This page is a historical timeline of the island known asGreenland or Kalaallit Nunaat.
978:Snæbjörn galti Hólmsteinsson becomes the first Norseman to intentionally navigate to Greenland.
982: TheNorwegian-Icelandicviking known asEric the Red is banished fromIceland. He sails off and sights the island. He decides to name it Greenland to make the island appear more attractive.
986: Norse settlement of Greenland begins.
1000:Eastern Settlement andWestern Settlement established.
1000:Leif Eiriksson departs Greenland for his voyage to what is nowLabrador. By now,Christianity is well established on the island.
1263: Greenland then becomescrown dependency ofNorway.
1355: In 1355 union kingMagnus IV of Sweden and Norway (Magnus VII of Norway; The Swedish king had been crowned king of Norway through birthright) sent a ship (or ships) to Greenland to inspect itsWestern andEastern Settlements. Sailors found settlements entirely Norse and Christian. The Greenland carrier (Groenlands Knorr) made the Greenland run at intervals till 1369, when she sank and was apparently not replaced.[1]
c.1500: The last Norse settlements have vanished leaving only theInuit.
1721: The firstDanish settlement is created near present-dayNuuk.
1776: Denmark assumes a fullmonopoly of trade with the island.
1800s: Greenland is explored and mapped in this period of time.
1814: Norway lost Greenland as a result of theTreaty of Kiel.
1940: Denmark is occupied byNazi Germany and Greenland is therefore cut off.The United States assumes custody over the island.
1945: Greenland is given back to Denmark but the US andNATO use the island as a base for operations.
1953: Greenland is now integrated with Denmark and has representation inDenmark's parliament.
1968: An AmericanB-52 bombercrashes on the island. But the bomber had fournuclear bombs and the people claim that not all weapons were found.
1979: Greenland attainshome rule.
1985: Greenland has fully left theEuropean community.
2008: Greenland gains greater autonomy.
2010: Studies conclude that the Greenland ice-sheet is shrinking faster than scientists thought.