Timeline Iceland
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Excite: http://www.excite.com/travel/countries/iceland/
Iceland.org: http://iceland.org/list8.html
Lonely Planet: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/eur/ice.htm
Map: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/cia99/Iceland_sm99.jpg
USSD: http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/iceland_9910_bgn.html
Iceland is about the same size as Kentucky.
(SSFC, 10/9/05, Par p.27)
Icelanders, using the old Norse calendar celebrate the beginning of
summer, Summardagurinn Fyrsti, on the first Thursday between April
19 and 25.
   (SSFC, 4/15/12, p.P3)
8,000BCÂ Â Â About this time
Thingvallavatn Lake, a flooded graben in southwestern Iceland, was
born in a valley gauged from volcanic rock and ash by the Langjokull
Glacier.
   (NH, 6/96, p.48)
c600-800ADÂ Â Â Irish monks began to seek solace in
Iceland.
   (NH, 6/96, p.53)
800-900Â Â Â Vikings brought ponies to Iceland.
   (SFC, 3/21/98, p.A9)
800-900Â Â Â In Scandinavia Futhark evolved around the
9th century. Instead of 24 letters, the Scandinavian "Younger"
Futhark had 16 letters. In England, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc started to
be replaced by the Latin alphabet by the 9th century, and did not
survive much more past the Norman Conquest. Futhark continued to be
used in Scandinavia for centuries longer, but by 1600 CE, it had
become nothing more than curiosities among scholars and
antiquarians.
   (www.ancientscripts.com/futhark.html)
822Â Â Â Â Â Â In Iceland an eruption of
the Katla volcano about this time led to a rupture of the
Myrdalsjokull, a glacier overlying the volcano. This led to a major
flood that knocked over a forest 35 km away. Temperatures plunged
and the following winters in Europe turned particularly cold with
hailstorms and snow that led to plague and famine.
   (SFC, 12/27/17, p.64)
870Â Â Â Â Â Â Swede Garoar Svavarsson led
the first Vikings to Iceland.
   (SSFC, 8/23/15, p.N4)
874Â Â Â Â Â Â Vikings from Norway began
to survey Iceland. The monks withdrew to Ireland. The
40,000-square-mile island situated 500 miles northwest of Scotland
was first settled by Norwegians.
   (NH, 6/96, p.53)(Economist, 8/25/12, p.64)
930Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, Icelanders
established the Althing, an open-air national parliament and the
world‘s oldest surviving parliamentary body. This was later credited
as the first example of representative government.
   (NH, 6/96, p.53)(DrEE, 1/4/97, p.4)(SFC, 1/1/00,
p.C3)(MC, 6/23/02)
935Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
   In the Icelandic "Egils-saga" there is an account
of how Thorolf and Egil harried in Curonia (along the eastern Baltic
shore) about this time.
   (DrEE, 11/23/96, p.3)(TB-Com, 10/11/00)
960Â Â Â Â Â Â Thorvald Asvaldsson, the
father of Eric the Red (950-1003), committed a murder about this
time and was banished from Norway. He took his family to Iceland.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red)
982Â Â Â Â Â Â Eric the Red (950-1003),
killed a neighbor and some other men about this time and was
banished from Iceland for 3 years.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red)
985Â Â Â Â Â Â Eric Thorvaldsson, aka Eric
the Red, left Iceland and returned to Greenland establishing his 1st
settlement there.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_the_Red)
986Â Â Â Â Â Â Greenland's west coast was
settled by Icelanders and Norwegians, through a contingent of 14
boats led by Erik the Red.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland)
1000-1100Â Â Â In 2002 the remains of a longhouse from
this time were uncovered in northern Iceland. It was believed to be
associated with Snorri Thorfinnson, son of Viking explorers and the
1st European born in the New World.
   (SFC, 9/16/02, p.A2)
1002Â Â Â Â Â Â Thorer Eastman (d.1002), a
Norwegian sea captain, was blown off course on a trading voyage from
Iceland to Greenland. He and his wife, Gudrid, along with a crew of
13 became stranded on a rock near the coast of Newfoundland for
weeks until they were rescued by Leif Eriksson, who was on his way
home to Greenland from North America with a cargo of timber. That
fall an epidemic swept Greenland and Eastman died.
   (ON, 12/07, p.4)
1006 Â Â Â Â Â Â Thorfinn Karlsefni
arrived in Greenland from Iceland and married Gudrid
Thorbjarnardottir. She soon talked him into leading an expedition to
the New World.
   (ON, 12/07, p.5)
1007Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Thorfinn Karlsefni
and Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir embarked with a 3-ship expedition to
the new World. Snorri Thorfinnson, son of Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir
and Thorfinn Karlsefni, was born in Vinland (probably Newfoundland),
the 1st European born in the New World. The family later returned
east and settled in Iceland.
   (SFC, 9/16/02, p.A2)(ON, 12/07, p.5)
1010Â Â Â Â Â Â Thorfinn Karlsefni and
Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir returned from the New World to Greenland
and then moved to Iceland the following year, where they raised a
large family.
   (ON, 12/07, p.5)
1151Â Â Â Â Â Â In Iceland the first known
fire and plague insurance was offered.
   (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)
1241Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, Snorri Sturluson
(b.1179), Icelandic historian, poet, and politician, died. He was
the author of the Prose Edda or Younger Edda, which consists of
Gylfaginning ("the fooling of Gylfi"), a narrative of Norse
mythology, the Skáldskaparmál, a book of poetic language, and the
Háttatal, a list of verse forms. He was also the author of the
Heimskringla, a history of the Norwegian kings.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snorri_Sturluson)
1262Â Â Â Â Â Â After a long and bloody
conflict between the various families and clans, the Icelanders
accepted the rule of the Norwegian kingdom.
   (DrEE, 1/4/97, p.4)
1294Â Â Â Â Â Â The Great Geysir was
discovered in Iceland and gave rise to the community named Geysir.
Geyser became the generic name for all water spouts.
   (SSFC, 7/17/05, p.D6)
1362Â Â Â Â Â Â In Iceland the
Oraefajokull volcano erupted. This eruption was later believed to
have eclipsed the 79AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
   (Econ, 4/24/10, p.62)
Â
1413Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland used dried fish
for money.
   (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)
1602Â Â Â Â Â Â Denmark imposed a strict
trade monopoly and cut off the island's products from lucrative
markets.
   (SFEC, 9/19/99, p.A18)
1643Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Icelandic
medieval manuscript known as the Codex Regius came into the
possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson, then Bishop of Skálholt. At the
time, versions of the Edda were known in Iceland, but scholars
speculated that there once was another Edda, an Elder Edda, which
contained the pagan poems that Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241)
quotes in his Edda. Poetic Edda is a modern attribution for an
unnamed collection of Old Norse anonymous poems.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetic_Edda)
1773Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland held its first
census.
   (Economist, 8/25/12, p.64)
1783Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, In Iceland the
Lakagicar volcano began erupting. Over the next 6 months it built a
lava dam 40 miles long and 540 feet high in a month. The Laki
volcano wiped out 75% of the crops, which led to a severe famine
that killed some 10,000 people, 20% of the population, reducing the
population to some 40,000 people. This was described by Haraldur
Sigurdson in an article titled Volcanic Pollution and Climate: Eos
63, Aug. 10, 1982. The Laki eruption sent poisonous gases across
Europe. In 2014 Alexandra Witze and Jeff Kanipe authored “Island on
Fire: The Extraordinary Story of Laki: the Volcano that Turned
Eighteenth-Century Europe Dark.”
   (NH, 9/97, p.38)(SFEC, 9/19/99, p.A18)(AM, 7/00,
p.40)(ON, 2/04, p.9)(Econ, 12/22/07, p.132)(Econ, 4/24/10,
p.62)(Econ, 5/29/10, p.85)(Econ, 7/19/14,p.71)
1783Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8-1784 Feb, A series
of 10 eruptions from the Laki Craters on Iceland changed atmospheric
conditions in most of the Northern Hemisphere. This also generated a
cascade of events that led to record low levels of water in the Nile
River and brought famine to the region.
   (http://tinyurl.com/y9xemq)
1784Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, In Iceland the
Lakagicar (Laki) volcano ceased its eruptions. Smoke from the 8
months of eruptions caused one of the longest and coldest winters in
Europe. [see Jun 8, 1783]
   (ON, 2/04, p.10)
1800Â Â Â Â Â Â The Althing was abolished
by the Danish king.
   (HNQ, 4/28/00)
1821-1823Â Â Â In Iceland the Eyjafjallajokull volcano
erupted over this period.
   (Econ, 4/24/10, p.62)
1831Â Â Â Â Â Â The Lewis chessman, 92
walrus ivory pieces, were unearthed on the Isle of Lewis off the
coast of Scotland. In 2010 Gudmundur Thorarinsson tried to convince
scholars that these pieces were the work of Margret, an Icelandic
woman carver commissioned by medieval Norse Bishop Paul Jonsson. In
2015 Nancy Marie Brown authored ”Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the
Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them.”
   (Econ, 8/29/15, p.68)
1843Â Â Â Â Â Â In Iceland a nationalist
movement re-established the Althing.
   (HNQ, 4/28/00)
1859Â Â Â Â Â Â The present church in
Thingvellir was constructed.
   (NH, 6/96, p.53)
1869Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland made it illegal to
sell or distribute pornography.
   (Econ, 4/20/13, p.64)
1874Â Â Â Â Â Â A constitution was granted
to Iceland.
   (HNQ, 4/28/00)
1900Â Â Â Â Â Â The puffin was almost made
extinct in the Westmann Islands about this time because of
harvesting. The puffin was hunted for its down which was exported to
Denmark. The hunting was banned for 30 years and when it was
harvested again Icelanders started using a hunting method from the
Faroe Islands, where the puffins are caught in a net on a long pole.
  Â
(http://iceland.vefur.is/Iceland_nature/wildlife/puffins.htm)
1902Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, Halldór Laxness,
Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic novelist (The Fish Can Sing, Paradise
Reclaimed), was born.
   (HN, 4/23/01)
1904Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland won home rule.
   (DrEE, 1/4/97, p.4)
1918Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, Danish parliament
passed an act to grant Iceland independence.
   (HFA, ‘96, p.20)(MC, 12/1/01)
1936Â Â Â Â Â Â Halldor Laxness, novelist,
published "Salka Valka".
   (SFC, 2/11/98, p.A24)
1937Â Â Â Â Â Â In Iceland an airline was
founded that developed into Icelandair.
   (WSJ, 10/14/08, p.B10)
1937-1940Â Â Â Halldor Laxness wrote "World Light," the
tale of an alienated Icelandic folk poet.
   (SFC, 2/11/98, p.A24)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â The Loki volcano in the
center of the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland erupted.
   (SFC, 10/3/96, p.A14)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 10, Iceland was
attacked by German planes.
   (HN, 2/10/97)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, Although a neutral
country, the United States sent troops to occupy Iceland to keep it
out of Germany's hands.
   (WUD, 1944, p.1683)(HN, 7/7/98)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 17, The U.S. destroyer
Kearney was damaged by a German U-boat torpedo off Iceland; 11
people were killed.
   (AP, 10/17/08)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 31, The US Navy
destroyer "Reuben James" was torpedoed by a German U-boat off
Iceland, killing 115, even though the United States had not yet
entered World War II.
  Â
(www.archives.gov/exhibits/a_people_at_war/prelude_to_war/uss_reuben_james.html)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, Icelandic voters
severed all ties with Denmark.
   (MC, 5/24/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, Iceland declared
full independence from Denmark and became a republic.
   (DrEE, 1/4/97, p.4)(AP, 6/17/97)
1946Â Â Â Â Â Â Halldor Laxness
(1902-1998) of Iceland published "Independent People." It helped him
win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1955.
   (SFC, 2/11/98,
p.A24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halld%C3%B3r_Laxness)
1949Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, The (NATO) North
Atlantic Treaty Organization pact was signed by the US, Great
Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy,
Portugal, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Canada. It provided for
mutual defense against aggression and for close military
cooperation.
  Â
(www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm)(TOH, 1982,
p.1949)
1955Â Â Â Â Â Â Halldor Laxness
(1902-1998), Icelandic author, won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
His 1946 novel "Independent People" helped him win the prize.
   (SFC, 2/11/98,
p.A24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halld%C3%B3r_Laxness)
1959Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, Iceland gunboats
shot at British fishing ships.
   (MC, 5/6/02)
1959Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, Seven European
nations (Austria, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden,
Switzerland) signed the Stockholm Convention to form the European
Free Trade Association (EFTA). The organization becoming operative
on May 3, 1960. After the accession of Denmark, Ireland, and the UK
to the EEC in January 1973, the EFTA began to falter. Portugal
(1985), followed in 1995 by Austria, Finland and Sweden, left to
join the EU. In 2017 Four members remained: Switzerland, Norway,
Liechtenstein and Iceland.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Free_Trade_Association)
1961Â Â Â Â Â Â Halldor Laxness, novelist,
published "The Atom Station."
   (SFC, 2/11/98, p.A24)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Halldor Laxness, novelist,
published "Paradise Reclaimed."
   (SFC, 2/11/98, p.A24)
1963Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 14, Iceland got a new
island when a volcano pushed its way up out of the sea five miles
off the southern coast.
   (HN, 11/14/00)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, The International
Tribunal in The Hague pronounced that the Icelanders did not have
sovereignty over the areas between 12 and 50 miles. The Icelandic
government protested and decided to take no notice of this decree.
  Â
(www.nat.is/travelguideeng/50_miles_limit_and_the_cod_war_1.htm)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, American Bobby
Fischer won the international chess crown in Reykjavik, Iceland,
defeating Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. In 2004 David Edmonds
and John Eidinow authored "Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the
Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time."
   (AP, 9/1/97)(SSFC, 2/07/04, p.M1)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 23, Helgafell, an
island of Heimaey, Iceland, erupted for the 1st time in 7,000 yrs.
  Â
(www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1702-01=&volpage=var)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland completed its
first road around the island.
   (Econ, 5/29/10, p.84)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Sigurdur Hjartarson began
collecting penis memorabilia. In 1997 he opened his Icelandic
Phallological Museum in Reykjavik.
   (SSFC, 10/19/03, p.C8)(Reuters, 5/16/08)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Iceland moved its
intl. boundary for fishing rights from 50 to 200 miles.
   (www.american.edu/ted/ice/CODWAR.htm)
1976 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 2, Great-Britain
& Iceland terminated their codfish war. It was agreed that only
24 British vessels would be allowed in the 200 mile zone and four
conservation areas would be completely closed to the British.
  Â
(www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/article/Iceland/Cod-War-in-Iceland/527)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Rabbits were imported to
Iceland from Spain about this time. Some were later released into
the wild and began to compete with the native puffin birds, which
breed in burrows.
   (WSJ, 8/4/06, p.A1)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, In Iceland Vigdis
Finnbogadottir (b.1930) began serving as president and the world’s
first female head of state. She was re-elected 3 times and retired
in 1996.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigd%C3%ADs_Finnbogad%C3%B3ttir)(SFC,
6/30/96, B7)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, The Tuna Task Force
(TTF) issued a draft plan of management. It contained 14
recommendations, the most important of which include the use of
catch-quotas, minimum limits on fish-size, limited-entry and further
limits on purse-seine operations. It was proposed that the plan
should come into effect at the beginning of the 1983-84 fishing
season (on 1 October 1993). Because of difficulties in reaching
agreement on all aspects, this target was not achieved. Australia,
New Zealand and Iceland pioneered Individual Transferable Quotas
(ITQs) for commercial fisheries.
  Â
(http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/Y2684E/y2684e20.htm)(Econ, 9/20/08,
p.97)
1986Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, President Reagan
and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened two days of talks
concerning arms control and human rights in Reykjavik, Iceland.
   (AP, 10/11/97)
1986Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, The superpower
meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, ended in stalemate, with President
Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev unable to agree on
arms control or a date for a full-fledged summit in the United
States.
   (AP, 10/12/97)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland stopped whaling.
   (SFC, 5/10/97, p.A8)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Jon Asgeir Johannesson
(20) and his unemployed father opened a discount grocery store,
Bonus, in Reykjavik, Iceland. Until this time dominant grocery
chains had kept food prices high throughout the nation.
   (WSJ, 7/11/06, p.A1)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, The parliament of
Iceland confirmed that the recognition of Lithuania from 1922 was
fully valid and that diplomatic relations would be established as
soon as possible. Lithuania received de jure recognition from
Iceland.
   (DrEE, 1/4/97, p.4)(LHC, 2/11/03)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland’s corporate tax
rate on profits stood at 50%.
   (Econ, 2/19/05, p.61)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â David Oddsson became prime
minister of Iceland.
   (AP, 6/5/06)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland left the Int’l.
Whaling Commission when a resolution was passed to outlaw commercial
whaling.
   (SFC, 5/10/97, p.A8)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, In Copenhagen the
Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany,
Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden, in the
presence of the representative from the European Commission, opened
a 2-day meeting and decided to establish a Council of the Baltic Sea
States to serve as a forum for guidance and overall coordination
among the participating states. Iceland joined the CBSS in 1995
   (Econ, 6/7/08,
p.63)(www.bmwi.de/English/Navigation/European-policy/baltic-market.html)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Bjorgolfur Bjorgolfsson
(26) left Iceland and started a soft-drink company in St.
Petersburg, Russia. He later expanded into brewing, banking,
telecommunications and discount pharmaceuticals. By 2006 his stake
in the Iceland-based Actavis Group was valued at $1 billion, making
him Iceland’s first billionaire.
   (SFC, 4/1/06, p.C3)(Econ, 4/14/07, p.80)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland stopped
requirement immigrants to adopt local names.
   (Econ, 1/14/12, p.59)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, Gay marriages were
legalized in Iceland.
   (SFC, 6/28/96, p.A14)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, Olafur Ragnar
Grimsson, a left-wing career politician, claimed victory in
presidential elections.
   (SFC, 6/30/96, B7)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, The Arctic Council
was founded to promote joint scientific research and to study
pollution, conservation and mapping. The Ottawa Declaration named
eight members of the Arctic Council: Canada, Russia, Norway,
Denmark, Iceland, the United States, Sweden and Finland. The first
step towards the formation of the Council occurred in 1991 when
eight Arctic countries signed the Arctic Environmental Protection
Strategy (AEPS).
   (Econ, 3/24/12,
p.61)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Council)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, The Loki volcano in
the center of the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland erupted.
   (SFC, 10/3/96, p.A14)(SFC, 11/6/96, p.A25)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, The eruptions
ceased in the Loki volcano but a large amount of water was melted
from the glacier.
   (SFC, 11/6/96, p.A25)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, The glacier’s ice
cap cracked and unleashed millions of gallons and 2 bridges were
swept away.
   (SFC, 11/6/96, p.A25)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, It was reported
that Iceland would resume whaling. Whaling had stopped there in
1989.
   (SFC, 5/10/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â The Icelandic
Phallological Museum opened in Reykjavik. It later moved to the
quiet fishing village of Husavik, 480 km (298 miles) northeast of
the capital. Sigurdur Hjartarson began his collection in 1974 with a
single bull's penis that looked something like a riding crop. By
2008 it included 261 preserved members from 90 species.
   (Reuters, 5/16/08)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, In Iceland Halldor
Laxness (b.1902), novelist and Nobel Prize winner, died at age 95.
His books included "Independent People" (1946), "the Great Weaver of
Cashmere," "Salka Valka," "The Atom Station," and "Paradise
Reclaimed."
   (SFC, 2/11/98, p.A24)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, Keiko the killer
whale, star of the 1993 "Free Willy" movie, was returned to Iceland,
where he was captured in 1979 at age 2. Much of his early life was
spent at a Mexico City amusement park.
   (SFC, 9/11/98, p.A10)(SFC, 10/17/03, p.D1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, Canada planned to
begin discussion with Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Liechtenstein for
the first trans-Atlantic free-trade pact.
   (WSJ, 10/12/98, p.A1)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 10, In Iceland the
parliament passed a resolution to resume whale hunting within its
territorial waters.
   (SFC, 3/12/99, p.A15)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, In parliamentary
elections the right-wing Independence Party of Prime Minister
Oddsson won 40.8% of the vote.
   (WSJ, 5/10/99, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, In Iceland the
Mount Hekla volcano erupted.
   (WSJ, 2/29/00, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland’s corporate tax
rate on profits were cut to 30%.
   (Econ, 2/19/05, p.61)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, In Japan the
Int’l. Whaling Commission rejected Iceland’s bid for full membership
for a 2nd year in a row.
   (SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, Iceland opened a
filling station for hydrogen-powered vehicles.
   (AP, 4/24/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, Iceland voters
re-elected David Oddsson, Europe's longest serving prime minister
supporting his conservative economic policies rather than the
progressive spending plans of the former Reykjavik mayor.
   (AP, 5/10/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, Iceland PM David
Oddsson announced that he will step down in September 2004 in favor
of the current foreign minister, who leads the other party in his
coalition government.
   (AP, 5/22/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, Iceland launched
its first whale hunt in more than a decade in the name of scientific
research. The US, Britain and several other governments opposed to
whaling labeled the hunt unnecessary.
   (AP, 8/18/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland privatized 2 of
its largest banks.
   (Econ, 10/11/08, p.96)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, It was reported
that Alcoa planned to build a $1 billion aluminum smelter on the
island of Trinidad and another in Iceland.
   (WSJ, 5/24/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, The children’s TV
show “Lazytown” made its US premier. Magnus Scheving spent over a
decade building the brand in Iceland before moving overseas.
   (Econ, 3/31/07,
p.76)(www.tv.com/lazytown/show/29257/episode_listings.html)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland’s PM David Oddsson
pushed through a media law aimed at limiting Baugur’s interests.
Baugur had large retailing interests and in the fall purchased
Denmark’s Magasin de Nord department-store group. Oddsson, Europe's
longest-serving prime minister, stepped down this year following
13-year tenure that transformed Iceland with a strong dose of free
market medicine.
   (Econ, 7/25/05, p.54)(AP, 6/5/06)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Halldor Asgrimson took
over as PM of Iceland.
   (Econ, 3/4/06, p.48)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â In Iceland Hjalti Sigurjon
Hauksson was convicted of raping his stepdaughter almost every day
for 12 years.
   (AP, 9/16/17)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, Iceland's
Parliament awarded citizenship to chess champion Bobby Fischer.
   (AP, 3/23/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, Chess legend Bobby
Fischer walked free from a Japanese detention center and immediately
headed to the airport to fly to his new home in Iceland.
   (AP, 3/24/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, Police in Iceland
charged Jon Asgeir Johannesson, multimillionaire and CEO of Baugur,
with fraud. Baugur was taken private in 2003. In October the Supreme
Court dismissed 32 of 40 charges. A district court acquitted him of
the remaining 8 charges in March, 2006.
   (Econ, 7/25/05, p.54)(Econ, 7/1/06, p.A9)(WSJ,
7/11/06, p.A9)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 10, Miss Iceland,
Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir (21), an anthropology and law student
and part-time policewoman, was crowned Miss World on the southern
Chinese resort island of Hainan.
   (Reuters, 12/10/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland’s corporate tax
rate on profits dropped to 18%.
   (Econ, 2/19/05, p.61)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar, Iceland’s currency
and stock market fell as its current-account deficit stood at 16% of
GDP. Similar problems due to high current-account deficits faced New
Zealand, Australia, Turkey and Hungary.
   (Econ, 4/8/06, p.19)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20-2006 May 10, This
is considered the prime hunting season for puffin birds in Iceland.
Up to 200,000 puffins are killed by hunters each year.
   (WSJ, 8/4/06, p.A1)(www.huntingiceland.com/)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, Iceland's PM
Halldor Asgrimsson (58) announced he was stepping down in the wake
of his party's poor performance in recent local elections.
   (AP, 6/6/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, Geir Haarde became
Iceland's new prime minister, marking a return to the office for
Iceland's largest political party and a likely shift toward a
tighter fiscal policy.
   (AP, 6/16/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, The United States
Naval Air Station Keflavik (NASKEF) closed at Iceland’s Keflavik
Int’l. Airport.
   (Econ, 10/11/08,
p.70)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Station_Keflavik)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 17, Iceland said it
would resume commercial whaling after a nearly two-decade
moratorium, defying a worldwide ban on hunting the mammals for their
meat.
   (AP, 10/18/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 6, Transparency
International, a watchdog group, reported that nearly three-quarters
of 163 countries ranked in a new survey suffer from a perception of
serious corruption, while in nearly half it is seen as rampant.
Finland, Iceland and New Zealand ranked as the least corrupt, while
Haiti, Guinea and Myanmar ranked as most corrupt.
   (AP, 11/6/06)(Econ, 11/11/06, p.69)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â The Iceland population was
about 300,000.
   (AP, 6/6/06)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, The annual Goldman
Environmental Prizes were announced on Earth Day. The winners
included Julio Cusurichi of Peru for his work to fight illegal
logging; Willie Corduff of Ireland for his work to halt an energy
project that disregarded local and environmental concerns; Sophia
Rabliauskas of Canada for her work to help protect the boreal forest
in Manitoba; Orri Vigfussen of Iceland for his work on the North
Atlantic Salmon Fund; Ts. Munkhbayar for his work against
unregulated mining in Mongolia; and Hammerskjoeld Simwinga for his
work in organizing microloan programs in Zambia.
   (SSFC, 4/22/07, p.E1)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, Icelandic PM Geir
Haarde's centre-right Independence Party came out on top in weekend
general elections but it was unclear if his coalition government
will stay in power.
   (AP, 5/13/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, In Iceland Yoko Ono
urged the world to give peace a chance as she unveiled a monument in
memory of her husband, former Beatle John Lennon (d.1980). Ono lit
up the Imagine Peace Tower on Videy island near the capital's harbor
on what would have been Lennon's 67th birthday.
   (AP, 10/9/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, Nordic countries
again dominated the World Economic Forum's ranking of gender-equal
countries. New Zealand squeezed into the top five and the US fell to
31st place. Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland retained the top
four spots in the 2007 Gender Gap Index released by the Swiss-based
think tank.
   (Reuters, 11/8/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 27, Iceland has
overtaken Norway as the world's most desirable country to live in,
according to an annual UN table that again puts AIDS-afflicted
sub-Saharan African states at the bottom.
   (Reuters, 11/27/07)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, Bobby Fischer
(b.1943), the reclusive chess genius, died in Iceland. He became a
Cold War hero by dethroning the Soviet world champion in 1972 and
later renounced his American citizenship.
   (AP, 1/18/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, Whale hunting
season began in Iceland as the country's first whaling ship of the
year set sail in defiance of a worldwide moratorium on the practice.
   (AP, 5/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, Britain seized
control of mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley. Germany organized
a credit lifeline for blue-chip commercial real estate lender Hypo
Real Estate Holding AG, while Iceland's government took over Glitnir
bank, the country's third largest.
   (AP, 9/29/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, Iceland’s
government and banks scrambled to rescue the country’s banking
system. Its economy was one of the hardest hit by the global
financial crises.
   (WSJ, 10/5/08, p.A13)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, Iceland
nationalized its second-largest bank under day-old legislation and
negotiated a euro4 billion ($5.4 billion) loan from Russia to shore
up the nation's finances amid a full-blown financial crisis.
   (AP, 10/7/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, Britain added to
the financial chaos engulfing Iceland by declaring it planned to sue
over lost deposits held by thousands of Britons with Icelandic bank
accounts. The news from London overshadowed an emergency loan from
Sweden to Iceland's biggest bank.
   (AP, 10/8/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, Iceland suspended
trading on its stock exchange for two days and took control of the
country's largest bank, the third to be placed under its protective
umbrella, as it grappled with a banking crisis that is threatening
to engulf the entire country.
   (AP, 10/9/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, Iceland's blue
chip stocks plunged 77 percent when trading reopened on after a near
week-long suspension and an official delegation from the island
sought Russian help in saving the economy from collapse.
   (AP, 10/14/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Iceland moved to
shore up its ravaged economy by slashing borrowing costs and
officials pursued efforts to get help from Russia in tackling the
worst financial crisis in the island's history.
   (Reuters, 10/15/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 24, Iceland, where the
financial system has all but collapsed, reached a deal with the IMF
for $2 billion to help fix its broken banking system, restart
currency trading and soften the blow from the global downturn.
   (Reuters, 10/25/08)(WSJ, 10/25/08, p.A9)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, Iceland’s PM Geir
Haarde said his country needs about $6 billion in loans to recover
from the financial meltdown, just as the country's central bank
separately hiked its interest rates by a massive 6 percentage points
to 18%.
   (AP, 10/28/08)(WSJ, 10/29/08, p.A10)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, Iceland moved to
secure $6 billion in loans to refloat its collapsed financial system
as Britain said it would welcome a government promise to guarantee
its citizens' deposits in collapsed internet bank Icesave.
   (AP, 11/17/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 19, The IMF approved a
two-year, $2.1 billion support program for Iceland designed to
restore confidence and stabilize the country's shattered economy.
   (AP, 11/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, Finland's Finance
Ministry said four Nordic countries will lend Iceland $2.5 billion
(euro1.98 billion) to help the country recover from its economic
meltdown.
   (AP, 11/20/08)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, Iceland's
coalition government collapsed, leaving the island nation in
political turmoil amid a financial crisis that has pummeled its
economy and required an international bailout to keep the country
afloat.
   (AP, 1/26/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, Iceland's
center-left Social Democratic Alliance Party was chosen to lead the
country following the collapse of the island nation's government
amid deep economic troubles and intense political discord.
   (AP, 1/27/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, Iceland raised it
quota on whale hunting to 250 a year, a dramatic increase over past
levels.
   (AP, 1/27/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, In Iceland both
parties of the new coalition government supported the appointment of
social affairs minister Johanna Sigurdardottir (66), an openly gay
former air hostess, as interim prime minister.
   (SFC, 1/29/09, p.A8)(Econ, 5/2/09, p.52)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, Sigurdur Helgason
(b.1921), former Icelandic airline CEO (1974-1984), died on the
Caribbean private island of Mustique. He pioneered cheap flights
that carried legions of backpackers between Europe and the United
States in the 1960s and '70s.
   (AP, 2/21/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, The Icelandic
government took control of Straumur Burdaras Investment Bank hf.,
the last of the major Icelandic banks to collapse after running out
of liquidity.
   (AP, 3/9/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, Icelanders voted
in an early parliamentary election. Iceland's leftist coalition won
the country's general election, a blow for the pro-business
Independence Party that many blamed for the collapse of the
country's banking system. Johanna Sigurdardottir, the acting prime
minister, was expected to be named prime minister.
   (AP, 4/25/09)(AP, 4/26/09)(Econ, 5/2/09, p.52)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, Iceland made a deal
to borrow some $5.5 billion from the British and Dutch governments
at an annual rate of 5.5% to meet its Icesave banking obligations.
   (Econ, 8/15/09, p.46)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, Iceland’s Althingi
(parliament) voted 33 to 28 to apply to join the EU.
   (Econ, 7/25/09, p.50)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, Iceland formally
applied to join the European Union but said it would not accept a
"rotten deal" for its fishing industry, a key sector of the island
nation's troubled economy.
   (AP, 7/23/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Iceland's
parliament approved a controversial deal to pay back billions of
euros (dollars) lost by British and Dutch savers in the collapse of
the online Icesave bank. The deal provided for the payment of 3.8
billion euros by 2023 to the British and Dutch governments for the
compensation they forked out to disgruntled savers.
   (AFP, 8/28/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland introduced fines
and jail terms for those who patronize prostitutes.
   (Econ, 4/20/13, p.63)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 5, Iceland’s Pres.
Olafur Ragnar Grimsson rejected a bill passed by parliament on Dec
30 on a state guarantee for €3.9 billion owed to British and Dutch
governments. This amount would cover compensation paid to savers in
those countries following the collapse of Landsbanki and its
internet-banking scheme, Icesave, one of three stricken Icelandic
banks nationalized in October 2008.
   (Econ, 1/9/10, p.52)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, Icelanders voted in
a referendum on a $5 billion deal to repay Anglo-Dutch loans. The
referendum resoundingly rejected a deal to pay Britain and The
Netherlands billions for losses in the Icesave bank collapse.
   (Reuters, 3/6/10)(AFP, 3/7/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, In southern
Iceland a volcano erupted overnight, forcing some 600 hundred people
to evacuate the area and diverting flights after authorities
declared a local state of emergency.
   (Reuters, 3/21/10)(AF, 3/22/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, Iceland’s
parliament voted to ban striptease shows, making it an offense for
any business to profit from the nudity of its employees. The ban
became effective on 1 July.
  Â
(http://news.scotsman.com/world/Strip-shows-offlimits-in-.6178649.jp)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Moody's Investor
Service downgraded Iceland's debt ratings outlook to negative from
stable over concerns about the tiny island nation's ability to tap
the foreign credit it needs to stay afloat.
   (AP, 4/6/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, In Iceland a
volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier erupted for the second
time in less than a month, melting ice, shooting smoke and steam
into the air, closing a major road and forcing hundreds of people to
flee rising floodwaters.
   (AP, 4/14/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, British airport
operator BAA Ltd. said all flights at London's Heathrow Airport have
been suspended for the rest of the day, causing travel chaos as ash
clouds from Iceland's spewing volcano halted air traffic across
Europe.
   (AP, 4/15/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, Volcanic ash
blanketed parts of rural Iceland and left a widening arc of grounded
aircraft across Europe, as thousands of planes stayed on the tarmac
to avoid the hazardous cloud. Travel chaos engulfed major European
cities and the UN warned of possible health risks from falling ash.
   (AP, 4/16/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, A lingering
volcanic ash plume forced extended no-fly restrictions over much of
Europe, as Icelandic scientists warned that volcanic activity had
increased and showed no sign of abating, a portent of more travel
chaos to come. Nearly 17,000 flights to and from Europe were
cancelled out of about 22,000 on a normal day.
   (AP, 4/17/10)(Econ, 4/24/10, p.63)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, Iceland's volcanic
ash renewed its threat to European air space, forcing Ireland to
shut services temporarily for the first time in 12 days. Ireland and
Britain lifted flight restrictions after temporarily closing
airspace due to the return of ash.
   (AP, 5/4/10)(AFP, 5/4/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â May 21, Norwegian browser
developer Opera Software said it is moving its data processing
capacity to a newly-built center in Iceland, one of the first
foreign investment deals for the crisis-hit island as it tries to
rebuild its economy.
   (AP, 5/21/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, Iceland’s
parliament voted to create what supporters hoped will be the world’s
strongest protections for free speech and journalism, passing
measures intended to make Iceland a safe haven for investigative
reporting.
   (SFC, 6/18/10, p.A2)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, Iceland's PM
Johanna Sigurdardottir (68) married her partner under a new law
legalizing same-sex marriage in the country.
   (AP, 6/28/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, Authorities in
Iceland exhumed the body of American chess champion Bobby Fischer to
determine whether he is the father of a 9-year-old girl from the
Philippines.
   (AP, 7/5/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, Icelandic
Meteorological Office geophysicist Gunnar Gudmundsson said that
floodwater is coming from the subglacial Grimsvotn volcano, but
there are no signs of the underground tremors that would signal an
eruption.
   (AP, 11/1/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Sigurdur Gylfi Magnusson
authored “Wasteland With Words: A Social History of Iceland.”
   (Econ, 5/29/10, p.84)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland’s Parliament
indicted former PM Geir Haarde for violating the laws of ministerial
responsibility. He was charged with doing too little to protect the
country against expansionary lending by bankers that resulted in
financial disaster.
   (SFC, 3/6/12, p.A2)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, Iceland's Pres.
President Olafur R. Grimsson triggered a referendum on an updated
plan to pay $5 billion to Britain and Netherlands for debts incurred
from the financial crisis, creating new uncertainty over the
island's economic recovery.
   (Reuters, 2/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, Icelanders voted in
a referendum on whether the nation will repay Britain and the
Netherlands in full for compensating their citizens who had deposits
in Icesave, a failed online bank. Voters rejected the
government-backed deal, sending the dispute to an int’l. court.
   (SFC, 4/9/11, p.A2)(SFC, 4/11/11, p.A2)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, Iceland closed its
main international airport and canceled all domestic flights as the
Grimsvotn volcano sent a plume of ash, smoke and steam 12 miles (20
km) high.
   (AP, 5/22/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, About 250 flights
to northern Britain were canceled over concerns about the ash cloud
spewing from an Icelandic volcano, but British and Irish officials
dismissed fears of a mass shutdown of airspace.
   (Reuters, 5/24/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, Icelanders, angry
over citizen costs for the country’s economic crises, pelted
lawmakers with eggs during a protest at the opening of the new
parliamentary session in Reykjavik.
   (SSFC, 10/2/11, p.A4)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 25, Iceland's interior
ministry said it had rejected an application by Huang Nubo's
Zhongkun Group to buy 120 square miles (30,639 hectares) of land on
the north shore of Iceland for a vast nature retreat in a deal that
would have been worth about 1 billion Icelandic kronur ($8.8
million). On Nov 27 Huang said the rejection was indicative of
anti-Chinese attitudes in the West.
   (AP, 11/27/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 15, Iceland formally
recognized the Palestinian state at a ceremony in Reykjavik,
becoming one of the few Western European countries and NATO members
to do so.
   (AFP, 12/15/11)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, China signed
accords on energy cooperation and the Arctic in Iceland as Premier
Wen Jiabao started a tour of northern Europe that will focus on
Chinese investment in a continent eager for funds and to trade with
the rising world power.
   (Reuters, 4/20/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, In Iceland former
PM Geir Haarde was acquitted on the major counts in a trial probing
his responsibility for the country’s 2008 economic collapse.
   (SFC, 4/24/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, Iceland's
President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson was re-elected to a fifth term with
52.8% of the vote.
   (AP, 7/1/12)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31, In Iceland a
15-year-old Icelandic girl was granted the right to legally use the
name "Blaer," which means "light breeze," given to her by her
mother, despite the opposition of authorities and a strict law on
names.
   (AP, 1/31/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, Iceland President
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson announced the formation of the Arctic Circle
at a Press Club meeting in Washington, DC, The new nonprofit will be
dedicated to bringing together the many international stakeholders
in an open venue to address the challenges facing the
rapidly-changing Arctic.
   (http://tinyurl.com/mggqw4c)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, China signed a
free-trade deal with Iceland as PM Johanna Sigurdardottir made a
6-day visit there. This was China’s first free-trade with a European
nation. Some saw China’s goal as better access to shipping routes
through the Arctic.
   (Econ, 4/20/13, p.50)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, Wikileaks said it
has secured a victory in Iceland’s Supreme Court against the
financial blockade imposed by Visa and Master Card on donations for
the secret-spilling site.
   (SFC, 4/25/13, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, Icelanders voted
in a parliamentary election. The center-right parties that led the
country into economic collapse five years ago returned to power. The
conservative Independence Party won the most votes but it and the
rural-based Progressive Party each won 19 seats in the 63-seat
parliament. The Pirate Party, just a few months old, took 5.1% of
the vote, gaining three seats in the Althingi.
   (AP, 4/27/13)(SFC, 4/29/13, p.A2)(AP,
4/30/13)(Econ, 5/4/13, p.56)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, In Iceland
Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, head of the Progressive Party, was
chosen as the new prime minister. He immediately announced a halt to
talks with the EU about joining the 27-nation block.
   (SFC, 5/23/13, p.A2)(Econ, 5/4/13, p.56)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, An Icelandic
businessman linked to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said he had
readied a private plane in China to fly Edward Snowden, who has
admitted leaking secrets about classified US surveillance programs,
from Hong Kong to Iceland if Iceland's government would grant
asylum.
   (Reuters, 6/21/13)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, Iceland said its
Bardarbunga volcano has begun erupting under the ice of Europe’s
largest glacier, prompting the country to close the airspace over
the volcano. Iceland the next day said no eruption took place, but
that one remained imminent following increased seismic activity.
   (SSFC, 8/24/14, p.A10)(SFC, 8/25/14, p.A2)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Iceland declared the
Okjokull glacier dead, as it was no longer thick enough to flow
across the landscape.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okj%C3%B6kull)(Econ., 8/8/20, p.68)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â The population Iceland was
about 315,000.
   (SSFC, 2/2/14, p.M8)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, The Icelandic Coast
Guard ship Tyr towed a cargo vessel to Italy with about 450 migrants
after Italian rescue teams managed to secure the wave-tossed Ezadeen
for towing toward the southern Calabrian region. The migrants were
abandoned by smugglers, leaving the vessel in rough seas without a
crew.
   (AP, 1/2/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, Iceland announced
that it was suspending its application to join the 28-nation EU.
   (AFP, 3/13/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, Iceland announced
the lifting of capital controls imposed in 2008.
   (Econ, 6/13/15, p.69)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, Russia's PM Dmitry
Medvedev ordered preparation of retaliatory measures against several
non-EU European nations that have joined the European Union's
sanctions against Russia. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway,
Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine joined the EU sanctions
last week.
   (AP, 8/4/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, Russia broadened a
food embargo imposed in retaliation for Western sanctions over
Ukraine to include Iceland, a significant fish importer, as well as
Montenegro, Albania and Liechtenstein.
   (AFP, 8/13/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 30, Coast Guard
leaders from the US, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and
Sweden signed an agreement setting up the Arctic Coast Guard Forum
dedicated to stewardship of Arctic waters.
   (SFC, 10/31/15, p.A4)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Thor Bjorgolfsson,
Iceland’s first billionaire, authored “Billions to Bust: How I Made,
Lost And Rebuilt a Fortune, And What I learned on the Way.”
   (Econ, 1/10/15, p.78)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, Iceland repaid its
debt to the IMF, which had given it a big bailout in 2008.
   (Econ, 4/9/15, p.53)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, Iceland's
opposition called on PM Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson and his government to
resign and planned a no confidence vote after a leak of documents,
the so-called Panama Papers, stoked anger over his wife owning a tax
haven-based company with large claims on the country's collapsed
banks.
   (Reuters, 4/4/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, Iceland's PM
Sigurdur David Gunnlaugsson (41) asked Pres. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson
to dissolve parliament as his government reeled from a political
crisis over the so-called Panama Papers, but the president refused.
Gunnlaugsson stepped down, the first major political casualty to
emerge from the massive leak of 11.5 million documents detailing
hidden offshore accounts held by world leaders and celebrities.
   (AFP, 4/5/16)(AFP, 4/6/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, President Barack
Obama welcomed a group of Nordic leaders to the White House and
celebrated the five Nordic nations (Denmark, Finland, Iceland,
Norway and Sweden) as models of reliability, equality, generosity,
responsibility, even personal happiness. Obama said that he and the
five Nordic nations agreed on the need to maintain sanctions against
Russia.
   (AP, 5/13/16)(Reuters, 5/13/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, Iceland voted in a
presidential election expected to see newcomer Gudni Johannesson
waltz to victory with voters angry at the establishment. History
professor Gudni Johannesson won the election after riding a wave of
anti-establishment sentiment. Johannesson has never held public
office and has no party affiliation, as he celebrated his 48th
birthday on June 26.
   (AFP, 6/25/16)(AP, 6/26/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, Icelanders voted
in a snap election that could see the anti-establishment Pirate
Party form the next government in the wake of the Panama Papers
tax-dodging scandal and lingering anger over the 2008 financial
meltdown. The governing coalition of the Independence Party and the
Progressive Party together won 29 seats in the 63-member parliament.
The Pirates and its three center-left allies won 27 seats.
   (AFP, 10/29/16)(AFP, 10/30/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 2, Iceland's President
Gudni Johannesson asked Bjarni Benediktsson, the leader of the
center-right Independence Party, to form a new government after the
party emerged on top in the Oct 29 general election.
   (Reuters, 11/2/16)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, In Iceland new
center-right coalition announced it had agreed to make conservative
Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson the country's next
prime minister, 10 weeks after a snap election. The Independence
Party formed a coalition with the smaller Reform and Bright Future
parties holding 32 of 63 seats in Parliament.
   (AFP, 1/10/17)(SFC, 1/12/17, p.A2)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 14, In Iceland Birna
Brjansdottir (20) went missing after a night out with friends. Her
body was found in Selvogsviti, 58 km (36 miles) from the capital on
the other side of the country after a weeklong search. She was
reportedly strangled before being thrown into the ocean where she
drowned.
   (AP, 1/25/17)(AFP, 2/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, Iceland on
International Women's Day said it will be the first country in the
world to make employers prove they offer equal pay regardless of
gender, ethnicity, sexuality or nationality. Iceland wants to
eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022.
   (AP, 3/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, Iceland became the
first country to introduce legislation requiring employers to prove
they are paying men and women equally.
   (SFC, 3/31/17, p.C2)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar, Iceland lifted
remaining controls on capital outflows, set up during the financial
crisis of 2007-2008, allowing pension and investment funds to invest
their money abroad. Controls on inflows were tightened.
   (Econ, 3/18/17, p.77)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Iceland's
nine-month-old, center-right government collapsed after a small
coalition member quit over an attempt by the prime minister's father
to help clear a convicted pedophile's name.
   (AP, 9/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, Iceland's Pres.
Gudni Th. Johannesson accepted the resignation of PM Bjarni
Benediktsson, and said a new election mostly likely will be held on
Nov. 4.
   (AP, 9/16/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, Icelanders voted
for the third time in four years as the nation tried to shake off
the latest political crisis on an island roiled by divisions since
its economy was ravaged by the global financial crisis. Conservative
PM Bjarni Benediktsson (47) won the snap election despite a string
of scandals. He was named last year in the "Panama Papers" worldwide
tax-evasion leaks. His Independence Party won 16 seats in the
63-seat parliament. The Left Green Movement finished second with
17%.
   (AP, 10/28/17)(AFP, 10/29/17)(SFC, 10/30/17,
p.A2)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 29, In Iceland over
400 women political leaders from around the world met for an annual
summit, sponsored by the Women Political Leaders Global Forum, aimed
at promoting gender equality inside and outside of the political
sphere.
   (AP, 11/29/17)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, In Iceland a new
law took effect requiring all companies to prove that their wage
practices don't discriminate against women, in what is thought to be
a global first in the effort to reduce gender pay gaps.
   (AP, 1/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 10, The Newport Arctic
Scholars Initiative convened in Newport, Rhode Island, with
representatives from the Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway
and the US.
   (AP, 4/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, The International
Fund for Animal Welfare said the controversial hunt for minke whales
in Iceland has come to end after declining profits led to the local
industry closing.
   (AFP, 7/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, One of Iceland's
top whaling companies said it has stopped hunting minke whales this
year, in response to a new government regulation that enlarged the
protected area for baleen whales.
   (AP, 8/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 31, Iceland's Foreign
Ministry said Icelandic citizens in Britain and British citizens in
Iceland will keep their residence rights after Brexit, even in the
case of no deal with the European Union.
   (Reuters, 10/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, In southern
Iceland an SUV carrying seven members of a British family plunged
off a high bridge, killing three people and critically injuring four
others.
   (AP, 12/27/18)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, Iceland's
government said Britain and the so-called EEA EFTA countries,
Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, have reached an agreement on
citizens' rights should Britain leave the EU without a withdrawal
agreement.
   (Reuters, 2/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, US and Iceland
diplomats said they have agreed to set up formal economic channels
to boost trade and business investment.
   (Reuters, 2/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, Icelandic budget
airline WOW Air collapsed under its financial problems, leading it
to ground planes and leave passengers stranded across two
continents. The airline had delivered more than a fourth of all
visitors to the nation.
   (AP, 3/28/19)(SFC, 9/2/19, p.D1)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, Iceland honored
the passing of Okjokull, its first glacier lost to climate change,
as scientists warn that some 400 others on the subarctic island risk
the same fate.
   (AFP, 8/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, Namibia's justice
and fisheries ministers resigned over bribery claims involving
Icelandic fishing firm Samherji.
   (Reuters, 11/13/19)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, Samherji, the
Icelandic fishing company at the center of Namibia's biggest
corruption scandal, announced that it is withdrawing from the
southwest African nation.
   (Reuters, 1/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Andorra, Armenia,
Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Iceland and Indonesia confirmed
their first cases of coronavirus.
   (AP, 3/2/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, The Icelandic
government said it would ban public gatherings of 100 or more people
and that secondary schools and universities would close for four
weeks to curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. So far, 117
cases of coronavirus infections have been confirmed in the country.
   (Reuters, 3/13/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, In Iceland the
Fagradalsfjall volcano awoke from a slumber that has lasted about
6,000 years. A long-dormant volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in
southwest Iceland flared to life after tens of thousands of
earthquakes were recorded in the area in the past three weeks. It
was the area’s first volcanic eruption in nearly 800 years.
   (AP, 4/5/21)(AP, 5/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, In Iceland gym
classes, happy hours and the near-normal life enjoyed so far by the
people ended abruptly, when the government ordered new restrictions
after detecting six coronavirus cases believed to be the variant
first found in Britain. Iceland has had just 5,384 cases and 29
deaths from COVID-19, according to official figures.
   (AP, 3/25/21)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, Airline Icelandair
said it would cut 2,000 jobs across its entire operation to stop the
outflow of cash primarily going to salaries, as the firm struggles
to keep going during the coronavirus pandemic.
   (Reuters, 4/28/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, In Iceland high
schools, hair salons, dentists and other businesses began reopening
after six weeks of lockdown. Iceland has confirmed 1,799 cases of
the coronavirus, but just 10 people have died.
   (AP, 5/4/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, In Iceland the
world's largest plant that sucks carbon dioxide directly from the
air and deposits it underground started operating. Swiss start-up
Climeworks AG, which specializes in capturing carbon dioxide
directly from the air, has partnered with Icelandic carbon storage
firm Carbfix to develop a plant that sucks out up to 4,000 tons of
CO2 per year.
   (Reuters, 9/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, Iceland's current
government coalition, consisting of three parties from the left to
the right, said it has agreed to continue for another term after
they bolstered their majority in a Sept 25 general election.
   (Reuters, 11/28/21)
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