15 of 15 events · 1208 – 2026
Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean
1208
The Battle of Víðines (Icelandic: Víðinesbardagi) was a conflict that took place in 1208 between secular chieftains of the Icelandic commonwealth including Kolbeinn Tumason and the followers of the Catholic Church in early 13th-century Iceland.
21 August 1238
The Battle of Örlygsstaðir was a historic battle fought by members of the Sturlungar family against the Ásbirningar and the Haukdælir clans in northern Iceland. The battle was part of the civil war that was taking place in Iceland at the time between various powerful clans during the time known as the Age of the Sturlungs.
19 April 1246
The Battle of Haugsnes (Icelandic: Haugsnesbardagi) was fought at Haugsnes, a low peninsula south of Flugumýri in Skagafjörður, Northern Iceland. The battle took place on April 19, 1246, between the forces of Þórður kakali Sighvatsson and those of Brandur Kolbeinsson.
1615
The Slaying of the Basques (known historically as the Slaying of the Spaniards, and also known as the Basque Killings; Icelandic: Baskavígin [baskaˌvijɪn]) was the last documented massacre in Icelandic history. A party of Basque whalers went on a whaling expedition to Iceland and were killed after a conflict in 1615 with local people in the region of the Westfjords.
20 June 1627 – 17 July 1627
The Turkish Abductions (Icelandic: Tyrkjaránið [ˈtʰɪr̥caˌrauːnɪθ]) were a series of slave raids by pirates from Algiers and Salé that took place in Iceland in the summer of 1627. The adjectival label "Turkish" (Icelandic: Tyrkja) does not refer to ethnic Turks, the country of Turkey or Turkic peoples in general; at the time it was a general term for all Muslims of the Mediterranean since the majority were from or subjects of the Ottoman Empire.
30 March 1949
The anti-NATO riot in Iceland of 30 March 1949 was prompted by the decision of the Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, to join the newly formed NATO, thereby involving Iceland directly in the Cold War, opposing the Soviet Union and re-militarizing the country.
February 1998 – 11 June 1999
The Kosovo War (Albanian: Lufta e Kosovës; Serbian: Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It was fought between the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), which controlled Kosovo before the war, and the Kosovo Albanian separatist militia known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
17 June 2000
Two earthquakes, both measuring Mw 6.5, struck southern Iceland near the town of Selfoss on 17 and 21 June 2000. There were no fatalities but were multiple minor injuries and considerable damage to infrastructure.
2008–2009
The Kitchenware, Kitchen Implement or Pots and Pans Revolution (Icelandic: Búsáhaldabyltingin) was a series of protests that erupted in Iceland in 2009 in response to the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis. There had been regular and growing protests since October 2008 against the Government of Iceland's handling of the 2008 financial crisis.
29 May 2008
The 2008 Iceland earthquake was a doublet earthquake that struck on 29 May at 15:46 UTC in southwestern Iceland. The recorded magnitudes of the two main quakes were 5.9 Mw and 5.8 Mw, respectively, giving a composite magnitude of 6.1 Mw.
2010
Between March and June 2010 a series of volcanic events at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland caused enormous disruption to air travel across Western Europe. The disruptions started over an initial period of six days in April 2010.
1 December 2019
The global COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It spread to other parts of Asia and then worldwide in early 2020.
24 January 2020
The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all have reported at least one death, with the exception of Vatican City.
18 December 2023
The 2023–2025 Sundhnúkur eruptions (Icelandic: Eldgosin við Sundhnúksgíga 2023–2025) are a series of volcanic eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula, near the town of Grindavík, Iceland. Nine eruptions have occurred since December 2023, with the most recent taking place in August 2025.
29 August 2026
A referendum on the resumption of European Union membership negotiations by the Icelandic government was held in Iceland on 29 August 2026. Its result was to reject the proposal for resuming accession negotiations with 52.84% voting no and 47.16% voting yes.