A TIMELINE OF ICELAND
By Tim Lambert
860 Gardar Svavarsson circumnavigates Iceland
874 Vikings settle in Iceland led by Ingolfur Arnarson
930 About 60,000 people live in Iceland. An assembly called the Althing is formed.
1056 Iceland gains its first bishop
1097 Icelanders have to pay one tenth of all their produce to the Church
1280 A new constitution is drawn up
1403-05 The Black Death strikes Iceland
1584 The Bible is translated into Icelandic
1707-09 Smallpox strikes Iceland
1783 Volcanic eruptions cause devastation in Iceland
1874 Iceland is given a new constitution
1904 Iceland is granted home rule
1911 Reykjavik University is founded
1915 Icelandic women are allowed to vote
1918 Iceland is made a sovereign state
1922 The first woman is elected to the Althing
1940 Iceland is occupied by British troops
1944 Iceland breaks all links with Denmark
1949 Iceland joins NATO
1975-75 Iceland fights a 'cod war' with Britain
2008 Iceland suffers an economic crisis