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This is atimeline of Swedish history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events inSweden. To read about the background to these events, seeHistory of Sweden. See also thelist of Swedish monarchs andlist of prime ministers of Sweden.
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 530 | Posited date of possibly legendaryBattle on the Ice of Lake Vänern | |
| c. 551 | Getica ofJordanes, history of theGothic people, written inConstantinople | |
| 750–790 | Trade centerBirka, island onLake Mälaren near present-dayStockholm, established | |
| 750s | Beginnings ofScandinavian colonisation alongVarangian trade routes (Baltic states to Black Sea) | |
| c. 793 | Approximate beginning ofViking Age | |
| 800 | Rök runestone carved | |
| 829 | Ansgar's first mission to introduceChristianity to Sweden | |
| 850s | Olof I campaigns inCourland (present day westernLatvia) |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 960 | Settlement atBirka abandoned | |
| 980 | City of Sigtuna founded | |
| 984 | Battle of Fyrisvellir near present dayUppsala; Swedish andGeat tribes unite for first time underEric the Victorious | |
| 990 | City of Lund founded | |
| 995 | Olof Skötkonung, first Swedish king of whom there is substantial historical knowledge, succeeds to throne |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1000 | Gothi (pagan chieftain-priest)Þorgeirr Ljósvetningagoði endorses Christianity | |
| 1004 | Olof Skötkonung baptized; begins adoption of Christianity as official religion | |
| 1020 | The city ofLund is founded | |
| 1036 | Ingvar the Far-Travelled leads unsuccessful Viking attack againstPersia | |
| 1085 | City of Helsingborg founded | |
| 1087 | Temple at Uppsala, the central place of worship withinAncient Norse paganism, destroyed at order of KingInge the Elder. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1100 | Vreta Abbey, first Christian convent in Sweden, established | |
| 1187 | Estonians,Curonians or/andKarelians invade and pillageSigtuna killing archbishopJohannes[1] | |
| City of Nyköping founded |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1208 | Battle of Lena | |
| c. 1215 | Eskil Magnusson, first historically attestedlawspeaker ofThing of all Swedes (held inTiundaland, present dayUppland) | |
| c. 1220 | Gutalagen law book (also containing theGutasaga) | |
| 1240 | Battle of the Neva | |
| 1252 | City of Stockholm founded | |
| 1280 | Ordinance of Alsnö gives birth to thefrälse, a class of tax-exempt secular nobility |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1306 | 29 September | Håtuna games: coup againstKing Birger by his brothers,Eric andValdemar Magnusson |
| 1310 | Peace of Helsingborg settles conflicts between Sweden, Norway and Denmark[2][3] | |
| 1317 | 11 December | Nyköping Banquet, Christmas celebration, after which King Birger imprisons his two brothers and starves them to death |
| 1319 | Sweden andNorway first unite | |
| 1323 | Treaty of Nöteborg establishes peace between Sweden and theNovgorod Republic | |
| 1344 | Bridgettine Order founded bySt. Bridget (Heliga Birgitta) | |
| 1350 | Black Death arrives in Sweden | |
| 1359 | Magnus IV summons firstRiksdag (parliament of Sweden)[4] | |
| 1389 | 24 February | Battle of Åsle;King Albert deposed |
| 1397 | Sweden, Denmark and Norway unite into theKalmar Union (1397-1523) | |
| 1398 | Gotland conquered byTeutonic Knights |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1409 | Teutonic Order sells Gotland to the Kalmar Union | |
| 1434 | Start ofEngelbrekt rebellion against KingErik of Pomerania | |
| 1435 | Assembly ofSwedish nobility atArboga, considered firstRiksdag of the Estates | |
| 1436 | Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson assassinated | |
| 1471 | Battle of Brunkeberg | |
| 1477 | Foundation ofUppsala University | |
| 1495 | Russo-Swedish War (1495-1497) |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1505 | FirstKalmar Bloodbath | |
| 1520 | Christina Gyllenstierna defends Stockholm but is defeated by the Danes underChristian II of Denmark; Christian is crowned king of Sweden and ordersStockholm bloodbath | |
| 1523 | Gustav Vasa liberates Stockholm, leading Sweden out of the Kalmar Union and initiating monarchical rule of theHouse of Vasa | |
| 1524 | Treaty of Malmö signed: The Danish king formally renounce his claim to Sweden; Sweden in return renounces claims toScania andBlekinge | |
| 1525 | First Dalecarlian Rebellion occurs in parallel with attempt byChristina Gyllenstierna andSören Norby to take Swedish throne | |
| 1526 | First Swedish translation ofNew Testament published | |
| 1529 | Westrogothian Rebellion | |
| 1531 | Third Dalecarlian Rebellion, also known as the Bell Rebellion (Klockupproret) begins; suppressed two years later | |
| 1535 | War withLübeck leads to expulsion ofHanseatic traders, ending previous Hanseatic League monopoly on foreign trade | |
| 1540 | First full Swedish translation of Bible, theGustav Vasa Bible, published | |
| 1542 | Nils Dacke startspeasant uprising inSmåland, defeated the following year | |
| 1554 | Border skirmishes between Sweden and Russia lead to outbreak ofRusso-Swedish War (1554-1557) | |
| 1555 | A Description of the Northern Peoples (Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus) byOlaus Magnus published | |
| 1561 | Estonia becomes aSwedish dominion | |
| 1567 | Sture Murders carried out on the orders ofEric XIV | |
| 1577 | 26 February | Eric XIV dies in imprisonment |
| 1584 | City of Karlstad founded | |
| 1592 | Poland and Sweden enter into a short-livedpersonal union following crowning ofSigismund III Vasa as King of Sweden | |
| 1598 | Conflict between Duke Charles, later KingCharles IX, andSigismund, King of Sweden and Poland, leads to outbreak of theWar against Sigismund | |
| 25 September | Battle of Stångebro | |
| 1599 | War against Sigismund ends, resulting in deposition of King Sigismund; Sigismund's followers targeted in secondKalmar Bloodbath and theÅbo Bloodbath |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1600 | 20 March | Linköping Bloodbath |
| 1610 | Ingrian War between Russia and Sweden begins | |
| 1611 | Denmark declares war on Sweden, initiatingKalmar War | |
| 1613 | Treaty of Knäred ends Kalmar War: Sweden obligated to payÄlvsborg Ransom of one millionrixdollars for return of fortress ofÄlvsborg | |
| 1614 | City of Kristianstad founded | |
| 1617 | 27 February | Treaty of Stolbovo ends Ingrian War: Russia cedes province and fortress ofKexholm, southwesternKarelia and province ofIngria to Sweden, laying foundation for Sweden'srise as a Great Power |
| 1621 | City of Gothenburg founded | |
| 1628 | 10 August | Sinking of the Swedish warshipVasa |
| 1630 | Sweden enters theThirty Years' War (1618-1648) | |
| 1631 | 13 April | Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder |
| 7 September | Battle of Breitenfeld | |
| 1632 | 6 November | Battle of Lützen: KingGustav II Adolf killed |
| 1638 | Colony ofNew Sweden established along the Delaware River in North America | |
| 1648 | Thirty Years' War ends, with Sweden among the winners;Peace of Westphalia grants Sweden the provinces ofWestern Pomerania,Wismar, and the bishoprics ofBremen-Verden | |
| 1650 | Colony ofSwedish Gold Coast established onGulf of Guinea in present-dayGhana | |
| 1654 | QueenChristina abdicates throne and converts toRoman Catholicism, creating major scandal | |
| 1658 | 26 February | Treaty of Roskilde:Denmark-Norway cedes provinces ofBlekinge,Bornholm,Bohuslän,Scania,Trøndelag andHalland to Sweden |
| 1663 | Colony of the Swedish Gold Coast seized by Denmark, and integrated intoDanish Gold Coast | |
| 1666 | Foundation ofLund University | |
| 1668 | Foundation of Sweden's central bank,Sveriges Riksbank | |
| 1674 | 24 December | Sweden invadesBrandenburg, triggeringSwedish-Brandenburg War |
| 1675 | Denmark invades Scania, triggeringScanian War | |
| 1676 | 1 June | Battle of Öland |
| 17 August | Battle of Halmstad | |
| 4 December | Battle of Lund | |
| 1677 | 26 June | Siege of Malmö |
| 14 July | Battle of Landskrona | |
| 1678 | Invasion of Rügen | |
| 1679 | 23 August | Treaty of Fontainebleau signed, restoring all Danish conquests during the Scanian War to Sweden |
| 1680 | City of Karlskrona founded | |
| Great Reduction of 1680 enacted, returning to theSwedish Crown lands that had earlier been granted to the nobility | ||
| 1697 | 7 May | Castle ofTre Kronor burns down, destroying a significant portion of Sweden's national library and royal archives |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1700 | 22 February | Alliance consisting of Denmark-Norway,Saxony,Poland andRussia declares war on Sweden, initiatingGreat Northern War |
| Battle of Narva | ||
| 1702 | 8 July | Battle of Kliszów |
| 1706 | 3 February | Battle of Fraustadt ends in slaughter of captured prisoners by victorious Swedish army |
| 1706 | 13 October | Invasion of Poland by Sweden results inTreaty of Altranstädt forcing KingAugustus the Strong to renounce claim to Polish throne and breakTreaty of Narva, his alliance with Russia |
| 1708 | 1 January | Charles XII crossesVistula, opening attemptedSwedish invasion of Russia |
| 1709 | 27 June | Battle of Poltava: destruction of Charles XII's invading Swedish army by defending Russian forces ofPeter the Great marks beginning of Sweden's decline as agreat power |
| 1710 | 28 February | Battle of Helsingborg: final failed attempt by Denmark to regain Scania |
| 1713 | 1 February | Skirmish at Bender, battle to remove Charles XII and the remnants of his army from theOttoman Empire |
| 1718 | 30 November | Charles XII killed atFrederikshald |
| 1719 | Treaties of Stockholm, requiring Sweden to cede parts ofSwedish Pomerania to Prussia andBremen-Verden to Hanover | |
| 1720 | Treaty of Frederiksborg, requiring Sweden to cedeSchleswig to Denmark-Norway | |
| 1721 | Treaty of Nystad, requiring Sweden to cedeEstonia,Livonia andIngria to Russia | |
| 1731 | Foundation ofSwedish East India Company | |
| 1732 | Carl Linnaeus departs on hisExpedition to Lapland | |
| 1734 | Civil Code of 1734 establishes unified code of law for Sweden | |
| 1735 | First edition of Linnaeus'Systema Naturae | |
| 1737 | Swedish language Theater ofBollhuset founded | |
| 1739 | 2 June | Foundation ofRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences |
| 1741 | 23 August | Battle of Villmanstrand |
| 1742 | Anders Celsius proposesCelsius temperature scale | |
| 1743 | Fourth Dalecarlian Rebellion breaks out | |
| 1747 | Olof von Dalin begins publication of his Swedish history,Svea Rikes Historia | |
| 1749 | Storskifte Enclosure Act begins long period of major land reform in Sweden | |
| 1756 | Quelling of attemptedcoup d'état byQueen Louisa Ulrika and a few devoted nobles to reinstateabsolute monarchy in Sweden | |
| 1757 | Sweden entersSeven Years' War (1756-1763) | |
| 1762 | 22 May | Treaty of Hamburg concludes Sweden's involvement in Seven Years' War |
| 1766 | Freedom of the Press Act enacted: censorship abolished apart from limitations on vocal opposition to the king and theChurch of Sweden | |
| 1768 | December Crisis (1768) fails to increase royal power | |
| 1772 | Absolute monarchy reintroduced through theRevolution of 1772 | |
| 1773 | Discovery ofoxygen byCarl Wilhelm Scheele | |
| Royal Swedish Opera founded | ||
| 1782 | Sweden purchases Caribbean island ofSaint Barthélemy from France | |
| 1786 | 20 March | Foundation ofSwedish Academy |
| 1787 | First secondary education school in Sweden for girls,Societetsskolan, founded in Gothenburg | |
| 1788 | Sweden declares war against Russia, initiatingRusso-Swedish War (1788–1790) | |
| 1790 | Treaty of Värälä concludes Russo-Swedish War, confirmingstatus quo ante bellum with respect to borders | |
| 1792 | 16 March | KingGustav III assassinated at a masked ball |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1807 | General Enclosure Act of 1807 intensifies land reform measures | |
| 1808 | Outbreak ofFinnish War | |
| 1809 | Conclusion ofFinnish War: Sweden cedesFinland to Russia | |
| Deposition of KingGustav IV Adolf incoup of 1809 | ||
| 1810 | Foundation ofKarolinska Institutet | |
| 1814 | Sweden and Norwayunite (1814-1905) | |
| 1832 | Completion ofGöta Canal, providing route fromGothenburg (west coast) toSöderköping (east coast) | |
| 1848 | Series of riots, theMarsoroligheterna, in Stockholm | |
| 1855 | Construction begins on Sweden's first railway line | |
| 1864 | Daily newspaperDagens Nyheter established | |
| 1867 | Telecommunications company,Ericsson, founded byLars Magnus Ericsson | |
| Alfred Nobel inventsdynamite | ||
| 1873 | Sweden and Denmark formScandinavian Monetary Union | |
| Swedish krona replacesSwedish riksdaler as national currency | ||
| 1876 | Office ofprime minister (statsminister) instituted | |
| 1878 | Island of Saint Barthélemy sold back to France | |
| 1884 | Daily newspaperSvenska Dagbladet established | |
| Fredrika Bremer Association, Sweden's oldest women's rights organization, founded | ||
| 1889 | Swedish Social Democratic Party founded | |
| 1897 | Arctic balloon expedition ofSalomon August Andrée | |
| 1898 | Formation of theSwedish Trade Union Confederation (LO)[5] |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | FirstNobel Prizes awarded | |
| 1903 | Foundation ofSwedish Employers' Association (SAF)[5] | |
| 1904 | Moderate Party (Moderaterna) founded | |
| 1905 | Personal union between Sweden and Norwaypeacefully dissolved | |
| 1906 | Officialspelling reform of Swedish language, simplifying previous forms | |
| 1909 | Stockholm School of Economics (Handelshögskolan i Stockholm) founded | |
| General strike of 1909 | ||
| 1910 | SAC Syndikalisterna established | |
| 1919 | AB Svensk Filmindustri established | |
| 1921 | 30 June | Capital punishment abolished for all crimes committed in peacetime |
| 1933 | 24 February | Swedish Association for Sexuality Education founded |
| 1934 | Crisis in the Population Question (Kris i befolkningsfrågan) byAlva andGunnar Myrdal published and plays major role in design of Sweden's welfare policy | |
| 1938 | Saltsjöbaden Agreement establishes rules forcollective bargaining and trade relations | |
| 1943 | Food packaging company,Tetra Pak, founded byRuben Rausing | |
| 1945 | 17 January | Raoul Wallenberg detained by Soviet authorities inBudapest and subsequently disappears |
| 1947 | Furniture companyIKEA is founded byIngvar Kamprad | |
| 1954 | 29 October | Sweden conducts its first television broadcast |
| 1957 | Ingmar Bergman'sThe Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet) | |
| 1967 | 3 September | Right-hand traffic introduced |
| 1971 | TheRiksdag becomesunicameral | |
| 1973 | Norrmalmstorg bank robbery and hostage crisis | |
| 1974 | 6 April | ABBA songWaterloo becomes the group's first global hit |
| 1976 | 30 January | Swedish authorities arrest internationally acclaimed film-makerIngmar Bergman for alleged tax evasion and Bergman suffers nervous breakdown; charges declared unfounded and dropped 23 March |
| 1986 | 28 February | Murder of Prime Minister and Social Democratic leaderOlof Palme |
| 1994 | MS Estonia sinksen route from Tallinn to Stockholm; 852 people on board lose their lives | |
| 1995 | Sweden joins in theEuropean Union | |
| 1999 | Church of Sweden separates from state and becomes independent organization | |
| 1999 | 12 October | Murder of Björn Söderberg by fascists in Stockholm |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1 July | Øresund Bridge opened, creating road and railway connection between Sweden and mainland Europe |
| 2003 | Voters decide not to adopteuro as the country's official currency | |
| 2009 | 1 May | Same-sex marriagelegalized in Sweden |
| 2010 | Military conscription paused | |
| 2018 | Military conscription reactivated | |
| 2024 | 7 March | Sweden joins inNATO |
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