Norway

The Viking Age begins — Lindisfarne 793 CE

The Viking Age began on 8 June 793 CE when Norse raiders attacked the monastery of Lindisfarne on the Northumbrian coast of England — the assault on one of Christendom's holiest sites announced the emergence of Scandinavian seafarers as the dominant force in European and North Atlantic history for the next 250 years.

Harald Fairhair unifies Norway — the first Viking kingdom

Harald Fairhair's unification of Norway (traditionally 872 CE, after the Battle of Hafrsfjord) was the founding act of the Norwegian kingdom — a chieftain from Vestfold who subdued rival petty kings and created the first unified Norwegian state, famously reportedly vowing not to cut his hair until he ruled all Norway, giving him his epithet.

Leif Erikson — the first European in America

Leif Erikson's voyage to "Vinland" (c. 1000 CE) was the first confirmed European landing in North America — 500 years before Columbus, a Norse expedition from Greenland established a settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in modern Newfoundland, Canada, confirmed by archaeological excavations in 1960 that finally proved the Norse sagas were not mythology.

Norway under Denmark and Sweden — 434 years of union

Norway's union with Denmark (1397–1814 CE) and then Sweden (1814–1905 CE) lasted 508 years in total — during which Norway lost its medieval aristocracy, Danish became the written language of Norwegian elites, and the Norwegian national identity was suppressed before a cultural and political renaissance led to peaceful independence in 1905.

Fridtjof Nansen — the explorer who invented humanitarian law

Fridtjof Nansen's crossing of Greenland on skis (1888 CE) and his drift across the Arctic Ocean on the Fram (1893–96) made him the greatest explorer of his era — but his later work as the League of Nations' first High Commissioner for Refugees and inventor of the Nansen passport (stateless persons' travel document) may have saved more lives than any other act of the 20th century.

North Sea oil — Norway's accidental fortune

The discovery of oil in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea (1969 CE) transformed Norway from a modest fishing and shipping nation into one of the world's wealthiest countries — the Government Pension Fund Global, established to manage oil revenues, grew to over $1.7 trillion by 2024, the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, giving every Norwegian citizen a theoretical stake of over $300,000.