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8th Century - Celtic monks establish hermitages in Iceland
ca 860 - Gardar, a Swedish Viking, unintentionally visits Iceland
ca 870 - The settlement of Iceland begins
ca 875 - End of massive initial settlement
ca 900 - Gunnbjörn Ulf-Kráksson sights Greenland
930 - The settlement of Iceland is essentially completed
930 - The Allthing, the annual all-Iceland assembly, is established
978 - Snæbjörn Gatli confirms the existence of Greenland
983 - Eiríkur Thorvaldsson (Eric the Red) is banished from Iceland, moves to Greenland
985 - Bjarni Herjólfsson accidentally sights America
986 - Eiríkur Thorvaldsson convinces several hundred Icelanders to join his new settlement in Greenland
1000 - Iceland, as a country, converts to Christianity
ca 1000 - Leifur Eiríksson (Leif Erikson) investigates America
1000-1020 Approximate duration of Icelandic settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland
ca 1005 - Gudrídur Thorbjarnardóttir gives birth to Snorri Thorfinnsson, first known white child born in America
1056 - First Icelandic bishopric established at Skalholt
1263 - Iceland, by request, comes under the rule of Norway
1347 - Last recorded ancient visit of Icelanders to America to collect timber
1380 - Iceland comes under Danish rule
1410 - Last recorded visit to the Greenland Settlement
ca 1485 - Christopher Columbus visits Iceland to study ancient accounts of discovery by the Icelanders
1492 - Christopher Columbus ventures to West Indies, later incorrectly credited with 'discovering' America
1540 - Greenland settlement has totally disappeared
1602 - Denmark imposes severe economic and trade sanctions on Iceland
1703 - First official census of Iceland
ca 1704 - Smallpox epidemic kills about 18,000 (of total population of 50,000)
1848 - First large group of Icelanders emigrate to America, settling in Utah
1856 - Second group of emigrants to Brazil
1870 - Beginning of large emigration period (1870 - 1914); first emigrants go to Milwaukee and northern Wisconsin
1873 - First large group of Icelandic emigrants to Canada
2 Aug 1874 - A constitution and limited home rule granted to Iceland by Denmark
1875 - Askja volcanic eruption devastates eastern Iceland
1875 - New Iceland established
1877 - First Icelandic newspaper published in New Iceland
1877 - Icelanders begin settling in Dakota Territory
1914 - Emigration from Iceland to North America has essentially ceased after a total of about 17,000 people have left (the population of Iceland in 1870 was about 70,000)
1918 - Iceland becomes a sovereign state of Denmark
17 June 1944 - Iceland becomes an independent republic
1980 - Vigdís Finnbogadóttir elected President of Iceland, becomes world's first popularly elected female head of state.
Note: the accuracy of some of the early dates above remain in historical dispute, but neither the time periods nor the events themselves are in question.
Please address any comments, additions, or corrections to Arlan Steinolfson, email arlans@aol.com