When the Vikings first settled in Iceland in the 9th century, they brought with them a deep devotion to a pantheon on Norse gods. Wooden carvings of deities such as Odin, Thor, Freyr and Frigg adorned their temples, and Viking warriors charged into battle confident that their ...read more
1. The British invaded Iceland during World War II. After Germany invaded Denmark in 1940, the Allies feared the Nazis would next occupy the neutral Danish territory of Iceland and use it as a strategically important North Atlantic supply post. In a pre-emptive strike codenamed ...read more
The neutral United States moves closer to war with Germany when U.S. forces land on Iceland to take over its garrisoning from the British. From thereon, the U.S. Navy had the responsibility of protecting convoys in the nearby sea routes from attack by German submarines. With ...read more
An unusually large avalanche buries homes and kills 20 people in Flateyri, Iceland, on this day in 1995. This disaster was the second deadly avalanche in the region that year.Ten months earlier, on January 17, the small fishing village of Sudavik had suffered a devastating ...read more