Quisling proclaims himself head of government in Norway.

1945 : German forces in Norway surrender on 8 May. Quisling is executed for treason. Norway becomes a charter member of the United Nations (UN).

1949 : Norway joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

1952 : Winter Olympics in Oslo.

1957 : Death of Haakon VII - Olav V crowned king.

1959 : Norway becomes founder member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

Late 1960s : Oil and gas deposits discovered in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

1970s : Explotation of oil and gas deposits begins. By the early 1980s they constitute nearly one-third of Norway's annual export earnings.

1972 : In a referendum, Norwegians reject the Labour government's recommendation on European Economic Community (EEC) membership.
The government resigns.

1973 : Norway signs a free trade agreement with the EEC.

1981 :  Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes Norway's first female Prime Minister.

1986 : The International Whaling Commission imposes a temporary ban on whaling. Norway registers objections.

1991 : Death of Olav V - Harald V becomes king.

1993 : Norway brokers peace negotions between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which lead to the Oslo Accords.
Norway resumes commercial whaling despite international moratorium.

1994 : Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.

1994 : Norwegians again reject membership of the European Union (EU) in a referendum.

1995 : Norway becomes the second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia.

2000 :  The government of Kjell Magne Bondevik resigns over questions on how Norway should generate its power. He is succeeded by Labour leader Jens Stoltenberg.

2001 : The Conservatives, Christian People's Party and Liberals agree to form a coalition government with Kjell Magne Bondevik as prime minister.

2005 : Prime Minister Bondevik loses general election to the centre-left alliance led by Labour leader Jens Stoltenberg.

2007 : The financial crisis gradually hits Norway as it hits the rest of the world.

2008 :  A new national opera house opens in Oslo.
The famous Old Holmenkollen Ski Jump is demolished.

2009 : American president Barack Obama receives the Nobel Peace Prize.

2010 : The New Holmenkollen Ski Jump opens.



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