- published: 18 Feb 2008
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- author: EastGateMedia
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Afghanistan
Afghanistan
i/æfˈɡænɨstæn/ (Persian/Pashto: افغانستان, Afġānistān), officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming part of South Asia, Central Asia, and Greater Middle East, it is also considered to be part of a broader West Asia. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of 647,500 km2 (250,001 sq mi), making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and the east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.
Afghanistan has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and human migration. Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation from as far back as 50,000 BC. Urban civilization may have begun in the area as early as 3,000 to 2,000 BC. Sitting at an important geostrategic location that connects the Middle East with Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the land has been home to various peoples through the ages and witnessed many military campaigns, notably by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and in modern era Western forces. The land also served as a source from which the Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Timurids, Mughals and many others have risen to form major empires.
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Americas
The Americas, or America, are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World.
In the English language, the Americas refers to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, whereas America, in current usage, usually refers to the United States of America.
The Americas cover 8.3% of the Earth's total surface area (28.4% of its land area) and contain about 13.5% of the human population (about 900 million people).
The specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion. The traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000–17,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lowered due to the Quaternary glaciation. These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets. Another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats, they migrated down the Pacific Northwest coast to South America. Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by a sea level rise of hundreds of meters following the last ice age.
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Argentina
Argentinai/ˌɑrdʒənˈtiːnə/, officially the Argentine Republic (Spanish: República Argentina [reˈpuβlika aɾxenˈtina]), is a country in South America, the continent's second largest by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations.
Argentina's continental area is between the Andes mountain range in the west and the Atlantic Ocean in the east. It borders Paraguay and Bolivia to the north, Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast, and Chile to the west and south. Argentine claims over Antarctica, as well as overlapping claims made by Chile and the United Kingdom, are suspended by the Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Argentina also claims the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are administered by the United Kingdom as British Overseas Territories.
A recognised middle power, Argentina is Latin America's third-largest economy, with a "very high" rating on the Human development index. Within Latin America, Argentina has the fifth highest nominal GDP per capita and the highest in purchasing power terms. Analysts have argued that the country has a "foundation for future growth due to its market size, levels of foreign direct investment, and percentage of high-tech exports as share of total manufactured goods", and it is classed by investors as middle emerging economy. Argentina is a founding member of the United Nations, Mercosur, the Union of South American Nations, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the World Bank Group and the World Trade Organization, and is one of the G-15 and G-20 major economies.
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Australia
Australia (
/əˈstreɪljə/), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent as well as the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.
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Baghdad
Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد, Baġdād, IPA: [bæɣˈdæːd]) is the capital of Republic of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Province. The population of Baghdad as of 2011 is approximately 7,216,040, making it the largest city in Iraq, the second largest city in the Arab World (after Cairo, Egypt), and the second largest city in Western Asia (after Tehran, Iran).
Located along the Tigris River, the city was founded in the 8th century and became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Within a short time of its inception, Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center for the Islamic World. This in addition to housing several key academic institutions (e.g. House of Wisdom) garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning". Throughout the High Middle Ages, Baghdad was considered to be the largest city in the world with an estimated population of 1,200,000 people. The city was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent state (formerly the British Mandate of Mesopotamia) in 1938, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arabic culture.
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Baltic states
The term Baltic states (also Baltics, Baltic nations or Baltic countries) refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (from north to south); Finland also fell within the scope of the term from the 1920s to 1939.Estonia is only considered Baltic geographically, not linguistically or culturally, as Estonians and Finns are descendants of the Baltic Finns.
The term in the indigenous languages of the Baltic states is:
The term "Baltic" stems from the name of the Baltic Sea – a hydronym dating back to the 11th century (Adam of Bremen mentioned Latin: Mare Balticum) and earlier.
The Latvian and Lithuanian term Baltija most likely originates from the Indo-European root *bhel meaning white, fair. In modern Baltic languages, namely, Lithuanian language, baltas literally means white, and in Latvian language balts means white also.
Beginning in the Middle Ages and through the present day, the Baltic Sea appears on the maps subscribed in Germanic languages as German: Ostsee, Danish: Østersøen, Dutch: Oostzee, Swedish: Östersjön, etc. In English "Ost" is "East", and in fact, the Baltic Sea mostly lies to the east for Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Clearly, part of the Baltic Sea lies to the east of Germany and Sweden, and due north of parts of Germany.
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Battle of Kliszow
The Battle of Klissow took place on July 8 (Julian calendar) / July 9 (Swedish calendar) / July 19, 1702 (Gregorian calendar) near Kliszów, Poland-Lithuania, during the Great Northern War. The numerically superior Polish-Saxon army of August II the Strong, operating from an advantageous defensive position, was defeated by a Swedish army half its size under the command of king Charles XII.
August the Strong, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, had in 1699 planned a three-fold attack on the Swedish Empire together with Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia and Frederik IV of Denmark-Norway. The plan failed when Frederik was forced out of the war in 1700.Charles XII of Sweden in the same year, defeated the Russian army in the Battle of Narva. After Narva, Charles XII evicted August the Strong's forces from Swedish Livonia and pursued him into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
At Kliszów, south of Kielce, the Swedish and Saxon-Polish-Lithuian armies encamped some 5 miles (8.0 km) apart. The camps were separated by a large wood and a swamp, with the Swedes north of the woods, Augustus the Strong's camp was naturally secured by a narrow stretch of swamp to the north and the swampy valley of the Nida river to the east. At 9:00 am, Charles XII moved his army through the woods on the morning of 19 July (NS) and at 11:00 am arrived north of the swampy stretch securing August's camp. The army consisted of 8,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and four guns - the bulk of the artillery was stuck in the forest. August's army consisted of 7,500 Saxon infantry, 9,000 Saxon cavalry, 6,000 Polish cavalry, and 46 guns.
wn.com/Battle_of_Kliszow -
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon at Leipzig, Saxony. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine. The battle involved over 600,000 soldiers, making it the largest battle in Europe prior to World War I.
Defeated, Napoleon was compelled to return to France while the Allies hurried to keep their momentum, invading France early the next year. Napoleon was forced to abdicate, and was exiled to Elba that spring.
Following Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia and his defeats in the Peninsular War, the anti-French forces had cautiously regrouped as the Sixth Coalition, comprising Russia, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, Britain, Spain, Portugal and certain smaller German states. In total, the Coalition could put into the field well over a million troops—indeed by the time of Leipzig, total Allied armies east of the Rhine probably exceeded a million. By contrast Napoleon's forces had shrunk to just a few hundred thousand.
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Battle of Poltava
The Battle of Poltava (Swedish: Slaget vid Poltava, Ukrainian: Битва під Полтавою, Russian: Полта́вская би́тва) on 27 June 1709 (8 July, N.S.) was the decisive victory of Peter I of Russia over the Swedish forces under Field Marshal Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld in one of the battles of the Great Northern War. It is widely believed to have been the beginning of Sweden's decline as a Great Power; the Russians took their place as the leading nation of northern Europe. This also meant the rise of Imperial Russia and a temporary end to the independence ambitions of Ukraine.
Charles XII led early Swedish victories at Copenhagen and at the Battle of Narva in 1700 when he knocked both Denmark-Norway and Russia temporarily out of the war. However, he was unable to bring the war to a conclusion, and it would take six years before he had dealt with the remaining combatant Augustus II of Saxony-Poland.
During this time Peter I of Russia rebuilt his army into modern form, basing it primarily on infantry trained to use linear tactics and modern firearms properly. He then achieved a stunning propaganda victory when he established the city of Saint Petersburg on Swedish territory, in Ingria.
wn.com/Battle_of_Poltava -
Belarus
Belarus (i/bɛləˈruːs/ bel-ə-ROOSS; Belarusian: Беларусь, Russian pronunciation: [bʲɛlaˈrusʲ] Russian: Беларусь, Белоруссия, Belarus', Belorussiya), officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno (Hrodna), Gomel (Homiel), Mogilev (Mahilyow) and Vitebsk (Vitsebsk). Over forty percent of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested, and its strongest economic sectors are agriculture and manufacturing.
Until the 20th century, the lands of modern-day Belarus belonged to several countries, including the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, Belarus became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR). The borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939 when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were incorporated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland. The nation and its territory were devastated in World War II, during which Belarus lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945 the Belorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR.
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Borgholm Castle
Borgholm Castle (Swedish: Borgholms slott) in Borgholm, Sweden, is today only a ruin of the fortress that was first built in the second half of the 12th century and many times rebuilt in later centuries. It is linked to Halltorps estate, somewhat to the south. The castle was destroyed in a fire on 14 October 1806.
The construction of the original fortress was probably ordered by king Canute I, although that is not totally certain. He reigned 1167-1195 and had fortresses built on the Swedish east coast as defence against enemies from the other side of the Baltic Sea. During the 13th to 15th centuries, additions and changes were made. New towers were built, a new and thicker wall was raised for example. The fortress was damaged on a number of times during these centuries, including in 1361, when king Valdemar IV (Atterdag) of Denmark attacked Borgholm.
During the Kalmar Union, many castles and fortresses in Sweden were damaged as a result of the ongoing conflicts between Danes and Swedes. When Gustav Eriksson became Swedish king and the union was dissolved, he, together with the sons that followed him on the throne, invested huge sums of money in reparing these buildings. It was Gustav's son John III (r. 1568-1592) that ordered the reconstruction of Borgholm into a renaissance castle. During his reign, the Pahr brothers (four engineers and architects from Milan) led a significant rebuilding that took place from 1572. The castle acquired a Gothic character and became exemplary of the Italianate bastion style.
wn.com/Borgholm_Castle -
Brazil
Brazili/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, listen (help·info)), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed. The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese colonial empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal.Independence was achieved in 1822 with the formation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup d'état proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. Its current Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.
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Canada
Canada ( /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9,900,000 km2 (3,800,000 sq mi), Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.
The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, along the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy; the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on Britain.
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Chicago
Chicago (
i/ʃɪˈkɑːɡoʊ/ or /ʃɪˈkɔːɡoʊ/) is the largest city in the US state of Illinois and the third most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. The city has around 2.7 million residents. Its metropolitan area, sometimes called "Chicagoland", is the third largest in the United States, with an estimated 9.8 million people. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, though a small portion also extends into DuPage County.
Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. Today, Chicago is listed as an alpha+ global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and ranks seventh in the world on the 2012 Global Cities Index. The city retains its status as an international hub for finance, industry, telecommunications and infrastructure, with O'Hare International Airport being the second busiest airport in the world in terms of traffic movements. In 2008[update], the city hosted 45.6 million domestic and overseas visitors. Among metropolitan areas, Chicago has the 4th largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the world, ranking just behind Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles. Chicago is one of the most important Worldwide Centers of Commerce and trade.
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Constantinople
Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις, Konstantinoúpolis; Latin: Constantinopolis; Ottoman Turkish: قسطنطینیه, Qostantiniyye; and modern Turkish: İstanbul) was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Latin and the Ottoman Empires. It was founded in AD 330, at ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine I, after whom it was named. The city was the largest and wealthiest European city of the Middle Ages, and shared the glories of the Byzantine Empire, which was eventually reduced to the city and its environs.
Although besieged on numerous occasions by various peoples, it was taken only in 1204 by the army of the Fourth Crusade, in 1261 by Michael VIII, and in 1453 by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. An inner wall was erected by Constantine I, and the city was surrounded by a triple wall of fortifications, begun during the 5th century by Theodosius II. The city was built on seven hills as well as on the Bosporus, and thus presented an impregnable fortress enclosing magnificent palaces, domes and towers. The Church of Hagia Sophia, the sacred palace of the emperors, the hippodrome, and the Golden Gate were among the largest of the many churches, public edifices, and monuments lining the arcaded avenues and squares.
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Convention of Moss
The Convention of Moss was a cease fire agreement, signed August 14, 1814, between the Swedish King and the Norwegian government. It followed the Swedish-Norwegian War due to Norway's claim to sovereignty. It also became the de facto peace agreement and formed the basis for the personal union between Sweden and Norway that was established when the Norwegian Storting (Parliament) elected Charles XIII of Sweden as king of Norway on 4 November 1814. The Union lasted until Norway declared its dissolution in 1905.
In 1814, Denmark–Norway was on the losing side in the Napoleonic wars. On January 14, 1814, at the Treaty of Kiel, Norway was ceded to the king of Sweden. In an attempt to take control of their destiny the Norwegians convened a constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll and on May 17, 1814, signed the Constitution of Norway. The vice-roy and heir to the thrones of Denmark and Norway, prince Christian Frederik, was elected by the assembly as king.
The de facto Swedish ruler, crown prince Charles John, acting on behalf of king Charles XIII, rejected the premise of an independent Norway and launched a military campaign on July 2, 1814 with an attack on the Hvaler islands and the city of Fredrikstad. The Swedish army was superior in numbers, was better equipped and trained, and was led by one of Napoleon's foremost generals, the newly elected Swedish crown prince, Charles John — Jean Baptiste Bernadotte.
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Crimea
Crimea ( /kraɪˈmiːə/), or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukrainian: Автономна Республіка Крим, Avtonomna Respublika Krym; Russian: Автономная Республика Крым, Avtonomnaya Respublika Krym; Crimean Tatar: Qırım Muhtar Cumhuriyeti, Къырым Мухтар Джумхуриети), is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name. It was often referred to with the definite article, as the Crimea, until well into the 20th century.
The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history. The Cimmerians, Greeks, Scythians, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, the state of Kievan Rus', Byzantine Greeks, Kipchaks, Ottoman Turks, Golden Horde Tatars and the Mongols all controlled Crimea in its early history. In the 13th century, it was partly controlled by the Venetians and by the Genovese; they were followed by the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire in the 15th to 18th centuries, the Russian Empire in the 18th to 20th centuries, Germany during World War II and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, within the Soviet Union during most of the rest of the 20th century.
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Cyprus
Cyprusi/ˈsaɪprəs/ (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros, IPA: [ˈcipɾos]; Turkish: Kıbrıs, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs]), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía, IPA: [cipɾiaˈci ðimokɾaˈtia]; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs dʒumhuɾijeˈti]), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria, Lebanon, northwest of Israel and north of Egypt. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and the Republic of Cyprus is a member state of the European Union.
The earliest known human activity on the island dates back to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, which has been declared a World Heritage Site with an "enhanced protection" status in the event of armed conflict by UNESCO, along with the archaeological sites of Paphos and the Painted Churches of the Troodos Region. Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world.
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Dalsland
Dalsland is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Götaland in southern Sweden. Lying to the west of Lake Vänern, it is bordered by Värmland to the north, Västergötland to the southeast, Bohuslän to the west, and Norway to the northwest.
The province has a low population density of around 14 inhabitants/km² and just one town of significant size: Åmål. The total population numbers 50,527. The uninhabited areas are characterized by dense forests in the northwestern uplands and lakes in the east, giving rise to the epithet, commonly used for Dalsland, of "Sweden's lake province".
The Latinized name Dalia, which was often used to name Dalsland in older prints, can still sometimes be encountered.
The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, but are historical and cultural entities. Dalsland formed the northern part of the administrative county Älvsborg County until 1999 when the present Västra Götaland County was formed. A very small and insignificant part of the province is in Värmland County.
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Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark, pronounced [ˈkɔŋəʁiːəð ˈdanmɑɡ̊] (
listen)) is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting the country of Denmark in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The kingdom is a unitary state with some power being devolved from Denmark proper to Greenland and the Faroe Islands; this polity is referred to as the Danish Realm. Denmark proper is the hegemonial area, where judicial, executive, and legislative power resides. The Faroe Islands are defined to be a community of people within the kingdom, and the Greenlandic people are defined as a separate people with the right to self-determination.
Denmark is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, located southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland and many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.
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Drottningholm Palace
The Drottningholm Palace (Swedish: Drottningholms slott) is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. It is located in Drottningholm. It is built on the island Lovön (in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County), and is one of Sweden's Royal Palaces. It was originally built in the late 16th century. It served as a residence of the Swedish royal court for most of the 18th century. Apart from being the private residence of the Swedish royal family, the palace is a popular tourist attraction.
The name Drottningholm (literally meaning "Queen's islet") came from the original renaissance building designed by Willem Boy, a stone palace built by John III of Sweden in 1580 for his queen, Catherine Jagellon. This palace was preceded by a royal mansion called Torvesund.
The Queen Dowager Regent Hedwig Eleonora bought the castle in 1661, a year after her role as Queen of Sweden ended, but it burnt to the ground on 30 December that same year. Hedwig hired the famous Swedish architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder to design and rebuild the castle. In 1662, work began on the reconstruction of the building. With the castle almost complete, Nicodemus died in 1681. His son Nicodemus Tessin the Younger continued his work and completed the elaborate interior designs.
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Eketorp
Eketorp is an Iron Age fort in southeastern Öland, Sweden, which was extensively reconstructed and enlarged in the Middle Ages. Throughout the ages the fortification has served a variety of somewhat differing uses: from defensive ringfort, to medieval safe haven and thence a cavalry garrison. In the 20th century it was further reconstructed to become a heavily visited tourist site and a location for re-enactment of medieval battles. Eketorp is the only one of the 19 known prehistoric fortifications on Öland that has been completely excavated, yielding a total of over 24,000 individual artifacts. The entirety of southern Öland has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Eketorp fortification is often referred to as Eketorp Castle.
The indigenous peoples of the Iron Age constructed the original fortification about 400 AD, a period known to have engendered contact between Öland natives with Romans and other Europeans. The ringfort in that era is thought to have been a gathering place for religious ceremonies and also a place of refuge for the local agricultural community when an outside enemy appeared. The circular design was believed to be chosen because the terrain is so level that attack from any side was equally likely. The original diameter of this circular stone fortification was about 57 metres (187 ft). In the next century the stone was moved outward to construct a new circular structure of about 80 metres (260 ft) in diameter. At this juncture there were known to be about fifty individual cells or small structures within the fort as a whole. Some of these cells were in the center of the fortified ring, and some were actually built into the wall itself.
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Finland
Coordinates: 65°N 27°E / 65°N 027°E / 65; 027
Finlandi/ˈfɪnlənd/ ( Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info)), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.
Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern region. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in Helsinki and local governments in 336 municipalities, and an autonomous region of the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area, which consists of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio.
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France
France (Englishi/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km2 / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
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Fredriksten
Fredriksten is a fortress in the city of Halden in Norway.
This Fortresses was constructed ny Denmark-Norway in the 17th century as a replacement for the border fortress at Bohus, which had been lost when the province of Bohuslän was ceded to Sweden by the terms of the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The fortress was named after King Fredrik III of Denmark and Norway, and the town of Halden was also originally named after him, having been known as Fredrikshald between 1665 and 1928.
At the close of the Northern War Charles X, having negotiated the Treaty of Roskilde in bad faith, invested Copenhagen in August 1658. Under his orders, in September the new Swedish governor of Bohuslän invaded Norway with 1,500 men and attempted to invest Halden. The inhabitants put up a vigorous defense and the Swedish forces retreated back to Bohuslän.
Five months later in February 1659 the Swedes again attacked. Since their first attack, the garrison had been strengthened. Under the leadership of Tønne Huitfeldt the Norwegian forces again repulsed the Swedish forces. Concurrently, Huitfeldt began construction of fortifications. Cretzenstein, later to be renamed Fredriksten, was the citadel of the new fortification system.
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Germany
Germany (i/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.
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Gothenburg
Gothenburg (Swedish: Göteborg; pronounced [jœtəˈbɔrj] ( listen)) is the second largest city in Sweden by population and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 520,374, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 938,580 inhabitants in the metropolitan area. Gothenburg is classified as a global city by GaWC, with a ranking of Gamma−.
The City of Gothenburg was founded in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. It lies by the sea at the mouth of Göta Älv—the river running through the city—and is the largest seaport in the Nordic countries.
Gothenburg is home to many students, as the city includes both the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. Volvo was founded in Gothenburg in 1927. The city is a major centre in Sweden for sports and home to the IFK Göteborg, BK Häcken, GAIS and Örgryte IS association football teams as well as the Frölunda HC ice hockey team.
Gothenburg is served by Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport, located 30 km (18.64 mi) southeast of the city centre. It is the second largest airport in Sweden. The city is also served by Gothenburg City Airport, located 15 km (9.32 mi) from the city centre.
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Gotland
Gotland (/ˈɡɒtlənd/; Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɡɔtland] ( listen) or [ˈɡɔlland]), sometimes Gottland /ˈɡɒtlənd/ or Gothland /ˈɡɒθlənd/,Gutland in the local language Gutnish, is a province, county, municipality, and diocese of Sweden. It is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. With its total area of 3,140 square kilometers, the island of Gotland and the other areas of the province of Gotland make up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area. The province includes the small islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the north and some tiny islands, including the Karlsö Islands (Lilla and Stora) to the west. The island of Gotland has an area of 2,994 km², whereas the province has 3,183.7 km² (3,151 km² of land excluding the lakes and rivers). The population is 57,221, of which about 22,200 live in Visby, the main town. The island's main sources of income are tourism, agriculture, and concrete production from locally mined limestone.
The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, but are historical and cultural entities. In the case of Gotland, however, due to its insular position, the administrative county, län, Gotland County and the municipality, kommun, Gotland Municipality both cover the same territory as the province. Furthermore, the Diocese of Visby is also congruent with the province.
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Helsingborg
Helsingborg (Swedish pronunciation: [hɛlsiŋˈbɔrj]) is a town and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden. It had 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city Helsingør clearly visible on the other side of the Øresund about 4 km to the west.
Between 1912 and 1971 the name of the town was officially spelled Hälsingborg (rather like Hälsingland but unlike Helsingør and Helsingfors (Helsinki)).
Historic Helsingborg, with its many old buildings, is a scenic coastal city. The buildings are a blend of old-style stone-built churches and a medieval fortress (Kärnan) in the city centre, which has stood guard in Helsingborg for over 600 years, and more modern commercial buildings. The streets vary from wide avenues to small alley-ways. Kullagatan, the main pedestrian shopping street in the city, was the first pedestrian shopping street in Sweden.
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Iberian peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (Asturian, Galician, Leonese, Mirandese, Portuguese and Spanish: Península Ibérica, Catalan: Península Ibèrica, Aragonese and Occitan: Peninsula Iberica, French: Péninsule Ibérique, Basque: Iberiar Penintsula), sometimes called Iberia, is a peninsula located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas. It is bordered on the southeast and east by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the north, west and southwest by the Atlantic Ocean. The Pyrenees form the northeast edge of the peninsula, separating it from the rest of Europe. In the south, it approaches the northern coast of Africa. It is the second-largest peninsula in Europe, with an area of approximately 582,000 km2 (225,000 sq mi).
The English word Iberia was adapted from the use of the Ancient Greek word Ιβηρία (Ibēría) by the Greek geographers under the Roman Empire to refer to what is known today in English as the Iberian Peninsula. At that time the name did not describe a single political entity or a distinct population of people. Strabo's Iberia was delineated from Keltikē by the Pyrenees and included the entire land mass south-west (he named it "west") of there.
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Italy
Italyi/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
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Kalmar
Kalmar is a city in Småland in the south-east of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of 233,090 inhabitants (2011).
From the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, Kalmar was one of Sweden's most important cities. Between 1602 and 1913 it was the episcopal see of Kalmar Diocese, with a bishop, and the Kalmar Cathedral from 1702 is still a fine example of classicistic architecture. It became a fortified city, with the still mighty Kalmar Castle as the center. After the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, Kalmar's importance diminished, until the industry sector was initiated in the 19th century. The city is home to parts of Linnaeus University.
Geographically Kalmar is the main route to the island of Öland thanks to the Öland Bridge.
The area around Kalmar has been inhabited since ancient times. Diggings have found traces of stone age gravefields. The oldest sources of there being a town are however from the 11th century. According to a medieval folk tale, the Norwegian patron Saint Olav had his ships moved to Kalmar. The oldest city seal of Kalmar is from somewhere between 1255–1267, making it the oldest known city seal in Scandinavia.
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Kalmar Castle
Kalmar Castle (Kalmar slott) is a castle in Kalmar, the province of Småland in Sweden.
During the twelfth century a round defensive tower was built on Kalmarsund and a harbour constructed. At the end of the thirteenth century King Magnus Ladulås had a new fortress built with a curtain wall, round corner towers and two square gatehouses surrounding the original tower. Located near the site of Kalmar's medieval harbor, it has played a crucial part in Swedish history since its initial construction as a fortified tower in the 12th century.
One of the most significant political events in Scandinavia took place at Kalmar Castle in 1397, when the Kalmar Union was formed - a union of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, organized by Queen Margaret I of Denmark. During the Swedish rebellion against Denmark in 1520, the fortress was commanded by Anna Eriksdotter.
The fortress was improved during the 16th century under the direction of King Gustav I and his sons King Eric XIV and King John III, who turned the medieval fortress into a castle fit for a renaissance king. Kalmar Castle suffered heavy damage during the Kalmar War of 1611-13 and was badly damaged by a fire in 1642. Repairs were begun but from the end of the seventeenth century the castle was allowed to fall into disrepair.
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Karlskrona
Karlskrona is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with 35,212 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Sweden's only remaining naval base and the headquarters of the Swedish Coast Guard.
The city centre is located on the island of Trossö. The islet of Stumholmen was formerly property of the Navy and today it houses the National Naval Museum (Marinmuseum).
The city was founded in 1680 when the Royal Swedish Navy was relocated from the Stockholm area to the Trossö island which had up until then been used chiefly for farming and grazing. At the time Sweden was the dominant military power in the Baltic sea region, but needed a better strategic location against Denmark, since southern parts of Sweden had been conquered only a few decades ago (see the Torstenson War). The Swedish fleet tended to get stuck in the ice during winter while located to Stockholm and was therefore moved south. The island had a very strategic position with short sailing distances to the German and Baltic provinces. The city name means Karl's Crown in honour of King Karl XI of Sweden, the name being inspired by the name of the city Landskrona.
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Kosovo
Kosovo ( /ˈkɒsəvoʊˌ ˈkoʊsəvoʊ/; Albanian: Kosovë, Kosova; Serbian: Косово or Косово и Метохија or Космет, Kosovo or Kosovo i Metohija or Kosmet) is a region in southeastern Europe. In antiquity, it was known as the independent kingdom, and later Roman province, of Dardania. Part of the medieval Serbia, it was then conquered by the Ottoman Empire, later incorporated into Serbia after the First Balkan War and before the constitution of Yugoslavia, later still it became the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (Serbian: Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo i Metohija) within Serbia (Serbia then being one of the constituent republics of Yugoslavia). Long-term severe ethnic tensions between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb populations have left Kosovo ethnically divided, resulting in inter-ethnic violence, including the Kosovo War of 1999. Following the Kosovo War, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) relinquished governance of this territory, whose governance was taken over by the United Nations, Kosovo remained legally the sovereign territory of the FRY after the transfer of authority. The partially recognised Republic of Kosovo (Albanian: Republika e Kosovës; Serbian: Република Косово, Republika Kosovo), a self-declared independent state, has de facto control over most of the territory, while North Kosovo, the largest Kosovo Serb enclave, is under the control of institutions of the Republic of Serbia.Serbia does not recognise the unilateral secession of Kosovo and considers it a UN-governed entity within its sovereign territory.
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Linköping
Linköping [ˈlɪnːˈɕøːpɪŋ] is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104,232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church of Sweden) and is well known for its cathedral. Linköping is the center of an old cultural region and celebrated its 700th anniversary in 1987. Nowadays Linköping is known for its university and its high-technology industry. Dominating the city's skyline from afar is the steeple of the cathedral.
The city is possibly named after the Lionga ting assembly which according to Medieval Scandinavian laws was the most important thing in Östergötland. Exact location of the Lionga ting is not known, but it was along the Eriksgata. Köping means there was a market there.
Historically, Linköping is famed for being an early diocese, second in Sweden (within its pre-1658 boundaries) only to Skara. The diocese is first mentioned in 1104 in the so-called "List of Florence" (Lionga. Kaupinga). The monastery of Vreta Kloster near Roxen north of Linköping was established in 1128, and the oldest parts of the cathedral are also from the 12th century (although it has been changed many times since then, the eye-catching tower with copper roofing being a 19th century product). On several occasions attempts to achieve a separate Swedish archdiocese were based in Linköping, although, when they finally were successful in 1164, Uppsala was chosen instead.
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Malmö
Malmö (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈmalːˈmøː] ( listen)), in the southernmost province of Scania, is Sweden's third largest city by population after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and is one of the largest cities in Scandinavia.
Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County. The administrative entity for most of the city is Malmö Municipality which has 300,515 inhabitants in eight different localities, with 30% being of foreign origin (either born outside of Sweden or having both parents born abroad). Malmö is also a bimunicipal locality, as part of it is formally situated in Burlöv Municipality. The total population of the urban area was 280,415 in December 2010.
Greater Malmö is one of Sweden's three officially recognized Metropolitan areas (storstadsområden) and since 2005 is defined as the municipality of Malmö and 11 other municipalities in the southwestern corner of Scania. On 30 June 2008, its population was recorded to be 628,388. The region covers an area of 2,535.76 square kilometres (979.06 sq mi). The municipalities included, apart from Malmö, are Burlöv, Eslöv, Höör, Kävlinge, Lomma, Lund, Skurup, Staffanstorp, Svedala, Trelleborg and Vellinge. Lund, with a municipal population of over 100,000 and home to one of Scandinavia's major universities, is together with Malmö the region's economic and education hub.
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Mexico
Mexico (i/ˈmɛksɨkoʊ/; Spanish: México, IPA: [ˈmexiko] ( listen)), officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States of America; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the thirteenth largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of over 113 million, it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
In Pre-Columbian Mexico many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory from its base in México-Tenochtitlan, which was administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This territory would eventually become Mexico as the colony's independence was recognized in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, the Mexican-American War and territorial cession to the United States, a civil war, two empires and a domestic dictatorship. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
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Minnesota
Minnesota (i/mɪnɨˈsoʊtə/) is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state on May 11, 1858. Known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the state's name comes from a Dakota word for "sky-tinted water". Those waters, together with forests, parks, and wilderness areas, offer residents and tourists a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities.
Minnesota is the 12th most extensive and the 21st most populous of the U.S. states. Nearly 60% of its residents live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area (known as the "Twin Cities"), the center of transportation, business, industry and education and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now cleared, farmed and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation.
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NATO
Coordinates: 50°52′34.16″N 4°25′19.24″E / 50.8761556°N 4.4220111°E / 50.8761556; 4.4220111
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO ( /ˈneɪtoʊ/ NAY-toh; French: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN)), also called the (North) Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. NATO's headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, one of the 28 member states across North America and Europe, the newest of which, Albania and Croatia, joined in April 2009. An additional 22 countries participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programs. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the world's defence spending.
For its first few years, NATO was not much more than a political association. However, the Korean War galvanized the member states, and an integrated military structure was built up under the direction of two U.S. supreme commanders. The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, which formed in 1955. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down." Doubts over the strength of the relationship between the European states and the United States ebbed and flowed, along with doubts over the credibility of the NATO defence against a prospective Soviet invasion—doubts that led to the development of the independent French nuclear deterrent and the withdrawal of the French from NATO's military structure in 1966.
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New Zealand
New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses ‒ that of the North and South Islands ‒ as well as numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans.
During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of both animal and plant life. Most notable are the large number of unique bird species, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals. With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions caused by the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates clashing beneath the earth's surface.
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Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland. In English, Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries (but excluding Greenland), despite the fact that that word is most strictly defined to refer only to Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
The region's five nation-states and three autonomous regions share much common history as well as common traits in their respective societies, such as political systems and the Nordic model. Politically, Nordic countries do not form a separate entity, but they co-operate in the Nordic Council. The Nordic countries have a combined population of approximately 25 million spread over a land area of 3.5 million km² (Greenland accounts for around 60% of the total area).
Although the area is linguistically heterogeneous, with three unrelated language groups, the common linguistic heritage is one of the factors making up the Nordic identity. The continental Scandinavian languages – Danish, Norwegian and Swedish – are considered mutually intelligible. These languages are taught in school throughout the Nordic countries; Swedish, for example, is a mandatory subject in Finnish schools, whereas Danish is mandatory in Icelandic, Faroese and Greenlandic schools. For this reason, (continental) Scandinavian language is considered the lingua franca of all of the Nordic countries. Besides these and the insular North Germanic languages Faroese and Icelandic, all belonging to the Indo-European language group, there are the Finnic and Sami branches of the Uralic languages, spoken respectively in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, and Greenlandic, an Eskimo–Aleut language, spoken in Greenland.
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Norway
Norwayi/ˈnɔrweɪ/ (Norwegian: Norge (Bokmål) or Noreg (Nynorsk)), officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and the subantarctic Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) and a population of about 5 million. It is the second least densely populated country in Europe. The majority of the country shares a border to the east with Sweden; its northernmost region is bordered by Finland to the south and Russia to the east; in its south Norway borders the Skagerrak Strait across from Denmark. The capital city of Norway is Oslo. Norway's extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, is home to its famous fjords.
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Nyköping
Nyköping (Swedish pronunciation: [nɨˈʃœpɪŋ]) is a locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 29,891 inhabitants in 2010. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County.
The area bears traces of settlers since around 2000 BC. In the early medieval age, around 1000 AD, Nyköping was a capital of one the many Swedish petty kingdoms[citation needed]. In the 13th century, construction on the Nyköping Fortress was begun; the following century it became the strongest fortress of the country. The coat of arms probably depicts the fortress, or one of its towers.
In 1317 the Nyköping Banquet took place, a renowned episode in Sweden's history, when King Birger of Sweden captured his two brothers as a revenge for earlier sufferings and had them imprisoned without food until they starved to death. (See Nyköpings gästabud.)
The earliest known charter dates from 1444[verification needed], making it one of the now defunct Cities in Sweden. In the 16th century Nyköping became the seat of duke Charles who later became Charles IX of Sweden. With the status of a Royal residential seat, Nyköping was at its peak of development.
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Oslo
Oslo (English pronunciation: /ˈɒzloʊ/, OZ-loh,Norwegian pronunciation: [²ʊʃlʊ] ( listen) or [²ʊslʊ]) is the capital of and most populous city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 and with Sweden from 1814 to 1905 reduced its influence. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was moved closer to Akershus Castle during the reign of King Christian IV and renamed Christiania in his honour. It was established as a municipality (formannskapsdistrikt) on 1 January 1838. Following a spelling reform, it was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925, when its original Norwegian name was restored.
Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are amongst the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers. Oslo is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme.
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Oxie
Oxie is a locality and a city district in Malmö Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 11,493 inhabitants in 2010.
Notable buildings include the medieval Oxie church, (Oxie kyrka) and the water tower. From the train station commuter trains proceed to Malmö and Ystad.
It is dominated by residential areas of detached and semi-detached houses. Oxie centrum is the center point of the town with a small square, several stores, service providers and the seat of the local ward administration (Stadsdelsförvaltningen).
The area around Oxie is rich in archaeological finds. Settlements from the neolithic, bronze age and iron age have been discovered. The spectacular bronze-age burial mounds Kungshögarna (Mounds of the Kings) provides a monumental sight, overlooking the highway to Malmö. These mounds, at 60 m above sea level, are also the highest natural point in Malmö municipality.
Oxie is first mentioned in written sources 1130 as Oshögha, believed to mean the mound by the spring. As the center point of the church municipality Oxie hundred, Oxie was also the seat of the hundred thing (Häradstinget), which was held every spring and autumn. Local names such as Tingbacken (Thing hill) and Tingdammen (Thing pond) indicate the location of the things. Galjebacken (Gallow Hill) is another place, bearing witness to the judicial powers of the hundred thing. Galjebacken was used for executions well into the 19th century. The oldest building in Oxie is the church, originally built in 1160. It was heavily restored in 1848 by Carl Georg Brunius, but the walls of the nave, the southern gate and the Baptismal font are all remains from the original church. There are theories that a wooden church existed at the site prior to the 1160 stone construction.
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Rinkeby
Rinkeby is a district (Swedish: stadsdel) in Rinkeby-Kista borough, Stockholm, Sweden. Rinkeby had 15,051 inhabitants as at December 31, 2007.
Rinkeby is noted for its high concentration of immigrants and people with immigrant ancestry (see definition of Swede). 89.1% of the population of Rinkeby has a first- or second-generation immigrant background as of 31 December, 2007.
A sociolect called Rinkeby Swedish has been named after Rinkeby.
The district was a part of the Rinkeby borough until January 1, 2007, when it was merged with Kista borough to form the Rinkeby-Kista borough. The neighbourhood was part of the so-called Million Programme.
The Stockholm metro station Rinkeby was opened in 1975.
Coordinates: 59°23′17″N 17°55′43″E / 59.38806°N 17.92861°E / 59.38806; 17.92861
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Scania
Scania ( Skåne (help·info) in Swedish) is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces (landskap) of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision (län) Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the province. The largest city is Malmö, which is also the third largest in Sweden and the administrative centre of Skåne County.
To the north, Scania borders the provinces of Halland and Småland, to the north-east Blekinge, to the east and south the Baltic Sea, and to the west the Öresund strait. Since 2000 a road and railway bridge, the Øresund Bridge constitutes a fixed link to the Danish island of Zealand. It is part of the transnational Öresund Region.
The province, up until the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, formed part of the kingdom of Denmark. The transition to Sweden was later confirmed by the Treaty of Copenhagen 1660, the Peace of Lund 1679, the Peace of Travendal 1700. The last serious Danish attempt to retake the province failed in 1710, after the Battle of Helsingborg. The period 1658–1720 saw widespread violence by the Swedish military against the population. The region did not form part of Sweden proper until 1720, but had the status of conquered "foreign land" until that year. Until the early 19th century, a policy of forced assimilation was employed by the Swedish government in what until then had been a linguistically Danish region.
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Serbia
Serbiai/ˈsɜrbiə/, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija, pronounced [rɛpǔblika sř̩bija]), is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans. Serbia borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the west; additionally, it borders Albania through Kosovo, whose status as part of Serbia is disputed. Serbia covers an area of 88,361 km2 and has a population of just over 7.1 million, while the capital and largest city is Belgrade.
The arrival of the Serbs to the Balkans in the 7th century, established several states, eventually forming the Serbian Empire in the 14th century. By the 16th century, Serbia was conquered and occupied by the Ottoman Empire, at times interrupted by the Habsburgs. In the early 19th century the Serbian revolution re-established the country as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory and pioneered the abolition of feudalism in the Balkans. The former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina united with Serbia in 1918. Following World War I, Serbia formed Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples which existed in several forms up until 2006, when the National Assembly of Serbia declared independence and the legal succession to the former State Union. In February 2008 the parliament of UNMIK-governed Kosovo, Serbia's southern province, declared independence, with mixed responses from international governments.
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Skane
Scania ( Skåne (help·info) in Swedish) is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces (landskap) of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision (län) Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the province. The largest city is Malmö, which is also the third largest in Sweden and the administrative centre of Skåne County.
To the north, Scania borders the provinces of Halland and Småland, to the north-east Blekinge, to the east and south the Baltic Sea, and to the west the Öresund strait. Since 2000 a road and railway bridge, the Øresund Bridge constitutes a fixed link to the Danish island of Zealand. It is part of the transnational Öresund Region.
The province, up until the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, formed part of the kingdom of Denmark. The transition to Sweden was later confirmed by the Treaty of Copenhagen 1660, the Peace of Lund 1679, the Peace of Travendal 1700. The last serious Danish attempt to retake the province failed in 1710, after the Battle of Helsingborg. The period 1658–1720 saw widespread violence by the Swedish military against the population. The region did not form part of Sweden proper until 1720, but had the status of conquered "foreign land" until that year. Until the early 19th century, a policy of forced assimilation was employed by the Swedish government in what until then had been a linguistically Danish region.
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Skara Cathedral
Skara Cathedral (in Swedish: Skara domkyrka) is a church in the Swedish city of Skara. The cathedral is the seat for the bishop of the Church of Sweden Diocese of Skara.
Its history is traced from the 11th century, but its current appearance is from the 13th century. The church has a medieval crypt that was found in 1949 after having been buried under stones since the 13th century. A grave, containing a skeleton, was found in the crypt, which is within the oldest (11th century) part of the cathedral.
The church is 65 meters long and the towers reach a height of 63 meters.
Towers
in year 1700
Nave
The entrance at the north transept. St. Paul is the sculpture of the portal.
The statues of four prophets; southern porch
Gravestone of Bishop Olof Svensson Fristadius, death 1654th
Stone reliefs from the 1100s.
Portrait bust of King Valdemar.
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Spain
Spain (i/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.
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Sweden
Sweden (i/ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən; Swedish: Sverige [ˈsværjɛ] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Øresund.
At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54 /sq mi) with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also the largest city.
Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire. The empire grew to be one of the great powers of Europe in the 17th and early 18th century. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, practicing "non-participation in military alliances during peacetime and neutrality during wartime". However, Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD.
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Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania (Swedish: Svenska Pommern; German: Schwedisch-Pommern) was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts of Livonia and Prussia (dominium maris baltici).
Sweden, present in Pomerania with a garrison at Stralsund since 1628, had gained effective control of the Duchy of Pomerania with the Treaty of Stettin in 1630. At the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 and the Treaty of Stettin in 1653, Sweden received Western Pomerania, or Vorpommern with the islands of Rügen, Usedom, and Wolin, and a strip of Eastern Pomerania, or Hinterpommern. The peace treaties were negotiated while the Swedish queen Christina was a minor, and the Swedish Empire was governed by members of the high aristocracy. As a consequence, Pomerania was not annexed to Sweden like the French war gains, which would have meant abolition of serfdom which since the Pomeranian peasant laws of 1616 was practiced there in its most severe form. Instead, it remained part of the Holy Roman Empire, making the Swedish rulers Reichsfürsten (imperial princes) and leaving the nobility in full charge of the rural areas and its inhabitants. While the Swedish Pomeranian nobles were subjected to reduction when the late 17th century kings regained political power, the provisions of the peace of Westphalia continued to prevent the pursuit of the uniformity policy in Pomerania until the Holy Roman empire was dissolved in 1806.
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UK
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.
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Ukraine
Ukraine (i/juːˈkreɪn/ yew-KRAYN; Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ]; Russian: Украина; Crimean Tatar: Ukraina) is a country in Central and Eastern Europe. Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after the Russian Federation.
According to a popular and well established theory, the medieval state of Kievan Rus was established by the Varangians in the 9th century as the first historically recorded East Slavic state which emerged as a powerful nation in the Middle Ages until it disintegrated in the 12th century. By the middle of the 14th century, Ukrainian territories were under the rule of three external powers—the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kingdom of Poland. After the Great Northern War (1700–1721) Ukraine was divided between a number of regional powers and, by the 19th century, the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire with the rest under Austro-Hungarian control. A chaotic period of incessant warfare ensued, with several internationally recognized attempts at independence from 1917 to 1921, following World War I and the Russian Civil War. Ukraine emerged from its own civil war, and on December 30, 1922 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic became one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian SSR's territory was enlarged westward during the civil war shortly before, and after World War II, and further south in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the United Nations.
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.
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United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
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Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral (Swedish: Uppsala domkyrka) is a cathedral located centrally in the city of Uppsala, Sweden. It dates back to the late 13th century and at a height of 118.7 m is the tallest church building in Scandinavia. Originally built under Roman Catholicism and used for coronations of the Swedish monarch, since the Protestant Reformation, it has been controlled by the Lutheran Church of Sweden. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Uppsala, the primate of Sweden.
The construction of the cathedral be the archbishopric was moved from Old Uppsala (Swedish: Gamla Uppsala). It took more than a century to complete. When inaugurated in 1435 under archbishop Olaus Laurentii, the cathedral was not completely finished. It was dedicated to Saint Lawrence, highly cherished in all of Sweden at that time; Saint Eric, the patron of Sweden (though never canonised by the Roman Catholic Church); and Saint Olaf, the patron of Norway. It was completed within the following decades.
Between 1885-1893, the architect Helgo Zettervall (1831-1907) oversaw a second restoration, intending for the cathedral a French Gothic revival appearance, which was popular in the late 19th century. The original, medieval style was Baltic International Gothic, characterised by relatively robust brick walls. He replaced the small Baroque towers with tall (French-inspired) spires, including a third, smaller tower on the transept crossing in the same style. Zettervall also so significantly altered large portions of the medieval outer brick walls as to give it a slimmer appearance. He removed the white-washed "blind windows" which had been similar to those on parts of the nearby Holy Trinity Church (Swedish: Helga trefaldighets kyrka).
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USA
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
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Vadstena
Vadstena is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,613 inhabitants in 2010. From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality.
Despite its small population, Vadstena is, for historical reasons, still referred to as a city (it received its city privileges in 1400). Statistics Sweden, however, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities.
Above all, the city of Vadstena is noted for two important artefacts of Swedish history. It was in Vadstena, in 1350, that Saint Bridget of Sweden founded the first monastery of her Bridgettine Order, and Vadstena Castle is one of Sweden’s best-preserved castles from the era of Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. Today the surviving buildings of the monastery are occupied by a hotel, the Vadstena Klosterhotel, and the castle houses the provincial archives and a museum of 16th and 17th century furniture, portraits and paintings.
Since the 16th century, Vadstena has been the location of a hospital. Earlier in history, it mainly housed mental patients. Today, some of the oldest buildings present the Vadstena Hospital Museum.
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Visby
Visby [ˈviːsbʏ] is a locality and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County, Sweden with 22,593 inhabitants, as of 2010. It is the only locality with historical city status on the island of Gotland; it is arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Scandinavia and has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among the most notable historical remains are the 3.4 km (2.1 mi) long stone wall called Ringmuren ("the Ring Wall"), that encircles the city and the old church ruins.
The name "Visby" comes from the Old Norse Vis, (genitive singular of Vi) meaning sacrificial place, and by, meaning "city".
Visby is a popular vacation destination for Scandinavians during the summer and receives thousands of tourists every year.
The earliest history of Visby is uncertain, but it is known to have been a centre of merchandise around 900 AD. It was inhabited as early as the Stone Age, probably because of the access to fresh water and a natural harbour.
In the 12th century, Visby Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Mary, was constructed. It was reshaped in the 13th century to its current appearance, and was officially opened in 1225 by the bishop of the Swedish city of Linköping. Several other churches were also constructed in the ensuing centuries. The city flourished, thanks to the German Hanseatic League.
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Wisconsin
Wisconsin (i/wɨsˈkɒnsɨn/) is a US state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin is the 23rd most extensive and the 20th most populous of the 50 United States. Wisconsin's capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee. The state is divided into 72 counties.
The word Wisconsin originates from the name given to the Wisconsin River by one of the Algonquian speaking American Indian groups living in the region at the time of European contact. French explorer Jacques Marquette was the first European to reach the Wisconsin River and record its name, arriving in 1673 and calling the river Meskousing in his journal. This spelling was later corrupted to Ouisconsin by other French explorers, and over time this version became the French name for both the Wisconsin River and the surrounding lands. English speakers anglicized the spelling to its modern form when they began to arrive in greater numbers during the early 19th century. The current spelling was made official by the legislature of Wisconsin Territory in 1845.
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Ystad
Ystad (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈyːsta]) is a town, and the seat of Ystad Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden, with 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates back to the 11th century and the town has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre and tourist attraction. It is associated with the fictional detective Kurt Wallander whose stories, by Henning Mankell, are set in Ystad.
In 1285, the town's name was written Ystath. Its original meaning is not fully understood, but probably the "y" has something to do with an old word for the yew tree,-stad is town, or rather place. In Danish times before 1658 the spelling was Ysted.
After Absalon, Bishop of Roskilde and Archbishop of Lund, peace was brought to the area in the 11th century, fishing families settled at the mouth of the river Vassa as herring fishing became the main source of trade. Ystad was not mentioned in documents until 1244, in a record of King Eric's visit to the town with his brother, Abel. A Franciscan monastery, Gråbrödraklostret, was founded in 1267, and Ystad joined the Hanseatic League in the 14th century.
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Åland
The Åland Islands (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈoːland], Finnish: Ahvenanmaa) form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland. The islands collectively constitute the smallest region of Finland, with only 0.49% of its land area, and 0.50% of its population.
Åland comprises Fasta Åland (the "Main Island," with 90% of the population), together with an archipelago to the east that comprises over 6,500 skerries and islands. Fasta Åland is separated from the coast of Sweden by 38 kilometres (24 mi) of open water to the west. In the east, the Åland archipelago is contiguous with the Finnish Archipelago Sea. Åland's only land border is located on the uninhabited skerry of Märket, which it shares with Sweden.
Because of the autonomous status of the Åland Islands, the powers exercised at the provincial level by representatives of the central state administration in the rest of Finland are largely exercised by the Government of Åland in Åland.
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Åland Islands
The Åland Islands (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈoːland], Finnish: Ahvenanmaa) form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland. The islands collectively constitute the smallest region of Finland, with only 0.49% of its land area, and 0.50% of its population.
Åland comprises Fasta Åland (the "Main Island," with 90% of the population), together with an archipelago to the east that comprises over 6,500 skerries and islands. Fasta Åland is separated from the coast of Sweden by 38 kilometres (24 mi) of open water to the west. In the east, the Åland archipelago is contiguous with the Finnish Archipelago Sea. Åland's only land border is located on the uninhabited skerry of Märket, which it shares with Sweden.
Because of the autonomous status of the Åland Islands, the powers exercised at the provincial level by representatives of the central state administration in the rest of Finland are largely exercised by the Government of Åland in Åland.
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Agnetha Fältskog
Agnetha Åse Fältskog (Swedish pronunciation: [aŋˈneː.ˈta ˈfɛlt.ˈskuːɡ]) (born 5 April 1950) is a Swedish recording artist. She achieved success in Sweden after the release of her début album Agnetha Fältskog in 1968, and reached international stardom as a member of the pop group ABBA, which has sold over 375 million records worldwide, making it the fourth best–selling music artist in history and the second best–selling band in history.
Agnetha (known as Anna in some countries) Fältskog was born on 5 April 1950 in Jönköping, Småland, Sweden. She was the first of two daughters of department store manager Knut Ingvar Fältskog (1922—1995) and his wife Birgit Margareta Johansson (1923—1994). Ingvar Fältskog showed much interest in music and showbusiness, whereas Birgit Fältskog was a very calm and careful woman who devoted herself to her children and household. Fältskog cites Connie Francis, Marianne Faithfull, Aretha Franklin and Lesley Gore as her strongest musical influences.
Fältskog wrote her first song at the age of six, entitled "Två små troll" ("Two Little Trolls"). In 1958, she began taking piano lessons, and also sang in a local church choir. In early 1960, Fältskog formed a musical trio, The Cambers, with her friends Lena Johansson and Elisabeth Strub. They performed locally in minor venues and soon dissolved due to a lack of engagements. At age 15, Fältskog decided to leave school and pursue a career.
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Alexander Skarsgård
Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈskɑːʂɡoːɖ]; born August 25, 1976) is a Swedish actor. He is best known for his roles as vampire Eric Northman on the HBO series True Blood, Meekus in Zoolander and Brad Colbert in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill.
Skarsgård was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He is the son of Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård and his first wife, My, a physician. He has six younger siblings: Gustaf, Sam, Bill, Eija and Valter Skarsgård, and a half-brother, Ossian. Gustaf, Bill, and Valter are also actors.
A director friend of his father gave Skarsgård his first film role when he was seven years old. He played Kalle Nubb in Åke och hans värld (Åke and His World). In 1989, the lead role in the Swedish television production Hunden som log (The Dog That Smiled) made him famous in Sweden at the age of thirteen. Uncomfortable with being recognized, he quit acting for the next seven years.
At age 19, he applied to do his national service. He served in the Swedish military for 18 months, in a unit that dealt with anti-sabotage and anti-terrorism in the Stockholm archipelago. After completing his service in 1996 he left Sweden and attended Leeds Metropolitan University in England for six months. He enrolled to study English but admits he did not study much and "had a blast" instead.
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Alfred Nobel
Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( pronunciation (help·info)) (21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer. He was the inventor of dynamite. Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments. Nobel held 350 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. He used his fortune to posthumously institute the Nobel Prizes. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him. His name also survives in modern-day companies such as Dynamit Nobel and Akzo Nobel, which are descendents of the companies Nobel himself established.
Born in Stockholm, Alfred Nobel was the fourth son of Immanuel Nobel (1801–1872), an inventor and engineer, and Andriette Ahlsell Nobel (1805–1889). The couple married in 1827 and had eight children, although, beset by poverty, only Alfred and his three brothers survived past childhood. Through his father, Alfred Nobel was a descendant of the Swedish scientist Olaus Rudbeck (1630-1702), and the boy, in his turn, was interested in engineering, and especially explosives, from a young age, learning the basic principles from his father.
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Anders Celsius
Anders Celsius (27 November 1701 – 25 April 1744) was a Swedish astronomer. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories in Germany, Italy and France. He founded the Uppsala Astronomical Observatory in 1741, and in 1742 he proposed the Celsius temperature scale which takes his name. The scale was inverted in 1745 by Carl Linnaeus, one year after Celsius' death from tuberculosis.
Anders Celsius was born in Uppsala, Sweden on 27 November 1701. His family originated from Ovanåker in the province of Hälsingland. Their family estate was at Doma, also known as Höjen or Högen (locally as Högen 2). The name Celsius is a latinization of the estate's name (Latin celsus "mound").
As the son of an astronomy professor, Nils Celsius, and the grandson of the mathematician Magnus Celsius and the astronomer Anders Spole, Celsius chose a career in science. He was a talented mathematician from an early age. Anders Celsius studied at Uppsala University, where his father was a teacher, and in 1730 he too, became a professor of astronomy there.
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Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam ( listen (help·info)) (born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer with the most wins to her name. She has won 72 official LPGA tournaments including ten majors and 18 other tournaments internationally, and she tops the LPGA's career money list with earnings of over $22 million—over $8 million ahead of her nearest rival. Since 2006, Sörenstam has held dual American and Swedish citizenship.
The winner of a record eight Player of the Year awards, and six Vare Trophies given to the LPGA player with the lowest seasonal scoring average, she is the only female golfer to have shot a 59 in competition. She holds various all-time scoring records including the lowest season scoring average: 68.6969 in 2004.
Representing Europe in the Solheim Cup on eight occasions between 1994–2007, Sörenstam was the event's all-time leading points earner until her record was surpassed by England's Laura Davies during the 2011 Solheim Cup.
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Astrid Lindgren
Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (née Ericsson) (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈastrɪd ˈlɪŋɡreːn] ( listen)), 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish author and screenwriter. She is the world's 18th most translated author and has sold roughly 145 million copies worldwide. She is best known for the Pippi Longstocking, Karlsson-on-the-Roof and the Six Bullerby Children book series.
Astrid Lindgren grew up in Näs, near Vimmerby, Småland and many of her books are based on her family and childhood memories and landscapes. However, Pippi Longstocking, one of her most famous books, was set in Gotland.
Lindgren was the daughter of Samuel August Ericsson and Hanna Johnsson. She had two sisters and a brother, Gunnar Ericsson, who eventually became a member of the Swedish parliament.
Upon finishing school, Lindgren took a job with the a local newspaper in Vimmerby. When she became pregnant with the chief editor's child[clarification needed] in 1926, he proposed marriage. She declined and moved to Stockholm, learning to become a typist and stenographer (she would later write most of her drafts in stenography). In due time, she gave birth to her son, Lars, in Copenhagen and left him in the care of a foster family.
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August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg ( pronounced (help·info); 22 January 1849 – 14 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics. A bold experimenter and iconoclast throughout, he explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and history plays, to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic techniques. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed forms of dramatic action, language, and visual composition so innovative that many were to become technically possible to stage only with the advent of film. He is considered the "father" of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room (1879) has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel.
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Augustus II
Frederick Augustus I or Augustus II the Strong (German: August II der Starke; Polish: August II Mocny; Lithuanian: Augustas II; 12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733) was Elector of Saxony (as Frederick Augustus I), Imperial Vicar and became King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (as Augustus II).
Augustus's great physical strength earned him the nicknames "the Strong," "the Saxon Hercules" and "Iron-Hand." He liked to show that he lived up to his name by breaking horseshoes with his bare hands and engaging in fox tossing with a single finger.
In order to be elected King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Augustus converted to Roman Catholicism. He owed allegiance to the Imperial Habsburgs as a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
As Elector of Saxony, he is perhaps best remembered as a patron of the arts and architecture. He established the Saxon capital of Dresden as a major cultural centre, attracting artists from across Europe to his court. Augustus also amassed an impressive art collection and built lavish baroque palaces at Dresden and Warsaw.
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Bathory (band)
Bathory was an influential Swedish heavy metal band, formed by Quorthon (Thomas Forsberg) in 1983. It is regarded as a pioneer of both black metal and Viking metal. Quorthon remained the main songwriter and member of Bathory for more than two decades. Bathory was permanently ended after Quorthon's death in 2004. The band is named after the infamous Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory.
Bathory was formed in Vällingby in 1983. Quorthon (then known as Ace, after Ace Frehley of Kiss), a seventeen-year-old guitarist, was joined by the bass guitarist Fredrik Melander and the drummer Jonas Åkerlund. According to Quorthon, he came up with the name after a visit to the London Dungeon, although Jonas states that it was taken from the Venom song Countess Bathory.. Their first recording deal came that same year, when Quorthon managed to secure the consent of Tyfon Grammofon's boss (Quorthon's father Börje Forsberg, although Quorthon himself spread rumors to keep the audience unaware of this) to record two tracks for the compilation Scandinavian Metal Attack in 1984. The tracks gained unexpected attention from fans. Soon afterward, Tyfon Grammofon contacted Quorthon and asked him to record a full-length album. The band considered several names before settling on Bathory, including Nosferatu, Natas, Mephisto, Elizabeth Bathory and Countess Bathory.
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Beowulf
Beowulf ( /ˈbeɪ.ɵwʊlf/; in Old English [ˈbeːo̯wʊlf] or [ˈbeːəwʊlf]) is the conventional title of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.
It survives in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. Its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet is dated between the 8th and the early 11th century. In 1731, the manuscript was badly damaged by a fire that swept through a building housing a collection of Medieval manuscripts assembled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton. The poem fell into obscurity for decades, and its existence did not become widely known again until it was printed in 1815 in an edition prepared by the Icelandic scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin.
In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the help of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (Heorot) has been under attack by a being known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland in Sweden and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants bury him in a tumulus in Geatland.
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Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (Swedish pronunciation: [bjœːɳ ɵlˈveːɵs], born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA (1972–83), and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!. He coproduced the film Mamma Mia! with fellow ex-ABBA member and close friend Benny Andersson.
Ulvaeus was born in Gothenburg, but as a child he moved with his family to Västervik. Ulvaeus studied business and law at Lund University after doing his military service with stand-up comedian Magnus Holmström.
Prior to gaining international recognition with ABBA, Ulvaeus was a member of the Swedish folk-schlager band Hootenanny Singers, who had an enormous following in Scandinavia. While on the road in southern Sweden in 1966, they encountered the Hep Stars, and Ulvaeus quickly became friends with the group’s keyboard player, Benny Andersson. The two musicians shared a passion for songwriting, and each found a composing partner in the other. On meeting again that summer, they composed their first song together: "Isn't It Easy To Say", a song soon to be recorded by Andersson's group. The two continued teaming up for music, helping out each other's bands in the recording studio, and adding guitar or keyboards respectively to the recordings. In 1968, they composed two songs together: "A Flower In My Garden", recorded by Hep Stars, and their first 'real' hit "Ljuva Sextiotal", for which Stig Anderson wrote lyrics. The latter - a cabarét-style ironic song about the 1960s – was submitted for the 1969 Swedish heats for Eurovision Song Contest, but was rejected; it was later recorded by diva Brita Borg. Another hit came in 1969 with "Speleman", also recorded by Hep Stars.
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Bo Widerberg
Bo Widerberg, (8 June 1930 – 1 May 1997) was a Swedish film director, writer, editor and actor. He was born Bo Gunnar Widerberg in Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden. He died in Ängelholm, Skåne län, Sweden of stomach cancer.
Widerberg was the director of films such as Raven's End (1963), Elvira Madigan (1967), Ådalen 31 (1969), Joe Hill (1971), Fimpen (1974), The Man on the Roof (1976), Victoria (1979), The Man from Majorca (1984), The Serpent's Way (1986) and All Things Fair (1995).
He won a Silver Bear prize at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival for All Things Fair and a Special Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Festival for Ådalen 31.Raven's End,Ådalen 31 and All Things Fair all received a nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Bo Widerberg's vision of Swedish cinema parted radically with its contemporary form. He called for a greater political significance and more progressive story telling. The leading figure of Swedish cinema at the time, Ingmar Bergman, was not Widerberg's ideal at all, although he recognized his position: "Neither I nor my friends saw very much in him. We didn't find the issue of god's existence that damned important. But it's safe to say you'd be putting yourself in a bad position if you're trying to slit the throat of the father figure before your own debut." In his book, A Vision of Swedish Cinema, Widerberg concluded that Bergman's films almost exclusively dealt with issues between people directed upwards and seldom sideways. According to Widerberg, Bergman made vertical films when the need for horizontal ones was more dire. On the other hand, Widerberg wanted film to be a tool of the social sciences, a kind of sociological report.
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Bridget of Sweden
Bridget of Sweden (1303 – 23 July 1373; also Birgitta of Vadstena, Saint Birgitta (Swedish: den heliga Birgitta or Birgitta Birgersdotter), was a mystic and saint, and founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after the death of her husband of twenty years. She was also the mother of Catherine of Vadstena.
She is one of the six patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Catherine of Siena and Edith Stein.
The most celebrated saint of Sweden was the daughter of the knight, Birger Persson of the family of Finsta, governor and lawspeaker of Uppland, and one of the richest landowners of the country, and his wife, a member of the so-called Lawspeaker branch of the Folkunga family. Through her mother, Ingeborg, Birgitta was related to the Swedish kings of her era.
In 1316, when she was 14 she married Ulf Gudmarsson of the family of Ulvåsa, Lord of Närke, to whom she bore eight children, four daughters and four sons. All of them survived infancy, which was very rare at that time. One of them was afterwards honored as St. Catherine of Sweden. Birgitta’s saintly and charitable life soon made her known far and wide; she gained, too, great religious influence over her husband, with whom (1341–1343) she went on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
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Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album ...Baby One More Time in 1999, which became the best-selling album by a teenage solo artist. During her first decade in the music industry, she became a prominent figure in mainstream popular music and popular culture, followed by a much-publicized personal life. Her first two albums established her as a pop icon and broke sales records, while title tracks "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!... I Did It Again" became international number-one hits. Spears was credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s, and became the 'best-selling teen aged artist of all time' before she turned 20, garnering her the honorific title of "Princess of Pop".
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Carl Larsson
Carl Larsson (May 28, 1853 – January 22, 1919) was a Swedish painter and interior designer, representative of the Arts and Crafts Movement. His many paintings include oils, watercolors, and frescoes. He considered his finest work to be Midvinterblot (Midwinter Sacrifice), a large wall mural now displayed inside the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts.
Larsson was born on May 28, 1853, in Prästgatan No.78, a house on the Tyska Stallplan in Gamla stan, the old town in Stockholm. His parents were extremely poor, and his childhood was not happy. Carl's strong artistic talent had emerged early in his life. When he was 13 years old, his teacher at the school for the poor had persuaded him to apply for enrollment at Principskolan, the preparatory department of the Royal Art Academy.
Renate Puvogel, in her book Larsson, gives detailed information about Carl's life: "His mother was thrown out of the house, together with Carl and his brother Johan; after enduring a series of temporary dwellings, the family moved into Grev Magnigränd No.7 (later No.5) in what was then Ladugårdsplan, present-day Östermalm". As a rule, each room was home to three families; "penury, filth and vice thrived there, leisurely seethed and smouldered, eaten-away and rotten bodies and souls. Such an environment is the natural breeding ground for cholera", he wrote in his autobiographical novel Me (Jag, Stockholm, 1931, p. 21).
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Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (Swedish original name Carl Nilsson Linnæus, 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné (help·info), was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology. Many of his writings were in Latin, and his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus (after 1761 Carolus a Linné).
Linnaeus was born in the countryside of Småland, in southern Sweden. Linnaeus received most of his higher education at Uppsala University, and began giving lectures in botany there in 1730. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published a first edition of his Systema Naturae in the Netherlands. He then returned to Sweden, where he became professor of botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on several journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants and animals. In the 1750s and 60s, he continued to collect and classify animals, plants, and minerals, and published several volumes. At the time of his death, he was one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe.
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Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He was the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and another for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."
Sandburg was born in Galesburg, Illinois, to parents of Swedish ancestry. At the age of thirteen he left school and began driving a milk wagon. From the age of about fourteen until he was seventeen or eighteen, he worked as a porter at the Union Hotel barbershop in Galesburg. After that he was on the milk route again for 18 months. He then became a bricklayer and a farm laborer on the wheat plains of Kansas. After an interval spent at Lombard College in Galesburg, he became a hotel servant in Denver, then a coal-heaver in Omaha. He began his writing career as a journalist for the Chicago Daily News. Later he wrote poetry, history, biographies, novels, children's literature, and film reviews. Sandburg also collected and edited books of ballads and folklore. He spent most of his life in the Midwest before moving to North Carolina.
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Carolus Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (Swedish original name Carl Nilsson Linnæus, 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné (help·info), was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology. Many of his writings were in Latin, and his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus (after 1761 Carolus a Linné).
Linnaeus was born in the countryside of Småland, in southern Sweden. Linnaeus received most of his higher education at Uppsala University, and began giving lectures in botany there in 1730. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published a first edition of his Systema Naturae in the Netherlands. He then returned to Sweden, where he became professor of botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on several journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants and animals. In the 1750s and 60s, he continued to collect and classify animals, plants, and minerals, and published several volumes. At the time of his death, he was one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe.
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Charles X of Sweden
Charles X Gustav also Carl Gustav, Swedish: Karl X Gustav (8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660) was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. After his father's death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who bore his son and successor, Charles XI. Charles X Gustav was the second Wittelsbach king of Sweden after the childless king Christopher of Bavaria (1441–1448) and he was the first king of the Swedish Caroline era, which had its peak during the end of the reign of his son, Charles XI. By his predecessor Christina, he was considered de facto Duke of Eyland (Öland) before ascending to the Swedish throne.
His numbering as Charles X derives from a 16th century invention. The Swedish king Charles IX (1604–1611) chose his numeral after studying a fictitious history of Sweden. This king was the fourth actual King Charles, but has never been called Charles IV.
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Charles XI of Sweden
Charles XI also Carl, Swedish: Karl XI (24 November 1655old style – 5 April 1697old style) was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period in Swedish history known as the Swedish empire (1611–1718).
Charles was the only son of King Charles X of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp. His father died when he was five years old, so Charles was educated by his governors until his coronation at the age of seventeen. Soon after, he was forced out on military expeditions to secure the recently acquired dominions from Danish troops in the Scanian War. Having successfully fought off the Danes, he returned to Stockholm and engaged in correcting the country's neglected political, financial and economic situation, managing to sustain peace during the remaining 20 years of his reign. Changes in finance, commerce, national maritime and land armaments, judicial procedure, church government and education emerged during this period. Charles XI was succeeded by his only son Charles XII, who made use of the well-trained army in battles throughout Europe.
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Charles XIII
Charles XIII & II also Carl, Swedish: Karl XIII (Stockholm, 7 October 1748 – Stockholm, 5 February 1818), was King of Sweden (as Charles XIII) from 1809 and King of Norway (as Charles II) from 1814 until his death. He was the second son of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, sister of Frederick II of Prussia.
Though known as King Charles XIII in Sweden, he was actually the seventh Swedish king by that name, as Charles IX (reigned 1604–1611) had adopted his numeral after studying a fictitious history of Sweden.
Prince Charles was appointed grand admiral when he was but few days old. He was described as a good dancer at the amateur theatre of the royal court. Reportedly he was not very close to his mother; the Queen preferred her youngest children, Sophie Albertine and Frederick Adolf. Charles was, however, described as close to his brother Gustav during their childhood. In 1772 he cooperated in the revolutionary plans of his elder brother, King Gustav III of Sweden and as a sign of recognition, was appointed Duke of Södermanland.
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Dag Hammarskjöld
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( [dɑːg ˈhamːarɧœld] (help·info)) (29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. The second Secretary-General of the United Nations, he served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is one of four people to have been awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize. Hammarskjöld remains the only U.N. Secretary-General to die in office, and his death occurred en route to cease-fire negotiations. American President John F. Kennedy called Hammarskjöld “the greatest statesman of our century".
Dag Hammarskjöld was born in Jönköping, Sweden, but spent most of his childhood in Uppsala. The fourth and youngest son of Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914 to 1917, and Agnes Hammarskjöld (née Almquist), Hammarskjöld's ancestors served the Monarchy of Sweden since the 17th century. He studied first at Katedralskolan and then at Uppsala University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and a Master's degree in Political economy. During this time he served for a year as the first Curator at Uplands Nation later moving to Stockholm.
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Eric the Victorious
Eric the Victorious (Old Norse: Eiríkr inn sigrsæli, Modern Swedish: Erik Segersäll) (945? – c. 995) was the first Swedish king (970–995) about whom anything definite is known. Whether he actually qualifies as King of Sweden has been debated, as his son Olof Skötkonung was the first ruler documented to have been accepted both by the Svear around Lake Mälaren and by the Götar around Lake Vättern.
Sometimes Eric the Victorious is referred to as either King Eric V or VI, modern inventions based on counting backwards from Eric XIV (1560–68), who adopted his numeral according to a fictitious history of Sweden. Whether or not there were any Swedish monarchs named Eric before Eric the Victorious is disputed, with some historians claiming that there were several earlier Erics, and others questioning the reliability of the primary sources used and the existence of these earlier monarchs. The list of monarchs after him is also complicated (see Eric Stenkilsson and Eric the Pagan, as well as Erik Årsäll), which makes the assignment of any numeral problematic.
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Erik Segersäll
Eric the Victorious (Old Norse: Eiríkr inn sigrsæli, Modern Swedish: Erik Segersäll) (945? – c. 995) was the first Swedish king (970–995) about whom anything definite is known. Whether he actually qualifies as King of Sweden has been debated, as his son Olof Skötkonung was the first ruler documented to have been accepted both by the Svear around Lake Mälaren and by the Götar around Lake Vättern.
Sometimes Eric the Victorious is referred to as either King Eric V or VI, modern inventions based on counting backwards from Eric XIV (1560–68), who adopted his numeral according to a fictitious history of Sweden. Whether or not there were any Swedish monarchs named Eric before Eric the Victorious is disputed, with some historians claiming that there were several earlier Erics, and others questioning the reliability of the primary sources used and the existence of these earlier monarchs. The list of monarchs after him is also complicated (see Eric Stenkilsson and Eric the Pagan, as well as Erik Årsäll), which makes the assignment of any numeral problematic.
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Esaias Tegnér
Esaias Tegnér (13 November 1782 (1782-11-13) – 2 November 1846 (1846-11-03)), was a Swedish writer, professor of Greek language, and bishop. He was during the 19th century regarded as the father of modern poetry in Sweden, mainly through the national romantic epos Frithjof's Saga. He has been called Sweden's first modern man. Much is known about him, and he also wrote openly about himself.
His father was a pastor, and his grandparents on both sides were peasants. His father, whose name had been Esaias Lucasson, took the surname of Tegnérus—altered by his fifth son, the poet, to Tegnér—from the village of Tegnaby in the province of Småland, where he was born. In 1792 Tegnérus died.
In 1799 Esaias Tegnér, hitherto educated in the country, entered Lund University, where he graduated in philosophy in 1802, and continued as tutor until 1810, when he was elected Greek lecturer. In 1806 he married Anna Maria Gustava Myhrman, to whom he had been attached since his earliest youth. In 1812 he was named professor, and continued to work as a lectuer in Lund until 1824, when he was made Bishop of Växjö. At Växjö he remained until his death, twenty-two years later.
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Europe (band)
Europe is a Swedish hard rock/heavy metal band formed in Upplands Väsby in 1979 under the name Force by vocalist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum, bassist Peter Olsson and drummer Tony Reno. Since its formation, Europe has released nine studio albums, three live albums, three compilations and eighteen videos.
Europe rose to international fame in the 1980s with its third album The Final Countdown (1986), which became a substantial commercial success and sold over three million copies in the United States. Europe was one of the most successful rock acts of the 1980s and sold over 20 million albums worldwide. The band has achieved two top 20 albums on the Billboard 200 chart (The Final Countdown and Out of This World) and two top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart ("The Final Countdown" and "Carrie").
Europe went on hiatus in 1992, reunited temporarily for a one-off performance in Stockholm on New Year's Eve 1999 and announced an official reunion in 2003. Since then the band has released four albums, Start from the Dark (2004), Secret Society (2006), Last Look at Eden (2009) and Bag of Bones on April 18, 2012.
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Fever Ray
Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson (born 7 April 1975 in Nacka, Sweden), also known by her stage name Fever Ray, is the lead vocalist of the electronic duo The Knife, formed with her brother Olof Dreijer. Andersson was previously the vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Honey Is Cool. Andersson released her debut solo album under the name Fever Ray in 2009. Her vocal style is notable for both shrill and deep tones, and also the use of multitracked vocals, with different uses of pitch-shifting technology on each track, creating an intricate, mysterious effect. Many listeners mistake the deep vocals on songs by The Knife for those of her brother. Visually, Dreijer Andersson employs the use of masks, face and body paint, intricate costumes, and other theatrical elements in photo shoots, videos and live performances, during which she often performs behind a gauze screen that partially obscures her from view.
While The Knife was on hiatus, Andersson released her self-titled solo debut album Fever Ray digitally on 12 January 2009 and physically on 18 March 2009 via Rabid Records, preceded by its lead single "If I Had a Heart", released digitally on 15 December 2008.
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Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples (also called Teutonic or Gothic in older literature) are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.
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Germanic tribe
The Germanic peoples (also called Teutonic or Gothic in older literature) are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.
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Goths
The Goths (Gothic: *Gut-þiuda, *Gutans; Old Norse: Gutar/Gotar; German: Goten; Latin: Gothi; Greek: Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe.
The most important source is Jordanes' 6th-century, semi-fictional Getica which describes a migration from southern Scandza (Scandinavia), to Gothiscandza, believed to be the lower Vistula region in modern Pomerania, and from there to the coast of the Black Sea. The Pomeranian Wielbark culture and the Chernyakhov culture northeast of the lower Danube are archaeological traces of this migration. In the 3rd century, either through crossing the lower Danube, or travelling by sea, the Goths ravaged the Balkan Peninsula and Anatolia as far as Cyprus, sacking Athens, Byzantium, Sparta. By the fourth century, the Goths conquered Dacia, and were divided into at least two distinct groups separated by the Dniester River, the Thervingi, led by the Balti dynasty, and the Greuthungi, led by the Amali dynasty. Centered around their capital at the Dnieper, the Goths ruled a vast area which at its peak under the Kings Ermanaric and Athanaric stretched from the Danube to the Volga river, and from the Black to the Baltic Sea.
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Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990), born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of her films were sensational hits, and all but three of her twenty-four Hollywood films were profitable. Garbo was nominated four times for an Academy Award and received an honorary one in 1954 for her "luminous and unforgettable screen performances". She also won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress for both Anna Karenina (1935) and Camille (1936). In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Garbo fifth on their list of greatest female stars of all time, after Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, and Ingrid Bergman.
Garbo launched her career with a leading role in the 1924 Swedish film The Saga of Gosta Berling. Her performance caught the attention of Louis B. Mayer, chief executive of Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), who brought her to Hollywood in 1925. She immediately stirred interest with her first silent film, Torrent, released in 1926; a year later, her performance in Flesh and the Devil, her third movie, made her an international star.
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Gustaf Dalén
Nils Gustaf Dalén (30 November 1869 – 9 December 1937) was a Swedish Nobel Laureate and industrialist, the founder of the AGA company and inventor of the AGA cooker and the Dalén light. In 1912 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "invention of automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses and buoys".
Dalén was born in Stenstorp, a small village in Falköping Municipality, Västra Götaland County. He managed the family farm, which he expanded to include a market garden, a seed merchants and a dairy. In 1892 he invented a milk-fat tester to check milk quality of the milk delivered and went to Stockholm to show his new invention for Gustaf de Laval. de Laval was impressed by the self-taught Dalén and the invention and encouraged him to get a basic technical education. He was admitted to the Chalmers University of Technology where he earned his Master's degree and a Doctorate on leaving in 1896. Dalén was much the same type of inventor as Gustaf de Laval, not afraid of testing "impossible" ideas, but Dalén was much more careful with the company economy. The products should have a solid market place before he introduced a new product.
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Gustaf V of Sweden
Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 1907. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Reigning from the death of his father Oscar II in 1907 until his own death 43 years later, he holds the record of being the oldest monarch of Sweden and the second-longest reigning after Magnus IV; the longest-reigning as an adult. He was also the last Swedish monarch to wield actual political power, and the political importance of the Monarchy of Sweden largely died with him, although its pregoratives were formally abolished only with the remaking of the Swedish constitution 1974.
Ascending to the throne in 1907, his early reign saw the rise of parliamentary rule in Sweden, although the leadup to World War I pre-empted his overthrow of Liberal Prime Minister Karl Staaff in 1914, replacing him with his own figurehead Hjalmar Hammarskjöld (father of Dag Hammarskjöld) for most of the war. However, after the Liberals and Social Democrats secured a parliamentary majority under Staaff's successor, Nils Edén, he allowed Edén form a new government which de facto stripped the monarchy of all virtual powers and had enacted universal and equal suffrage, including for women, by 1919. Bowing fully to the principles of parliamentary democracy, he remained a popular figurehead for the remainder 31 years of his rule, although not completely without influence – in the days of World War II he allegedly urged Per Albin Hansson's coalition government to accept calls from Nazi Germany to logistics support which, if refused, might have pre-empted an invasion, and remains controversial to date.
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Gustav I
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (Rikshövitsman) from 1521, during the ongoing Swedish War of Liberation against King Christian II of Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Initially of low standing, Gustav rose to lead the rebel movement following the bloodbath in which his father was executed, and his election as King on June 6, 1523 (currently recognised as the National holiday of Sweden) and his triumphant entry into Stockholm eleven days later meant the end of Medieval Sweden's elective monarchy as well as the Kalmar Union, which had united the Nordic kingdoms since 1397, and the commencing of a hereditary monarchy under the House of Vasa which, currently under the House of Bernadotte, continues to date.
An enigmatic person who has been hailed as a liberator against the Danes and denounced as a tyrannical ruler, brutally suppressing three uprisings in Dalarna - which had once been the first region to support his claim to the throne - one in Västra Götaland, and one in Småland, Gustav worked to raise taxes, end Feudalism and bring about a Swedish Reformation, replacing the pregoratives of local landowners, nobilemen and clergy with centrally appointed governors and bishops. His 37-year rule, the longest of a mature Swedish king so far (subsequently passed by Gustav V and current Carl XVI Gustav) saw a complete break with not only the Danish supremacy of the Union but also the Roman Catholic Church, whose assets were nationalised, with the Lutheran Church of Sweden established under his personal control. He became the first truly autocratic native Swedish sovereign and was a skilled propagandist and bureaucrat, with his main opponent, Christian's, infamous mark as the "tyrant king" and his alleged adventures during the liberation struggle still widespread to date.
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Gustav II Adolf
Gustav II Adolf (born 9 December 1594, died 6 November 1632, O.S.) has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great (Swedish: Gustav Adolf den store, a formal distinction passed by the Swedish Parliament in 1634). He was King of Sweden (1611–1632) and founder of the Swedish Empire (or Stormaktstiden – "the era of great power") at the beginning of the Golden Age of Sweden. He led his nation to military supremacy during the Thirty Years War, helping to determine the political as well as the religious balance of power in Europe. He is thereby regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time. His most notable military victory was the battle of Breitenfeld. With a superb military machine with good weapons, excellent training, and effective field artillery, backed by an efficient government which could provide necessary funds, Gustavus Adolphus was poised to make himself a major European leader, but he was killed at the battle of Lützen in 1632. He was assisted by Axel Oxenstierna (1583–1654), leader of the nobles who also acted as regent after his death.
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Gustav Vasa
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (Rikshövitsman) from 1521, during the ongoing Swedish War of Liberation against King Christian II of Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Initially of low standing, Gustav rose to lead the rebel movement following the bloodbath in which his father was executed, and his election as King on June 6, 1523 (currently recognised as the National holiday of Sweden) and his triumphant entry into Stockholm eleven days later meant the end of Medieval Sweden's elective monarchy as well as the Kalmar Union, which had united the Nordic kingdoms since 1397, and the commencing of a hereditary monarchy under the House of Vasa which, currently under the House of Bernadotte, continues to date.
An enigmatic person who has been hailed as a liberator against the Danes and denounced as a tyrannical ruler, brutally suppressing three uprisings in Dalarna - which had once been the first region to support his claim to the throne - one in Västra Götaland, and one in Småland, Gustav worked to raise taxes, end Feudalism and bring about a Swedish Reformation, replacing the pregoratives of local landowners, nobilemen and clergy with centrally appointed governors and bishops. His 37-year rule, the longest of a mature Swedish king so far (subsequently passed by Gustav V and current Carl XVI Gustav) saw a complete break with not only the Danish supremacy of the Union but also the Roman Catholic Church, whose assets were nationalised, with the Lutheran Church of Sweden established under his personal control. He became the first truly autocratic native Swedish sovereign and was a skilled propagandist and bureaucrat, with his main opponent, Christian's, infamous mark as the "tyrant king" and his alleged adventures during the liberation struggle still widespread to date.
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Gutes
The Gutes or the Gotlanders (in Swedish gutar) are the population of the island of Gotland. The ethnonym is identical to Goths (Gutans), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *Gutaniz. Their language is called Gutnish (gutniska).
The oldest history of the Gutes is retold in the Gutasaga. According to legend they descended from a man named Þjelvar who was the first to discover Gotland. Þjelvar had a son named Hafþi who wedded a fair maiden named Hvitastjerna. These two were the first to settle on Gotland. Hafþi and Hvitastjerna later had three children, Guti, Graipr and Gunfjaun. After the death of their parents, the brothers divided Gotland into three parts and each took one, but Guti remained the highest chieftain and gave his name to the land and its people.
In Modern Swedish language, there are two words for the inhabitants on Gotland: gotlänning (Gotlander) and gute. All inhabitants of Gotland, regardless of their ethnicity, are gotlänning (pl. gotlänningar -Gotlandians) but one is called gute (pl. gutar - Gutes) if one is of native descent.
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Haplogroup T (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup T is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup.
Mitochondrial (mtDNA) Haplogroup T derives from the haplogroup JT, which also gave rise to haplogroup J. Haplogroup T is thought to have originated in Mesopotamia and/or the Fertile Crescent (modern Syria and Turkey) approximately 45,000-50,000 years ago. It was carried by migrants northwest into Europe (at least 10,000 years ago) and east as far as modern Pakistan and India.
In his popular book The Seven Daughters of Eve, Bryan Sykes, who is in Haplogroup T, named the originator of this group "Tara," which means rocky hill in Gaelic. Sykes believes that: "Tara herself lived 17,000 years ago in the northwest of Italy among the hills of Tuscany and along the estuary of the river Arno."
The International Society of Genetic Genealogy gives the following standardized description about mtDNA Haplogroup T and two of its main subclades:
"The mitochondrial Haplogroup T is best characterized as a European lineage. With an origin in the Near East greater than 45,000 years ago, the major sub-lineages of Haplogroup T entered Europe around the time of the Neolithic 10,000 years ago. Once in Europe, these sub-lineages underwent a dramatic expansion associated with the arrival of agriculture in Europe. Today, we find Haplogroup T*, the root Haplogroup for Haplogroup T, widely distributed in Europe."
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Hjalmar Branting
Karl Hjalmar Branting (help·info) (23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician. He was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (1907–1925), and Prime Minister during three separate periods (1920, 1921–1923, and 1924–1925). When Branting came to power in 1920, he was the first Social Democratic Prime Minister of Sweden. When he took office for a second term after the general election of 1921, he became the first socialist politician in Europe to do so following elections with universal suffrage.
A professor's son, Branting was educated in Stockholm and at the University of Uppsala. He developed a scientific background in mathematical astronomy and was an assistant at the Stockholm Observatory, but gave up his devotion to scientific work to become a journalist in 1884 and began editing the newspapers Tiden and Social-Demokraten. His decision to publish an article by the more radical socialist Axel Danielsson - a piece denounced by opponents as insulting to religious sensitivities - resulted in political convictions for blasphemy and imprisonment for both men. Branting was imprisoned for three months in 1888.
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Hjalmar Söderberg
Hjalmar Emil Fredrik Söderberg (July 2, 1869 - October 14, 1941) was a Swedish novelist, playwright, poet and journalist. His works often deal with melancholy and lovelorn characters, and offer a rich portrayal of contemporary Stockholm through the eyes of the flaneur. Söderberg is greatly appreciated in his native country, and is sometimes considered to be the equal of August Strindberg, Sweden's national author.
Born in Stockholm, Söderberg began his literary course at the Swedish news daily Svenska Dagbladet, age 20. Six years later his first novel was released, Förvillelser (Delusions, 1895), written from the viewpoint of a young dandy aimlessly idling in the capital, recklessly squandering money and love. The somber yet reflective and insightful story would prove typical of much of Söderberg's output. Subsequent to the release of Historietter (Anecdotes, 1898), a collection of twenty short stories, his next major work - Martin Bircks Ungdom (Martin Birck's Youth, 1901) - was released. Much like Förvillelser in terms of its vivid environmental depiction and acute perception, it follows the development of a young amateur poet. Söderberg's next novel, by some considered his masterpiece, was Doktor Glas (Doctor Glas, 1905). In a frightful tale of vengeance and passion, Söderberg stays true to his detached yet emotionally poignant writing style.
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Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɪŋmar ˈbærjman] ( listen); 14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera," he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and influential film directors of all time.
He directed over sixty films and documentaries for cinematic release and for television, most of which he also wrote. He also directed over one hundred and seventy plays. Among his company of actors were Harriet Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bibi Andersson, Erland Josephson, Ingrid Thulin and Max von Sydow. Most of his films were set in the landscape of Sweden. His major subjects were death, illness, faith, betrayal, and insanity.
Bergman was active for more than six decades. In 1976 his career was seriously threatened as the result of a botched criminal investigation for alleged income tax evasion. Outraged, Bergman suspended a number of pending productions, closed his studios, and went into self-imposed exile in Germany for eight years.
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Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (29 August 1915 – 29 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute. She is best remembered for her roles as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca (1942), a World War II drama co-starring Humphrey Bogart and as Alicia Huberman in Notorious (1946), an Alfred Hitchcock thriller co-starring Cary Grant.
Before becoming a star in American films, she had already been a leading actress in Swedish films. Her first introduction to American audiences came with her starring role in the English remake of Intermezzo in 1939. In America, she brought to the screen a "Nordic freshness and vitality", along with exceptional beauty and intelligence, and according to the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, she quickly became "the ideal of American womanhood" and one of Hollywood's greatest leading actresses.
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Ingrid Thulin
Ingrid Lilian Thulin (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɪŋːrɪd tɵˈliːn]; 27 January 1926 – 7 January 2004) was a Swedish film actress.
Thulin was born in Sollefteå, Ångermanland, northern Sweden, the daughter of Nanna (née Larsson) and Adam Thulin, a fisherman. She took ballet lessons as a girl and was accepted by The Royal Dramatic Theatre ("Dramaten") in Stockholm 1948.
For many years she worked regularly with Ingmar Bergman; among other films, Thulin appeared in Bergman's Wild Strawberries (film) (1957), The Magician (where she acted dressed as a boy), in Winter Light (1962), as well as The Silence (1963) and Cries and Whispers (1972).
She shared the best actress award at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival and received a Guldbagge Award as best actress in 1964, the first year the award was given out, for her performance in The Silence. Winner of the David di Donatello Awards 1974, Thulin was also been nominated for the BAFTA Award the same year. In 1980, she was the head of the jury at the 30th Berlin International Film Festival.
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Jan Troell
Jan Gustaf Troell (born 23 July 1931) is a Swedish film director. Usually, Troell writes his own scripts and serves as his own director of photography. His realistic films, with a lyrical photography in which nature is prominent, have placed him in the first rank of modern Swedish film directors along with Ingmar Bergman and Bo Widerberg.
Troell was born in Limhamn outside Malmö, Sweden. For several years, he worked as an elementary-school teacher but started to make shorts films in the sixties. He became director of photography for Widerberg but soon made a debut with his own first feature, Here's Your Life (Här har du ditt liv, 1966), about a working class boy in Sweden, set in the beginning of the 20th century. The film was based upon an autobiographical novel by Eyvind Johnson. His next film Who Saw Him Die? (Ole dole doff, 1968) won the Golden Bear award at the 18th Berlin International Film Festival.
Troell's major work in the 1970s became The Emigrants (Utvandrarna, 1971) and its sequel The New Land (Nybyggarna, 1972), two epic films about some peasants emigrating from the barren Swedish countryside to America in the 19th century. Once again, Troell films were based upon the novels of a Swedish working-class author, in this case Vilhelm Moberg's famous Emigrants suite. As in many of Troell's films, Max von Sydow plays one of the major roles. The Emigrants was nominated for several Academy Awards.
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Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind (6 October 1820 – 2 November 1887), better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily popular concert tour of America beginning in 1850. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music from 1840.
Lind became famous after her performance in Der Freischütz in Sweden in 1838. Within a few years, she had suffered vocal damage, but the singing teacher Manuel García saved her voice. She was in great demand in opera roles throughout Sweden and northern Europe during the 1840s, becoming the protégée of Felix Mendelssohn. After two acclaimed seasons in London, she announced her retirement from opera at the age of 29.
In 1850, Lind went to America at the invitation of the showman P. T. Barnum. She gave 93 large-scale concerts for him and then continued to tour under her own management. She earned more than $350,000 from these concerts, donating the proceeds to charities, principally the endowment of free schools in Sweden. With her new husband, Otto Goldschmidt, she returned to Europe in 1852 where she had three children and gave occasional concerts over the next two decades, settling in England in 1855. From 1882, for some years, she was a professor of singing at the Royal College of Music in London.
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Jens Lekman
Jens Martin Lekman (pronounced Yens; born 6 February 1981 in Angered, Sweden) is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. The English lyrics reflect an advanced knowledge of the language and its idioms. His work is heavily influenced by that of Jonathan Richman and Belle & Sebastian, and he has been likened to Stephin Merritt (of The Magnetic Fields), David Byrne, and Scott Walker.
From 2000 to 2003, Lekman recorded and released much of his material privately on CD-R. Because one of his songs during this time was entitled "Rocky Dennis' Farewell Song to the Blind Girl", inspired by the movie Mask, Lekman was mistakenly referred to as "Rocky Dennis". Lekman says that it was a "mistake": "someone thought that was my real name cause I had a song about him, and then radio picked up on it, and I never had a chance to change it". He put the confusion to rest with his Rocky Dennis in Heaven EP (2004).
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Jesus Christ
Jesus ( /ˈdʒiːzəs/; Greek: Ἰησοῦς; 7–2 BC/BCE to 30–36 AD/CE), also referred to as Jesus Christ or simply Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and most Christian denominations venerate him as God the Son incarnated. In Islam, Jesus (in Arabic: عيسى in Islamic usage, commonly transliterated as Isa) is considered one of God's important prophets.
Most modern historians agree that Jesus existed and was a Jewish teacher from Galilee in Roman Judaea, who was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on the orders of the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate. Scholars have offered competing descriptions and portraits of Jesus, which at times share a number of overlapping attributes, such as a rabbi, a charismatic healer, the leader of an apocalyptic movement, a self-described Messiah, a sage and philosopher, or a social reformer who preached of the "Kingdom of God" as a means for personal and egalitarian social transformation. Scholars have correlated the New Testament accounts with non-Christian historical records to arrive at an estimated chronology of Jesus' life.
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Jj (band)
"jj" are a band who release music through the Gothenburg-based independent label Sincerely Yours, which was founded by the Swedish pop group The Tough Alliance. The band consists of Joakim Benon and Elin Kastlander.
jj released their debut single "jj n° 1" in early 2009 and a couple of months later they released their debut album jj n° 2. Both the debut single and the debut album received a Best New Music inclusion from Pitchfork Media with ratings of 8 and 8.6 respectively.
On December 24, 2009 it was announced that the American record label Secretly Canadian had signed jj to their roster. At the same time, the release date for jj's second full length album was slated. The album, named jj n° 3, was released in the United States and Sweden on March 9, 2010. jj works with both Sincerely Yours and Secretly Canadian, depending on the location, and hence didn't leave Sincerely Yours for Secretly Canadian.
Aside from their official releases, jj has also done several covers and new takes on contemporary songs. For example, they've recorded covers of Akon's "Troublemaker", Jeremih's "Birthday Sex" and the "Theme Song" for the Welcome Back, Kotter tv-series. All of these were released for free on the internet, making it similar to a mixtape.
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Joel Alme
Joel Alme (1980) is a pop singer from Gothenburg, Sweden. Alme released his debut album A Master of Ceremonies on April 22, 2008 with "Queen's Corner" being the single. In 2010 he released his second studio album called Waiting for the Bells. He is the former lead singer for Spring in Paris.
When Alme received grant money from the Swedish Arts Council (Kulturrådet) for his second album Waiting for the Bells he said, “it enabled me to use a real strings orchestra and I could spend more time in a very good studio with a good producer, Mattias Glavå.”
In 2009, Alme altered the lyrics to his song "A young summer's youth" and produced the song "Snart skiner Poseidon" to be played before and after all IFK Göteborg's home matches where it is performed by a massed chorus of supporters.
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Jonas Wenström
Jonas Wenström (born August 4, 1855 in Hällefors, died December 22, 1893 in Västerås) was a Swedish engineer and inventor. He invented in Sweden the three-phase electric power system, the basis for ASEA (later ABB). "It goes to conspiratorially speculate whether Edison got his idea from the Swedish pen pal. Wenström writes: "Edison's new invention of electric light: a glowing carbon strip, is the same thing that I found on a year ago [...] If had his laboratory, and resources, I would have done the same and better [. ..] a graphite strip between two mica plates provide a more effective light than Edison's.
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Jordanes
Jordanes, also written Jordanis or, uncommonly, Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life.
While he also wrote Romana about the history of Rome, his best-known work is his Getica, written in Constantinople about AD 551. It is the only extant classical work dealing with the early history of the Goths.
Jordanes was asked by a friend to write this book as a summary of a multi-volume history of the Goths (now lost) by the statesman Cassiodorus. He was selected for his known interest in history (he was working on Rome's), his ability to write succinctly, and because of his own Gothic background. He had been a high-level notarius, or secretary, of a small client state on the Roman frontier in Moesia, modern northern Bulgaria.
Other writers, e.g. Procopius, wrote works still extant on the later history of the Goths. As the only surviving work on Gothic origins, the Getica has been the object of much critical review. Jordanes wrote in Late Latin rather than the classical Ciceronian Latin. According to his own introduction, he only had three days to review what Cassiodorus had written, meaning that he must also have relied on his own knowledge. Some of his statements are laconic.
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José González
José González (born 1978) is a Swedish-Argentine indie folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Gothenburg, Sweden. González is also a member of Swedish band Junip, along with Elias Araya and Tobias Winterkorn.
González' parents moved from Argentina to Sweden in 1976. He was born in 1978, two years after his psychology academic father, mother and older sister, then an infant, fled Argentina after a military junta seized power in March 1976 at the beginning of the "dirty war". González was born in a suburb of Gothenburg, Sweden. He commented, "It's a very small town. It has about a half-million people living there. It's a pretty good music city by the ocean. It rains a lot there, but it's beautiful in the summertime." González grew up listening to Latin folk and pop music, and has named Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez as a favourite artist. He said the first concert he went to was "The Wailers. I got their autographs and everything. I was about 12 or so. At the time my favourite music was Bob Marley and Michael Jackson."
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Jussi Björling
Johan Jonatan "Jussi" Björling (5 February 1911 – 9 September 1960) was a Swedish tenor. One of the leading operatic singers of the 20th century, Björling appeared for many years at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and less frequently at the major European opera houses, including the Royal Opera House in London and La Scala in Milan.
Björling (surname also spelled as "Bjoerling" and "Bjorling" in English-language sources) was born in Borlänge, Dalarna, Sweden, in February 1911. The midwife's register shows he was born on 5 February; however, the church baptism records erroneously show 2 February, and this was the day on which he celebrated his birthday throughout his life. He was initially taught to sing by his father, David, an accomplished vocalist, and made his debut public appearance at the age of four with the Björling Male Quartet. The group performed in concerts throughout Sweden and the United States for eleven and a half years. He later studied opera with John Forsell.
Björling made his professional operatic debut as the Lamplighter in Manon Lescaut at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm in 1930. This was soon followed by Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Arnold in Rossini's William Tell and Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. This in turn led to engagements in Europe and the United States. Björling made his American concert debut in Carnegie Hall in 1937; the following year, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Rodolfo in La bohème.
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Jörgen Elofsson
Jörgen Kjell Elofsson (born 14 January 1962 in Ängelholm) is a Swedish songwriter who has written or co-written hits for stars such as Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Guy Sebastian, Ana Johnsson, Marie Serneholt, Shayne Ward and Super Junior. He has also written hit singles for groups such as Il Divo and Westlife. His musical career started when he was 16, and was the lead singer and guitarist in different bands. After that he had a solo career and released two albums in 1989 and 1992, under the name "Shane".
Elofsson became a full-time songwriter in 1994, when he worked with the Swedish artist Carola. His work at Cheiron Studios began in January 1998, and he has mainly been working together with David Kreuger and Per Magnusson.
In 2005 he created the record label Planet Six, part of former BMG, currently Universal Music Publishing Group.
In 2006 his song "The Time of Our Lives" was chosen as FIFA's official anthem for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. It was performed by Il Divo and Toni Braxton.
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Karin Boye
Karin Maria Boye (help·info) (October 26, 1900 – April 24, 1941) was a Swedish poet and novelist.
Boye was born in Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden and moved with her family to Stockholm in 1909. She studied at Uppsala University from 1921 to 1926 and debuted in 1922 with a collection of poems, "Clouds" (Swedish: Moln). During her time in Uppsala and until 1930, Boye was a member of the Swedish Clarté League, a socialist group in those days very anti-Fascist.
In 1931 Boye, together with Erik Mesterton and Josef Riwkin, founded the poetry magazine Spektrum, introducing T. S. Eliot and the Surrealists to Swedish readers. She translated many of Eliot's works into Swedish; she and Mesterton translated "The Waste Land".
Boye is perhaps most famous for her poems, of which the most well-known ought to be "Yes, of course it hurts" (Swedish: Ja visst gör det ont) and "In motion" (I rörelse) from her collections of poems "The Hearths" (Härdarna), 1927, and "For the sake of the tree" (För trädets skull), 1935. She was also a member of the Swedish literary institution Samfundet De Nio (chair number 6) from 1931 until her death in 1941.
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Karl Staaff
Karl Albert Staaff (21 January 1860 – 4 October 1915) was a Swedish liberal politician and lawyer. He was chairman of the Liberal Coalition Party (1907–1915) and served twice as Prime Minister of Sweden (1905–1906 and 1911–1914).
Staaff was active in the Swedish movement for universal suffrage, and as the Liberal party's prime minister he presided in 1905 over the introduction of a limited democratic vote for men. His successor Nils Edén eventually managed to carry this further into universal suffrage in 1918-19, including for women.
Staaff ran into sharp conflict with the conservative Swedish establishment, and became a hated figure in the Conservative, pro-Monarchic and anti-Democratic establishment. An intense smear campaign was launched against him, picturing him as the destroyer of Swedish tradition and society: wealthy Stockholmers could even buy ash-trays shaped as his head. His staunch anti-military politics created the greatest fundraising in the Swedish history until that time, the 12m kronor coastal battleship HMS Sverige where the funds where raised in a few months in 1912. Staaff had to bite the lemon, and the ship was ordered.
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Lars Magnus Ericsson
Lars Magnus Ericsson (5 May 1846 – 17 December 1926) was a Swedish inventor, entrepreneur and founder of telephone equipment manufacturer Ericsson (incorporated as Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson).
Lars Magnus was born in Värmskog, Värmland and grew up in the small village of Vegerbol, between Karlstad and Arvika. At the age of twelve his father died, and he had to start working as a miner. He worked until he had money enough to leave the village and move to Stockholm in 1867. He then worked for six years for an instrument maker named Öllers & Co. who mainly created telegraph equipment. Because of his skills, he was given two state scholarships to study instrument making abroad between 1872 and 1875. One of the companies he worked at was Siemens & Halske.
Upon his return to Sweden in 1876, he founded a small mechanical workshop together with his friend Carl Johan Andersson who had also worked at Öllers & Co.. This workshop was actually a former kitchen of some 13 m2 situated at Drottninggatan 15 in the most central part of Stockholm. Here, he started a telephone company by analyzing Bell company and Siemens telephones and creating his own copies in their image. It was not until they started cooperating with Henrik Tore Cedergren in 1883 that the company would start to grow into the Ericsson corporation as we know it today.
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Lars Winnerbäck
Lars Mattias Winnerbäck (born 19 October 1975 in Stockholm), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. He was born in Stockholm, but spent his childhood in Linköping, where he attended Katedralskolan. He moved back to Stockholm in 1996, the same year he released his first album, Dans med svåra steg. He is now one of Sweden's most popular artists.
The influence of songwriters like Carl Michael Bellman, Evert Taube, Bob Dylan, Ulf Lundell and Cornelis Vreeswijk shines through in Winnerbäck's exclusively Swedish lyrics, which deal with shallowness, prejudice in society, as well as romance, relationships and anxiety. Several songs depict the difference between living in small town Linköping and the capital Stockholm.
His vynil records were rereleased in October 2011 many of them charting again on the Sverigetopplistan, the official Swedish Albums Chart.
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Lena Olin
Lena Maria Jonna Olin (born 22 March 1955) is a Swedish actress.
Olin was born the youngest of three children, in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the daughter of actress Britta Holmberg and the director Stig Olin. She studied acting at Sweden's National Academy of Dramatic Art.
She was crowned Miss Scandinavia 1975 in Helsinki, Finland in October 1974.
Olin worked both as a substitute teacher and as a hospital nurse before becoming an actress. Olin performed for over a decade with Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre-ensemble (1980–1994) in classic plays by Shakespeare and Strindberg, and appeared in smaller roles of several Swedish films directed by Bergman and in productions of Swedish Television's TV-Theatre Company.
Ingmar Bergman cast Olin in Face to Face. Later she acted at the national stage in Stockholm in several productions directed by Bergman, and with Bergman's production of King Lear (in which Olin played Cordelia) she toured the world — Paris, Berlin, New York, Copenhagen, Moscow and Oslo, among others. Critically acclaimed stage performances by Olin at Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre included the leading part as The Daughter in A Dream Play by Strindberg, Margarita in the stage adaption of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters, Ann in Edward Bond's Summer, Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare, Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, the title role in Ingmar Bergman's rendition of Strindberg's Miss Julie and her neurotic Charlotte in the contemporary drama Nattvarden (The Last Supper) by Lars Norén.
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List of Swedes
This is a list of well known Swedes, ordered alphabetically within categories:
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Love Is All
Love Is All is a five-piece indie pop band from Gothenburg, Sweden. It releases songs in English. Paste Magazine has stated that it makes "infectiously lo-fi punk rock laced with saxophone and melodic vocals".
Swedish band Love Is All are composed of Josephine Olausson (vocals, keyboard), Johan Lindwall (bass), Markus Görsch (drums), James Ausfahrt (saxophone), and Nicholaus Sparding (guitar/vocals). Olausson, Sparding, and Görsch had previously been members of Girlfriendo. The trio promptly regrouped after that band's demise and added Lindwall, who had recorded in a side project with Olausson and Sparding called Cat Skills. They finally added the missing piece with saxophone player Fredrik Eriksson. While earning many rave reviews from the blogging community for their blend of art punk and indie rock, the band released several singles, one of which made single of the week in NME. The singles were collected on the debut LP Nine Times That Same Song, released by New York-based What's Your Rupture? in late 2005. After much touring through 2006 and 2007, Eriksson left the band and Love Is All continued on as a quartet. A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night and the remix album Love Is All Mixed Up arrived in 2008, along with Eriksson's replacement Åke Strömer (saxophone, keyboards). They are currently signed to Polyvinyl Record Co..
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Magnus IV of Sweden
Magnus Eriksson (spring 1316 – 1 December 1374) as Magnus IV was king of Sweden (1319–1364), including Finland, as Magnus VII King of Norway (1318–1355), including Iceland and Greenland, and also ruled Scania (1332–1360). By adversaries he has also been called Magnus Smek (English equivalent: Magnus the Caresser). Referring to Magnus Eriksson as Magnus II is inaccurate. The Swedish Royal Court officially lists three Swedish kings before him by the name.
Magnus was the son of Duke Erik Magnusson of Sweden and Ingeborg, a daughter of Haakon V of Norway. Magnus was elected king of Sweden on 8 July 1319, and acclaimed as hereditary king of Norway at the thing of Haugathing in Tønsberg in August the same year. Under the regencies of his grandmother, Helwig of Holstein, and his mother, Ingeborg of Norway, the countries were ruled by Knut Jonsson and Erling Vidkunsson.
Magnus was declared to have come of age at 15 in 1331. This caused resistance in Norway, where a statute from 1302 made clear that kings came of age at the age of 20, and a rising by Erling Vidkunsson and other Norwegian nobles ensued. In 1333, the rebels submitted to king Magnus.
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Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow ( /vɒn ˈsiːdoʊ/;Swedish: [fɔn ˈsyːdɔv]; born 10 April 1929) is a Swedish-French actor, born in Sweden and now holds dual Swedish/French citizenship. He has starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens more. He has performed in films filmed in many languages, including Swedish, Norwegian, English, Italian, German, Danish, French, and Spanish. Von Sydow received the Royal Foundation of Sweden's Cultural Award in 1954, the Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 2005 and the Légion d'honneur in 2010.
Some of his most memorable film roles include knight Antonius Block in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (the first of his eleven films with Bergman, and the film that includes the iconic scene in which he plays chess with Death), Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told, Father Merrin in The Exorcist, Karl Oskar in The Emigrants, Joubert the assassin in Three Days of the Condor, Ming the Merciless in the 1980 version of Flash Gordon, the villain Blofeld in Never Say Never Again, Frederick in Hannah and Her Sisters, and Lassefar in Pelle the Conqueror, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination. In 2012, he was nominated a second time, for his supporting role in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
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Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government (for example the inhabitants of a sovereign state) irrespective of their ethnic make-up. In international relations, nation can refer to a country or sovereign state. The word nation can more specifically refer to people of North American Indians, such as the Cherokee Nation that prefer this term over the contested term tribe.
According to Joseph Stalin writing in 1913 in Marxism and the National Question: "a nation is not a racial or tribal, but a historically constituted community of people;" "a nation is not a casual or ephemeral conglomeration, but a stable community of people;" "a common language is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a nation is formed only as a result of lengthy and systematic intercourse, as a result of people living together generation after generation;" "a common territory is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a common economic life, economic cohesion, is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a common psychological make-up, which manifests itself in a common culture, is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture." According to Stalin, this would exclude Jews as they have no common territory.
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Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Тесла; 10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was a Serbian-American inventor, physicist, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, and futurist. He was an important contributor to the use of commercial electricity, and is best known for developing the modern alternating current (AC) electrical supply system. His many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were based on the theories of electromagnetic technology discovered by Michael Faraday. Tesla's patents and theoretical work also formed the basis of wireless communication and the radio.
Born in the village of Smiljan (now part of Gospić, present day Croatia), Tesla was a subject of the Austrian Empire by birth and later became an American citizen. Because of his 1894 demonstration of short range wireless communication through radio and as the eventual victor in the "War of Currents", he was widely respected as one of the greatest electrical engineers who worked in America. He pioneered modern electrical engineering and many of his discoveries were of groundbreaking importance. In the United States during this time, Tesla's fame rivaled that of any other inventor or scientist in history or popular culture. Tesla demonstrated wireless energy transfer to power electronic devices in 1891, and aspired to intercontinental wireless transmission of industrial power in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project.
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Nils Edén
Nils Edén (25 August 1871–16 June 1945) was a Swedish historian and liberal politician, Prime Minister of Sweden 1917–1920, and along with Hjalmar Branting acknowledged as co-architect of Sweden's transition from quasi-absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy with equal male and female suffrage.
Edén was born in Piteå, in Norrbotten, son of a school principal, and graduated from secondary school in Luleå before matriculating at Uppsala University in 1889. He completed his Ph.D. in 1899 and was made docent in history at the university the same year. He was a specialist in Swedish 16th and 17th century history, but also published on topics concerning the union of Sweden and Norway. His dissertation, Om centralregeringens organisation under den äldre Vasatiden 1523–1594 ("The organization of the central government during the older Vasa period, 1523–1594", 1899), was awarded the Geijer Prize.
Nils Edén became lecturer of history at Uppsala University in 1899, extraordinary professor in 1903 and ordinary professor in 1909. He retained his chair until 1920, when he became governor of Stockholm county. In the meantime he was active as a liberal politician, having written on the burning issue of the union with Norway as early as the 1890s, arguing among Uppsala students for the system of compulsory military service that was introduced with the abolishment of the allotment system in 1901, and for universal suffrage, an issue that were in his mind and in the political rhetoric of the time connected to that of compulsory military service.
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Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths (Latin: Ostrogothi or Austrogothi) were a branch of the Goths (the other branch being the Visigoths), a Germanic tribe who developed a vast empire north of the Black Sea in the 3rd century AD and, in the late 5th century, under Theodoric the Great, established a Kingdom in Italy.
Invading southward from the Baltic Sea, the Ostrogoths, at the time known as the Greuthungi, built up a huge empire stretching from the Dniester to the Volga river and from the Black Sea to the Baltic shores. The Ostrogoths were probably literate in the 3rd century, and their trade with the Romans was highly developed. Their Danubian kingdom reached its zenith under King Ermanaric, who is said to have committed suicide at an old age when the Huns attacked his people and subjugated them about 370.
After their subjugation by the Huns, little is heard of the Ostrogoths for about 80 years, after which they reappear in Pannonia on the middle Danube River as federates of the Romans. However, a pocket remained behind in the Crimea when the bulk of them moved to central Europe, and these Crimean Ostrogoths existed until at least the 16th century. After the collapse of the Hun empire after the Battle of Nedao (453), the Ostrogoths under Theodoric the Great first moved to Moesia (c. 475–488) and later conquered the Italian Kingdom of the German warrior Odoacer. Theodoric became King of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in 493 and died in 526. A period of instability then ensued, tempting the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian to declare war on the Ostrogoths in 535 in an effort to restore the former western provinces of the Roman Empire. Initially, the Byzantines were successful, but under the leadership of Totila, the Goths reconquered most of the lost territory until Totila's death at the Battle of Taginae. The war lasted for almost 20 years and caused enormous damage and depopulation of Italy. The remaining Ostrogoths were absorbed into the Lombards who established a Kingdom in Italy in 567 AD.
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Peter Stormare
Peter Stormare (help·info) (born 27 August 1953) is a Swedish film, stage, voice and television actor, as well as a theatrical director, playwright and musician.
Stormare was born in Kumla, Närke, Sweden. He grew up in Arbrå, Hälsingland, originally named Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm. He changed his surname when he discovered he shared it with a senior student at the acting academy. His original choice of name, Retep Mrots (his own name spelled backwards), was rejected.[citation needed] Just like "storm" (a word which has the same meaning in Swedish and English), "stormare" is a Swedish word, meaning "stormer".
Stormare began his career with the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theatre, to which he belonged for eleven years. In 1990, he took a leading position (Associate Artistic Director) at the Tokyo Globe Theatre and made a name for himself through various Shakespeare performances including Hamlet. Three years later, he moved to New York City and mainly took part there in English language productions. He played Carl Hamilton, a fictional Swedish secret agent similar to James Bond. He was discovered by international audiences for his critically acclaimed role as one of the kidnappers (with Steve Buscemi) in Fargo (1996). He later played a sleazy, unlicensed "eye-doctor" named Solomon Eddie in Minority Report. He portrayed Dieter Stark in the 1997 film The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
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Peter the Great
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov (Russian: Пётр Алексе́евич Рома́нов, Пётр I, Pyotr I, or Пётр Вели́кий, Pyotr Velikiy) (9 June [O.S. 30 May] 1672 – 8 February [O.S. 28 January] 1725) ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 7 May [O.S. 27 April] 1682 until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother. In numerous successful wars he expanded the Tsardom into a huge empire that became a major European power. According to historian James Cracraft, he led a cultural revolution that replaced the traditionalist and medieval social and political system with a modern, scientific, Europe-oriented, and rationalist system.
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RedOne
Nadir Khayat (Arabic: نادر الخياط), professionally known by the stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan-born Swedish producer and songwriter. Renowned for co-producing hit singles such as "Just Dance" (with Akon), "Poker Face", "LoveGame" and many more, he is attributed as the key to Lady Gaga's success. He has worked with Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias, Nicole Scherzinger, Nicki Minaj, Alexandra Burke,, Porcelain Black, Nayer, and One Direction producing songs such as "On the Floor", "Papi","I Like It", "Poison", "Start Without You", "Starships", Mannequin Factory and "Save You Tonight", from the album "Up All Night". RedOne has established his own record label named 2101 Records as a joint venture with Universal International Music, an administrative unit of Universal Music Group.
He has been nominated for six Grammy awards, winning two. In 2009, he was the number one producer on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, ranking number three as songwriter.
RedOne penned many of the songs sung by Alexey Vorobyov, who represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest of 2011 and eventually recruited the singer to his record label. He is producing the Cher and Lady Gaga duet, "The Greatest Thing". Scheduled to be released at Christmas 2011, the single will appear on Cher's twenty-sixth studio album. He is also working on the debut albums for Porcelain Black and Ash Stymest.
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Robyn
Robin Miriam Carlsson (born 12 June 1979), better known by her stage name Robyn, is a Swedish recording artist. Robyn became known in the late nineties for her worldwide dance-pop hit "Do You Know (What It Takes)" from her debut album Robyn Is Here (1997). The popularity of her number-one hit "With Every Heartbeat" and subsequent album release Robyn (2005) brought her mainstream success worldwide. In January 2009 Robyn won a Swedish Grammis award for Best Live Act 2008.
Robyn released the first of a trilogy of albums to be released over the course of 2010 titled Body Talk Pt. 1, in June of that year, peaking at number one. It was her first album since Robyn. The album's lead single "Dancing on My Own" was released a few weeks prior to the album's release; it became a hit single worldwide and brought her a Grammy Award nomination for the category of Best Dance Recording in 2011. A follow-up album, Body Talk Pt. 2, was released on 6 September, entering straight at number one on the Swedish chart, and the final album of the trilogy, Body Talk, was released on 22 November 2010 with lead single "Indestructible". "Call Your Girlfriend" was the second single to be released from Body Talk. Robyn possesses the vocal range of a soprano.
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Runic alphabet
Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets which were used to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter. The Scandinavian variants are also known as futhark or fuþark (derived from their first six letters of the alphabet: F, U, Þ, A, R, and K); the Anglo-Saxon variant is futhorc or fuþorc (due to sound changes undergone in Old English by the same six letters). Runology is the study of the runic alphabets, runic inscriptions, runestones, and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of Germanic linguistics.
The earliest runic inscriptions date from around AD 150. The characters were generally replaced by the Latin alphabet as the cultures that had used runes underwent Christianization by around AD 700 in central Europe and by around AD 1100 in Northern Europe. However, the use of runes persisted for specialized purposes in Northern Europe. Until the early 20th century runes were used in rural Sweden for decoration purposes in Dalarna and on Runic calendars.
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Sahara Hotnights
Sahara Hotnights is a rock band from Robertsfors, Sweden. Their style incorporates elements of garage rock, power pop and punk.
The band formed sometime around 1991/1992, "due to boredom". While in Australia, Josephine Forsman bet on a horse named Sahara Hotnights and used the name for the band. Around 1995, they won a "battle of the bands" contest and were awarded with a chance to record their songs in studio. Their debut EP, Suits Anyone Fine, was released in 1997 to immediate success and critical acclaim in Europe. Soon afterwards, the band signed with the Swedish label Speech Records, and over the next two years released three further singles, Face Wet, Oh Darling!, and Nothing Yet. In 1999 Sahara Hotnights released their debut full-length studio album C'mon Let's Pretend, which earned two Grammis nominations.
The Drive Dead Slow EP appeared in April 2000, released on the BMG label, before the band's second album Jennie Bomb (named for Jennie Asplund) was released in 2001 (2002 in America). The timing of its release coincided with a surge in interest in Swedish rock'n'roll bands, such as The Hives, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Mando Diao and Hellacopters. The songs "On Top Of Your World" and "With Or Without Control" were released as singles. "Alright Alright (Here's My Fist Where's The Fight?)" is featured in Cheaper by the Dozen, Stormbreaker, New York Minute and on the Jackass: The Movie soundtrack.
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Selma Lagerlöf
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈsɛlma ˈlɑːɡərˌløːv] ( listen); 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish author. She was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils).
Born at Mårbacka (now in Sunne Municipality) an estate in Värmland in western Sweden, Lagerlöf was the daughter of Lieutenant Erik Gustaf Lagerlöf and Louise Lagerlöf née Wallroth. The couple's fourth child, she was born with a hip injury. An early sickness left her lame in both legs, although she later recovered. She was a quiet child, more serious than others her age, with a deep love of reading. The sale of Mårbacka following her father's illness in 1884 had a serious impact on her development.
Lagerlöf worked as a country schoolteacher at a high school for girls in Landskrona from 1885 to 1895 while honing her story-telling skills, with particular focus on the legends she had learned as a child. Through her studies at the Royal Women's Superior Training Academy in Stockholm, Lagerlöf reacted against the realism of contemporary Swedish language writers such as August Strindberg. She began her first novel, Gösta Berling's Saga, while working as a teacher in Landskrona. Her first break as a writer came when she submitted the first chapters to a literary contest, and won a publishing contract for the whole book. She received financial support of Fredrika Limnell, who wished to enable her to concentrate on her writing.
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Snorri Sturluson
Snorre Sturluson (1179 – 23 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He was the author of the Prose Edda or Younger Edda, which consists of Gylfaginning ("the fooling of Gylfi"), a narrative of Norse mythology, the Skáldskaparmál, a book of poetic language, and the Háttatal, a list of verse forms. He was also the author of the Heimskringla, a history of the Norwegian kings that begins with legendary material in Ynglinga saga and moves through to early medieval Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of Egil's saga.
As a historian and mythographer, Snorri is remarkable for proposing the theory (in the Prose Edda) that mythological gods begin as human war leaders and kings whose funeral sites develop cults (see euhemerism). As people call upon the dead war leader as they go to battle, or the dead king as they face tribal hardship, they begin to venerate the figure. Eventually, the king or warrior is remembered only as a god. He also proposed that as tribes defeat others, they explain their victory by proposing that their own gods were in battle with the gods of the others.[citation needed]
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St. Ansgar
Saint Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, (September 8, 801 – February 3, 865, in Bremen) was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. The see of Hamburg was designated a "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North".
After his mother’s early death, Ansgar was brought up in Corbie Abbey, and made rapid progress in his education. According to the Vita Ansgarii ("Life of Ansgar"), when the little boy learned in a vision that his mother was in the company of Saint Mary, his careless attitude toward spiritual matters changed to seriousness ("Life of Ansgar", 1). His pupil, successor, and eventual biographer Rimbert considered the visions of which this was the first to be the main motivation of the saint's life.
Ansgar was a product of the phase of Christianization of Saxony (present day Northern Germany) begun by Charlemagne and continued by his son and successor, Louis the Pious. When Saxony was no longer the focus of Christianization, what is now Denmark fell under the sweeping missionary gaze, with a group of monks including Ansgar sent back to Jutland with the baptized Jutish king Harald Klak. Ansgar returned two years later after educating young boys who had been purchased because Harald had possibly been driven out of his kingdom. In 822 Ansgar was one of a number of missionaries sent to found the abbey of Corvey (New Corbie) in Westphalia, and there became a teacher and preacher. Then in 829 in response to a request from the Swedish king Björn at Hauge for a mission to the Swedes, Louis appointed Ansgar missionary. With an assistant, the friar Witmar, he preached and made converts for six months at Birka, on Lake Mälaren. They organized a small congregation there with the king's steward, Hergeir, as its most prominent member. In 831 he returned to Louis' court at Worms and was appointed to the Archbishopric of Hamburg.
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Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan John Skarsgård (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈstɛlː.ˈan ˈskɒːʂɡoːɖ] ( listen); born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor, though he is best known internationally for his roles in English-language films.
Skarsgård was born in Gothenburg, Sweden; the son of Gudrun (née Larsson) and Jan Skarsgård. He moved often in his childhood and lived, amongst other places, in Helsingborg, Totebo, Kalmar, Marielund and Uppsala.
Skarsgård started his acting career early. At the age of 21 he already had a great deal of experience in film, TV and stage. Most of his early roles were in Swedish TV (such as Bombi Bitt) and movies. Of Skarsgård’s Swedish film work, he is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who worked to save Holocaust victims. The movie was filmed in Budapest, in the only Jewish ghetto to survive World War II.
Skarsgård is particularly associated with director Lars von Trier. He appeared in four of the Danish auteur's features – The Kingdom, Breaking the Waves, Dogville and Melancholia. His most personal working relationship, however, is with Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland. Relevant films here are Kjærlighetens kjøtere, Aberdeen and A Somewhat Gentle Man (2010). Skarsgård considers Moland a close friend. Before shooting their next project in 2009, he said of their relationship: "We're like an old married couple and I get separation anxiety." Aside from these, his best-known Scandinavian work is probably his leading role in another Norwegian film as the guilt-ridden policeman Jonas Engström in the original Insomnia.
wn.com/Stellan_Skarsgård -
Stieg Larsson
Karl Stig-Erland "Stieg" Larsson ( /stiːɡ ˈlɑrsən/; Swedish pronunciation: [ˈkaɭ ˈstiːɡ ˈæɭand ˈlaʂɔn]; 15 August 1954 – 9 November 2004) was a Swedish journalist and writer. He is best known for writing the "Millennium series" of crime novels, which were published posthumously. Larsson lived and worked much of his life in Stockholm, in the field of journalism and as an independent researcher of right-wing extremism.
He was the second best-selling author in the world for 2008, behind Khaled Hosseini. By December 2011, his "Millennium series" had sold 65 million copies; its last part, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, became the most sold book in the United States in 2010 according to Publishers Weekly.
Stieg Larsson was born in 1954 in Skelleftehamn near the northern Swedish city of Skellefteå, where at that time his father and maternal grandfather worked in the Rönnskärsverken smelting plant. After his father had to leave his job there, due to suffering from arsenic poisoning, the family moved to Stockholm but, because of their cramped living conditions in Stockholm, chose to let their one-year-old son remain behind with his grandparents. He lived with his grandparents until the age of nine near the village of Bjursele in Norsjö Municipality, Västerbotten County.
wn.com/Stieg_Larsson -
Suebi
The Suebi or Suevi (from Proto-Germanic *swēbaz based on the Proto-Germanic root *swē- meaning "one's own" people, from an Indo-European root *swe-, the third person reflexive pronoun) were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c. 58 BC;
Some Suebi remained a periodic threat against the Romans on the Rhine, until, toward the end of the empire, the Alamanni, including elements of Suebi, brushed aside Roman defenses and occupied Alsace, and from there Bavaria and Switzerland. A pocket remained in Swabia (an area in southwest Germany whose modern name derives from the ancient name), whereas migrants to Gallaecia (modern Galicia, in Spain, and Northern Portugal) established a kingdom there which lasted for 170 years until its integration into the Visigothic Kingdom.
In the classical sources, the ethnonym Suebi is used with two different meanings: the specific tribe of Caesar's campaign, "dwelling on the Main", and "broadly, to cover a large number of tribes in central Germany." The broad view is expressed in Tacitus's Germania, a basic written source for the Suebic peoples that states:
wn.com/Suebi -
Swedes
Swedes (Swedish: svenskar) are a nation and ethnic group native to Sweden, mostly inhabiting Sweden and the other Nordic countries, with descendants living in a number of countries.
Most scholars agree that Suiones and the attested Germanic forms of the name derive from the same Proto-Indo-European reflexive pronominal root, *s(w)e, as the Latin suus. The word must have meant "one's own (tribesmen)". In modern Scandinavian, the same root appears in words such as svåger (brother-in-law) and svägerska (sister-in-law). The same root and original meaning is found in the ethnonym of the Germanic tribe Suebi, preserved to this day in the name Schwaben.
Sweden enters proto-history with the Germania of Tacitus in AD 98. In Germania 44, 45 he mentions the Swedes (Suiones) as a powerful tribe (distinguished not merely for their arms and men, but for their powerful fleets) with ships that had a prow in both ends (longships). Which kings (kuningaz) ruled these Suiones is unknown, but Norse mythology presents a long line of legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC. As for literacy in Sweden itself, the runic script was in use among the south Scandinavian elite by at least the 2nd century AD, but all that has come down to the present from the Roman Period is curt inscriptions on artefacts, mainly of male names, demonstrating that the people of south Scandinavia spoke Proto-Norse at the time, a language ancestral to Swedish and other North Germanic languages.
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Swedish Estonians
The Estonian Swedes, Estonia-Swedes, or Coastal Swedes (Swedish: estlandssvenskar, "Estonia Swedes", colloquially aibofolke, "Island People", Estonian: rannarootslased, i.e. "Coastal Swedes" or eestirootslased) are a Swedish-speaking linguistic minority traditionally residing in the coastal areas and islands of what is now western and northern Estonia. The beginning of the continuous settlement of Estonian Swedes in these areas (known as Aiboland) dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries, when their Swedish-speaking ancestors arrived in Estonia from what is now Sweden and Finland. Almost all of Estonia's Swedish-speaking minority fled to Sweden during World War II, and only the descendants of a few individuals who opted to stay are permanently resident in Estonia today.
The Swedish speaking population in Estonia persisted for about 650 years. The first written mention of the Swedish population in Estonia comes from 1294, in the laws of the town of Haapsalu. Further early mentions of Swedes in Estonia came in 1341 and 1345 (when an Estonian monastery in Padise sold "the Laoküla Estate" and Suur-Pakri Island to a group of Swedes). During the 13th through 15th centuries, large numbers of Swedes arrived in coastal Estonia from Finland, which was part of the Kingdom of Sweden (and would remain so for hundreds of years), often settling on Church-owned land. The first documented record of the island of Ruhnu (Swedish: Runö), and of its Swedish population, is also a 1341 letter sent by the Bishop of Courland which confirmed the islanders' right to reside and manage their property in accordance with Swedish law.
wn.com/Swedish_Estonians -
Swedish people
Swedes (Swedish: svenskar) are a nation and ethnic group native to Sweden, mostly inhabiting Sweden and the other Nordic countries, with descendants living in a number of countries.
Most scholars agree that Suiones and the attested Germanic forms of the name derive from the same Proto-Indo-European reflexive pronominal root, *s(w)e, as the Latin suus. The word must have meant "one's own (tribesmen)". In modern Scandinavian, the same root appears in words such as svåger (brother-in-law) and svägerska (sister-in-law). The same root and original meaning is found in the ethnonym of the Germanic tribe Suebi, preserved to this day in the name Schwaben.
Sweden enters proto-history with the Germania of Tacitus in AD 98. In Germania 44, 45 he mentions the Swedes (Suiones) as a powerful tribe (distinguished not merely for their arms and men, but for their powerful fleets) with ships that had a prow in both ends (longships). Which kings (kuningaz) ruled these Suiones is unknown, but Norse mythology presents a long line of legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC. As for literacy in Sweden itself, the runic script was in use among the south Scandinavian elite by at least the 2nd century AD, but all that has come down to the present from the Roman Period is curt inscriptions on artefacts, mainly of male names, demonstrating that the people of south Scandinavia spoke Proto-Norse at the time, a language ancestral to Swedish and other North Germanic languages.
wn.com/Swedish_people -
Swedish-Argentines
Swedish settlement in Argentina took place principally in the mid to late 19th century, when Swedish people arrived in Argentina. Many Swedes came to Argentina for economic reasons and in order to start a new life. Swedes also helped build Argentina, in particular helping to build Argentina's railroads in the mid 19th century.
The first Swedes to arrive in Argentina were registered as new converts by Jesuits in Córdoba in 1763. Many of the Swedes who showed up during the first half of the 19th century were adventurers who fought in the civil warbetween the Unitarians and Federalists (on both sides). A good number of them were sons of prominent families who were fleeing a debt or had some other reason to make themselves scarce. They became the black sheep of the Pampas. Back home in northern Sweden, they had hunted moose. In Misiones Province's subtropical rainforest, they hunted tapir.
Azul y oro - blue and yellow/gold - have always been Sweden's colours. In Argentina however, they are forever associated with the soccer club Boca Juniors where such national stars as Diego Maradona have worn the yellow and blue jerseys. The club was about to choose a new uniform shirt in 1907 but didn't know what colours to use. They decided to pick the colours from the flag of the first ship to arrive, in Buenos Aires where the club is located, and the first ship to arrive was the Swedish Johnson Line freighter "Drottning Sophie" (Queen Sophie).
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Swedish-Geatish wars
The Swedish-Geatish wars refer to semi-legendary 6th century battles between Swedes and Geats that are described in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. Little has survived of such battles in the Norse sagas, and later 11th century-13th century wars between Swedes and Geats, notably involving the Geatish clans House of Stenkil and House of Sverker, are referred to as Swedish civil wars.
The Anglo-Saxon epic relates that the Swedes did not keep the peace when the Geatish king Hreðel had died, because the Swedish king Ongenþeow's sons (i.e. Ohthere and Onela) had grown up and were eager to fight.
The Geats under their new king Hæþcyn captured the Swedish queen, but old king Ongenþeow saved her, at a hill fort called Hrefnesholt, although they lost her gold. Ongenþeow killed Hæþcyn, and besieged the Geats at Hrefnesholt. The Geats were, however, rescued by Hygelac, Hæþcyn's brother, who arrived the next day with reinforcements. Having lost the battle, but rescued his queen, Ongenþeow and his warriors returned home:
wn.com/Swedish-Geatish_wars -
Tacitus
Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56 – AD 117) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus in AD 14 to (presumably) the death of emperor Domitian in AD 96. There are substantial lacunae in the surviving texts, including one four books long in the Annals.
Other writings by him discuss oratory (in dialogue format, see Dialogus de oratoribus), Germania (in De origine et situ Germanorum), and the life of his father-in-law Agricola, mainly focusing on his campaign in Britannia (see De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae).
Tacitus is considered to be one of the greatest Roman historians. He lived in what has been called the Silver Age of Latin literature, and as well as the brevity and compactness of his Latin prose, he is known for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics.
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The Embassy (band)
The Embassy is a Swedish electropop group consisting of Fredrik Lindson (guitar and vocals) and Torbjörn Håkansson (programming). The Embassy is currently signed to Service Records and Look Records.
The group released their second album, Tacking, to positive reviews.
David Coleman, of No Ripcord, said that "I certainly appreciate how perfect this would sound as the soundtrack to a drunken barbeque or even beach party, but I’m in dreary old Sheffield and you know what? Tacking still sounds pretty great to me." and awarded the album a score of 8/10. This was supported Laura Snapes, who felt the album closely mirrored the environment from which it originates, stating "So much of this album is just pure ecstasy that Rough Guides should consider adopting it as their guide to the city – the sunny xylophone ting and winsome violins of "It Pays To Belong" to walk the cobbled streets of Haga, the old town, the mellow "Information" to cycle down the coastal path to the southern archipelago amidst an encroaching feel of melancholy as you look back at your friends and realise that summer won’t last, and "Was That All It Was" to dance at Pustervik’s Pingisklubben night, gleefully hitting ping pong balls off the table after a few too many pear ciders before shaking it to the awesomely old school saxophone solo." and awarding the album a 72% score.
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Theophilos (emperor)
Theophilos (Greek: Θεόφιλος; 813 – 20 January 842) was the Byzantine Emperor from 829 until his death in 842. He was the second emperor of the Phrygian dynasty, and the last emperor supporting iconoclasm. Theophilos personally led the armies in his life-long war against the Arabs beginning in 831.
Theophilos was the son of the Byzantine Emperor Michael II and his wife Thekla, and the godson of Emperor Leo V the Armenian. Michael II crowned Theophilos co-emperor in 822, shortly after his own accession. Unlike his father, Theophilos received an extensive education, and showed interest in the arts. On 2 October 829, Theophilos succeeded his father as sole emperor.
Theophilos continued in his predecessors' iconoclasm, though without his father's more conciliatory tone, issuing an edict in 832 forbidding the veneration of icons. He also saw himself as the champion of justice, which he served most ostentatiously by executing his father's co-conspirators against Leo V immediately after his accession. His reputation as a judge endured, and in the literary composition Timarion Theophilos is featured as one of the judges in the Netherworld.
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Thrall
Thrall (Old Norse þræll) was the term for a serf or unfree servant in Scandinavian culture during the Viking Age. Thralls were the lowest in the social order and usually provided unskilled labor during the Viking era.
Thrall is from the Old Norse þræll meaning a person who is in bondage or serfdom. The Old Norse term was loaned into late Old English, as þræl. The corresponding native term in Anglo-Saxon society was þeow or esne.
The term is from a Common Germanic root *þreh- "to run" and the Old Norse term in origin referred to "a runner". Old High German had a cognate, dregil "servant, runner".
The English derivation thraldom is of High Medieval date. The verb to enthrall is of Early Modern origin (metaphorical use from the 1570s, literal use from 1610).
Thralls were the lowest class workers in Scandinavian society. When Christianity arrived in Northern Europe, there was increasing demand for non-Christian slaves, and the Scandinavians had a de facto monopoly on trading them because of geographic access to large non-Christian populations. In 1043 Hallvard Vebjørnsson, the son of a local nobleman in the district of Lier, was killed while trying to defend a thrall woman from men who accused her of theft. The Church strongly approved of his action, recognized him as a martyr, canonized him and venerated him as Saint Hallvard, the Patron Saint of Oslo.
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Tiamat (band)
Tiamat is a metal band that formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1987.
Initially, the band played straightforward black metal under the name Treblinka. After having recorded the album Sumerian Cry in 1989, vocalist/guitarist Johan Edlund and bassist Jörgen Thullberg parted ways with the other two founding members, and subsequently changed the name to Tiamat. The Sumerian Cry album included re-recorded Treblinka songs and was released in June 1990.
After the debut, Edlund's leadership would modify the band's style with influences ranging from Mercyful Fate, Candlemass, Pink Floyd and King Crimson, with Sumerian lyrical themes. Polish guitarist Waldemar Sorychta would produce and contribute instrumentation to many of the band's albums, as well as those by Tiamat's own tour and labelmates, including Moonspell, Rotting Christ, Lacuna Coil and Samael.
1994's critically acclaimed Wildhoney mixed raw vocals, slow guitar riffs and synthesizer sounds which sounded different from other extreme metal bands active at that time. An almost continuous forty-minute piece of music, Wildhoney led to the band's appearances at the Dynamo and Wacken Open Air heavy metal festivals in 1995. The group would play a second gig at Dynamo two years later.
wn.com/Tiamat_(band) -
Tomas Tranströmer
Tomas Gösta Tranströmer (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈtʊːmas ˈjœsˈta ˈtrɑːnˈstrœmər]; born 15 April 1931) is a Swedish poet, psychologist and translator. His poems capture the long Swedish winters, the rhythm of the seasons and the palpable, atmospheric beauty of nature. Tranströmer's work is also characterized by a sense of mystery and wonder underlying the routine of everyday life, a quality which often gives his poems a religious dimension. Indeed, he has been described as a Christian poet.
Tranströmer is acclaimed as one of the most important Scandinavian writers since the Second World War. Critics have praised his poetry for its accessibility, even in translation. His poetry has been translated into over 60 languages. He is the recipient of the 1990 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Tranströmer was born in Stockholm in 1931 and raised by his mother, a schoolteacher, following her divorce from his father. He received his secondary education at the Södra Latin School in Stockholm, where he began writing poetry. In addition to selected journal publications, his first collection of poems, 17 Poems was published in 1954. He continued his education at Stockholm University, graduating as a psychologist in 1956 with additional studies in history, religion, and literature. Between 1960 and 1966, Tranströmer split his time between working as a psychologist at the Roxtuna center for juvenile offenders and writing poetry.
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Victor Sjöström
Victor Sjöström (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈvɪktɔɾ ˈɧœˈstɾœm] ( listen); in the United States sometimes known as Victor Seastrom) (20 September 1879 – 3 January 1960) was a Swedish actor, screenwriter, and film director.
Born in Silbodal, in the Värmland region of Sweden, he was only a year old when his father, Olof Adolf Sjöström, moved the family to Brooklyn, New York. His mother died when he was seven years old in 1886. Sjöström returned to Sweden where he lived with relatives in Stockholm, beginning his acting career at 17 as a member of a touring theater company.
Drawn from the stage to the fledgling motion picture industry, he made his first film in 1912 under the direction of Mauritz Stiller. Between then and 1923, he directed another forty-one films in Sweden, some of which are now lost. Those surviving include The Sons of Ingmar (1919), Karin, Daughter of Ingmar (1920) and The Phantom Carriage (1921), all based on stories by the Nobel-prize winning novelist Selma Lagerlöf. They confirm him as one the very greatest of silent film directors, who helped to create a unique idiom with qualities quite different from those of sound cinema. Many of his films from the period are marked by subtle character portrayal, fine storytelling and evocative settings in which the Swedish landscape often plays a key psychological role. The naturalistic quality of his films was enhanced by his (then revolutionary) preference for on-location filming, especially in rural and village settings.
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Virgin Mary
Mary (Hebrew: מִרְיָם, Miriam; Aramaic: Maryām; Arabic:مريم, Maryam), variously called Saint Mary, Mother Mary, the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary, Mother of God, and, in Islam, as Maryam, mother of 'Isa, was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee who lived in the late 1st century BC and early 1st century AD, and is considered by Christians to be the first proselyte to Christianity. She is identified in the New Testament[Mt 1:16,18-25][Lk 1:26-56][2:1-7] and in the Qur'an as the mother of Jesus through divine intervention. Jesus is viewed as the messiah—the Christ—in both traditions, giving rise to the common name of Jesus Christ.
The canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke describe Mary as a virgin (Greek παρθένος, parthénos). Traditionally, Christians believe that she conceived her son miraculously by the agency of the Holy Spirit. Muslims believe that she conceived by the command of God. This took place when she was already betrothed to Saint Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony. She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. In keeping with Jewish custom, the betrothal would have taken place when she was around 12, and the birth of Jesus about a year later.
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Visigoths
The Visigoths (Latin: Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi) were one of two main branches of the later Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germanic peoples who spread through the late Roman Empire during Late Antiquity or the Migration Period. The Visigoths emerged out of the Gothic groups who entered the Roman Empire in and after 376 and defeated the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The Visigoths invaded Italy under Alaric I and famously sacked Rome in 410 AD, eventually settling in Spain and Portugal, where they founded a powerful Kingdom.
After numerous years of migration, which led the Visigoths to compare themselves to the Biblical Hebrew people wandering for 40 years in the Sinai Desert, the Visigoths settled in southern Gaul as foederati of the Romans in 418. For unknown reasons, they soon fell out with their hosts and established their own kingdom with its capital at Toulouse. Extending their authority into Hispania at the expense of the Vandals, their rule in Gaul was ended by the Franks under Clovis I at the Battle of Vouillé in 507. Thereafter the only territory north of the Pyrenees that the Visigoths held was Septimania, such that their kingdom became limited to Hispania. The province came to be dominated by the Visigothic small governing elite at the expense of the Byzantine province of Spania and the Suebic Kingdom of Galicia.
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Warsaw pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance (1955–1991), more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty between eight communist states of Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War. The founding treaty was established under the initiative of the Soviet Union and signed on 14 May 1955, in Warsaw. The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CoMEcon), the regional economic organization for the communist states of Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact was a Soviet military response to the integration of West Germany into NATO in 1955, per the Paris Pacts of 1954.
In the West, the Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance is often called the Warsaw Pact military alliance; abbreviated WAPA, Warpac, and WP. Elsewhere, in the former member states, the Warsaw Treaty is known as:
The Warsaw Treaty’s organization was two-fold: the Political Consultative Committee handled political matters, and the Combined Command of Pact Armed Forces controlled the assigned multi-national forces, with headquarters in Warsaw, Poland. Furthermore, the Supreme Commander of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization was also a First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, and the head of the Warsaw Treaty Combined Staff also was a First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Therefore, although ostensibly an international collective security alliance, the USSR dominated the Warsaw Treaty armed forces.
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World War One
World War I (WWI), which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939 (World War II), and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all the world's great powers, which were assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (based on the Triple Entente of the United Kingdom, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (originally centred around the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy; but, as Austria–Hungary had taken the offensive against the agreement, Italy did not enter into the war). These alliances both reorganised (Italy fought for the Allies), and expanded as more nations entered the war. Ultimately more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history. More than 9 million combatants were killed, largely because of enormous increases in lethality of weapons, thanks to new technology, without corresponding improvements in protection or mobility. It was the sixth-deadliest conflict in world history, subsequently paving the way for various political changes such as revolutions in the nations involved.
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Stereotypes about Swedes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:55
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
www.eastgatemediaproduction.com presents Stereotypes about Swedes and Sweden among those who have visited the country and those who have never been there. Please see our new video made for www.crystalmemories.se
http://wn.com/Stereotypes_about_Swedes
www.eastgatemediaproduction.com presents Stereotypes about Swedes and Sweden among those who have visited the country and those who have never been there. Please see our new video made for www.crystalmemories.se
TGEN- part1: Meeting the Swedes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:55
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
A funny documentary about the Swedes. First part: What you have to know before going in the Stockholm subway and before even trying to talk to Swedish people.
http://wn.com/TGEN_part1_Meeting_the_Swedes
A funny documentary about the Swedes. First part: What you have to know before going in the Stockholm subway and before even trying to talk to Swedish people.
- published: 28 Apr 2007
- views: 35819
- author: europrod
Swedes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:54
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
Five exchange students talk about their impression of Swedes and Swedish culture.
http://wn.com/Swedes
Five exchange students talk about their impression of Swedes and Swedish culture.
- published: 18 Mar 2009
- views: 23591
- author: johbe08
Arab robbed swede and left him to die on a subway track. The New Sweden, almost no convictions.
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:20
- Updated: 10 Dec 2012
Arab robbed swede, left him to die on a train track. This is the New Sweden, almost no convictions, almost no criminal refugees are expelled. Refugees are given housing, food, furniture, cash. They are given the same standard as the swedes worked for all their lives with any demands or work requirements or need to return home. Mass immigration of mostly arabs and africans and others from primitive parts of the world gave sweden the highest crime record in Europe. Incompetent politicians and courts governed directly by politicians gave us the lowest conviction rates in Europe. The courts are populated by the same politicians who virtually removed all borders and permit virtually every refugee to remain no matter what excuse or reason they give. The record low conviction rates can therefore be explained/ They courts prefer to set immigrants free to show that they are tolerant. This practice leads to radical increases in crime rates and new masses of immigrants with doubtful record. Not only is nearly all asylum seekers allowed to stay but they get child support, free housing, cash and benefits beyond what any other nation offers. Often refugees ask for welfare money for a vacation trip to their old country. There are weekly and daily charter flights taking refugees back to their old homeland, they often stay home for months and come back to sweden when they need to collect more money. A more "tolerant" country don't exist. But the correct term is not tolerant. Insane is a ...
http://wn.com/Arab_robbed_swede_and_left_him_to_die_on_a_subway_track_The_New_Sweden,_almost_no_convictions
Arab robbed swede, left him to die on a train track. This is the New Sweden, almost no convictions, almost no criminal refugees are expelled. Refugees are given housing, food, furniture, cash. They are given the same standard as the swedes worked for all their lives with any demands or work requirements or need to return home. Mass immigration of mostly arabs and africans and others from primitive parts of the world gave sweden the highest crime record in Europe. Incompetent politicians and courts governed directly by politicians gave us the lowest conviction rates in Europe. The courts are populated by the same politicians who virtually removed all borders and permit virtually every refugee to remain no matter what excuse or reason they give. The record low conviction rates can therefore be explained/ They courts prefer to set immigrants free to show that they are tolerant. This practice leads to radical increases in crime rates and new masses of immigrants with doubtful record. Not only is nearly all asylum seekers allowed to stay but they get child support, free housing, cash and benefits beyond what any other nation offers. Often refugees ask for welfare money for a vacation trip to their old country. There are weekly and daily charter flights taking refugees back to their old homeland, they often stay home for months and come back to sweden when they need to collect more money. A more "tolerant" country don't exist. But the correct term is not tolerant. Insane is a ...
- published: 13 Sep 2012
- views: 18036
- author: whathitthefan
Swedes the dumbest people in the world: Norwegian videos show it
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:23
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
Sifting through hundreds of thousand TV ads, all over the world, Culturepub looks for the funniest & selects three of them daily for you to laugh and share with your friends. For a quick 3-minute daily snack of New Zealand, Slovenian, Norwegian, US, French ads over the past 40 years, subscribe to our channel ! True stories, or neighborly scorn between Nordics ? Swedish people have a reputation / Might be true at last Country: Norvege Year: 2012 Brand: Cloetta Agency: Dist Creative (Oslo) Producer: Motion Blur (Oslo) More commercials : www.youtube.com All rights reserved. For all inquiries, please mail to culturepub@wizdeo.com
http://wn.com/Swedes_the_dumbest_people_in_the_world_Norwegian_videos_show_it
Sifting through hundreds of thousand TV ads, all over the world, Culturepub looks for the funniest & selects three of them daily for you to laugh and share with your friends. For a quick 3-minute daily snack of New Zealand, Slovenian, Norwegian, US, French ads over the past 40 years, subscribe to our channel ! True stories, or neighborly scorn between Nordics ? Swedish people have a reputation / Might be true at last Country: Norvege Year: 2012 Brand: Cloetta Agency: Dist Creative (Oslo) Producer: Motion Blur (Oslo) More commercials : www.youtube.com All rights reserved. For all inquiries, please mail to culturepub@wizdeo.com
- published: 05 Sep 2012
- views: 2937
- author: CulturePub
Sweden aims to be cashless society
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:04
- Updated: 15 Sep 2012
Swedes are amongst the technologically savvy people on the planet, based on their high rates of use of mobile phones and internet banking. In fact, only three per cent of all financial transactions in the country are made using cash these days. Even public transport tickets can now be pre-paid using mobile phone technology, and most people use similar services to pay for everything from groceries to major purchases. Al Jazeera's Linda Nyberg reports from Stockholm.
http://wn.com/Sweden_aims_to_be_cashless_society
Swedes are amongst the technologically savvy people on the planet, based on their high rates of use of mobile phones and internet banking. In fact, only three per cent of all financial transactions in the country are made using cash these days. Even public transport tickets can now be pre-paid using mobile phone technology, and most people use similar services to pay for everything from groceries to major purchases. Al Jazeera's Linda Nyberg reports from Stockholm.
- published: 08 Sep 2012
- views: 24227
- author: AlJazeeraEnglish
Kate Beckinsale On "Underworld" Suit, Acting For Swedes - Conan on TBS
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:26
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
The lovely and talented Brit reveals that she can't drive.
http://wn.com/Kate_Beckinsale_On_Underworld_Suit,_Acting_For_Swedes_Conan_on_TBS
The lovely and talented Brit reveals that she can't drive.
- published: 17 Jan 2012
- views: 147524
- author: teamcoco
Euro 2012: Swedes Camp Out on Dnipro River Island: Kiev Welcomes Swedish Fans at Ukraine Games
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:54
- Updated: 10 Dec 2012
One of the biggest challenges facing Ukraine's Euro 2012 organisers was how to accommodate the thousands of supporters expected to visit the championships. The most innovative solution can be found here in central Kiev, where an island in the Dnipro River has been turned into a giant campsite which is serving as little corner of Sweden for the duration of Euro 2012. Dubbed as the biggest football fan camp in the history of the sport, Camp Sweden is fast becoming one of the most talked-about aspects of Euro 2012 in Ukraine. JN1 went down to the beach to find out what the Swedes think about their Kiev island camping adventure. Camp Sweden is a joint initiative between Swedish and Ukrainian partners. The seeds of the idea were first planted back in 2005, when Truhaniv Island served as the location for a similar - albeit significantly smaller - camp for visitors attending the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev. This year's efforts have been on a far larger scale and have presented camp organisers with something of a logistical headache, but whether Sweden progress or not to the next round of the tournament, the Camp Sweden team think the event will be considered a big success. There is something particularly poignant about the location of Camp Sweden on the banks of the mighty Dnipro River. Over a thousand years ago Swedish Vikings came down the Dnipro on their way to Byzantium and ended up establishing the Kievan Rus Empire here in Kiev, which would go on to become the ...
http://wn.com/Euro_2012_Swedes_Camp_Out_on_Dnipro_River_Island_Kiev_Welcomes_Swedish_Fans_at_Ukraine_Games
One of the biggest challenges facing Ukraine's Euro 2012 organisers was how to accommodate the thousands of supporters expected to visit the championships. The most innovative solution can be found here in central Kiev, where an island in the Dnipro River has been turned into a giant campsite which is serving as little corner of Sweden for the duration of Euro 2012. Dubbed as the biggest football fan camp in the history of the sport, Camp Sweden is fast becoming one of the most talked-about aspects of Euro 2012 in Ukraine. JN1 went down to the beach to find out what the Swedes think about their Kiev island camping adventure. Camp Sweden is a joint initiative between Swedish and Ukrainian partners. The seeds of the idea were first planted back in 2005, when Truhaniv Island served as the location for a similar - albeit significantly smaller - camp for visitors attending the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev. This year's efforts have been on a far larger scale and have presented camp organisers with something of a logistical headache, but whether Sweden progress or not to the next round of the tournament, the Camp Sweden team think the event will be considered a big success. There is something particularly poignant about the location of Camp Sweden on the banks of the mighty Dnipro River. Over a thousand years ago Swedish Vikings came down the Dnipro on their way to Byzantium and ended up establishing the Kievan Rus Empire here in Kiev, which would go on to become the ...
- published: 14 Jun 2012
- views: 16272
- author: JewishNewsOne
NHL 13: Shootout Commentary ep. 17 "Super Swedes"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:24
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
Twitter: twitter.com Facebook: www.facebook.com Tags: commentary 2bc 2bcproductions 2bcproductions2bc johnny superbman the great domski xbox 360 playstation pc video superbmen live funny video games
http://wn.com/NHL_13_Shootout_Commentary_ep_17_Super_Swedes
Twitter: twitter.com Facebook: www.facebook.com Tags: commentary 2bc 2bcproductions 2bcproductions2bc johnny superbman the great domski xbox 360 playstation pc video superbmen live funny video games
- published: 28 Nov 2012
- views: 17875
- author: 2BCProductions2BC
Be Kind Rewind - How To Swede
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:40
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
Jack Black and director Michel Gondry explain the art of sweding. Visit the official site at www.bekindmovie.com
http://wn.com/Be_Kind_Rewind_How_To_Swede
Jack Black and director Michel Gondry explain the art of sweding. Visit the official site at www.bekindmovie.com
- published: 22 Dec 2007
- views: 422842
- author: BeKindMovie
Shit people say to swedes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:43
- Updated: 06 Dec 2012
"Shit Girls Say" inspired me to do this "Shit people say to Swedes" response. I'm not trying to offend anyone, just passing on what I have observed over the years as a Swede in the US. What do you think about Sweden? I'll be happy to answer any question!
http://wn.com/Shit_people_say_to_swedes
"Shit Girls Say" inspired me to do this "Shit people say to Swedes" response. I'm not trying to offend anyone, just passing on what I have observed over the years as a Swede in the US. What do you think about Sweden? I'll be happy to answer any question!
- published: 27 Jan 2012
- views: 4314
- author: juhaniengelberg
Two Modern Swedes in India pt.1 - Do you know Hitler?
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:18
- Updated: 28 Nov 2012
We, Babak Azarmi and Thomas Gunnarsson, started our company RMH six years ago. It's been six years filled with tops and bottoms. In December 2011 it was time to take a break from work and gather inspiration. We decided that the place to go to was India. These are some of the places we visited and some of the people we met. RMHSweden.com.
http://wn.com/Two_Modern_Swedes_in_India_pt1_Do_you_know_Hitler?
We, Babak Azarmi and Thomas Gunnarsson, started our company RMH six years ago. It's been six years filled with tops and bottoms. In December 2011 it was time to take a break from work and gather inspiration. We decided that the place to go to was India. These are some of the places we visited and some of the people we met. RMHSweden.com.
- published: 10 Oct 2012
- views: 1433
- author: RMHSWEDEN
The Swede Show S02 E08 50000Subs and Swedish National Day Hurray!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:08
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
Hurra 50000subs will make somthing more special for 100000subs leave a comment about what you want me to do at 100000! :D
http://wn.com/The_Swede_Show_S02_E08_50000Subs_and_Swedish_National_Day_Hurray!
Hurra 50000subs will make somthing more special for 100000subs leave a comment about what you want me to do at 100000! :D
- published: 06 Jun 2012
- views: 16818
- author: ImAnderZEL
Why Swedes Own In English
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:21
- Updated: 12 Nov 2012
My TUMBLR: adrianisen.tumblr.com Google+: plus.google.com YouTube Main Channel: www.youtube.com YouTube 2nd GAME Channel: www.youtube.com Twitter: twitter.com Subscribe for more videos! Thanks. :) Source:
http://wn.com/Why_Swedes_Own_In_English
My TUMBLR: adrianisen.tumblr.com Google+: plus.google.com YouTube Main Channel: www.youtube.com YouTube 2nd GAME Channel: www.youtube.com Twitter: twitter.com Subscribe for more videos! Thanks. :) Source:
- published: 29 Feb 2012
- views: 1060
- author: adrianisen
Sweden and the Swedes - student voices from Linköping University
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:16
- Updated: 05 Oct 2012
Meet students at Linköping University, Sweden. Read more: www.liu.se
http://wn.com/Sweden_and_the_Swedes_student_voices_from_Linköping_University
Meet students at Linköping University, Sweden. Read more: www.liu.se
- published: 04 Oct 2012
- views: 1835
- author: LinkopingUniversity
Al Pitcher about Swedes - Raw Comedy Club
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:22
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
kanal5play.se - Se mer klipp och avsnitt av Raw Comedy Club.
http://wn.com/Al_Pitcher_about_Swedes_Raw_Comedy_Club
kanal5play.se - Se mer klipp och avsnitt av Raw Comedy Club.
- published: 22 Dec 2011
- views: 32780
- author: kanal5
Swedes are evicted and replaced by refugees in public housing, government tell Swedes to GET OUT,
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:54
- Updated: 10 Dec 2012
Swedes are evicted and replaced by refugees, government tell Swedes to GET OUT, Cities are now trying new methods to obtain additional housing to refugees. All public housing is already full of refugees and cities have started buying and renting mansions, former royal palaces, campgrounds, hotels and any and all types of housing to fit masses of asylum seekers. Some cities are now trying a new method to obtain additional housing. They evict Swedes put them in the street and install refugees in the homes of the evicted swedes. In Grums locals are protesting the new nazi methods of internal deportation of citizens. The evicted victims don't get much support in media since media is supporting the mass immigration policy and the replacement of the native population. A demonstration is planned for July 14, 2012 where they protest the actions of the local socialist politicians to evict elderly and disadvantaged Swedes without power or influence. Facebook group in support of the evicted victims, www.facebook.com Convicted terrorist get asylum and housing, www.aftonbladet.se 103-year old woman is evicted from care home for elderly. The city said, "to save money", while the city made room for more refugees. avpixlat.info
http://wn.com/Swedes_are_evicted_and_replaced_by_refugees_in_public_housing,_government_tell_Swedes_to_GET_OUT,
Swedes are evicted and replaced by refugees, government tell Swedes to GET OUT, Cities are now trying new methods to obtain additional housing to refugees. All public housing is already full of refugees and cities have started buying and renting mansions, former royal palaces, campgrounds, hotels and any and all types of housing to fit masses of asylum seekers. Some cities are now trying a new method to obtain additional housing. They evict Swedes put them in the street and install refugees in the homes of the evicted swedes. In Grums locals are protesting the new nazi methods of internal deportation of citizens. The evicted victims don't get much support in media since media is supporting the mass immigration policy and the replacement of the native population. A demonstration is planned for July 14, 2012 where they protest the actions of the local socialist politicians to evict elderly and disadvantaged Swedes without power or influence. Facebook group in support of the evicted victims, www.facebook.com Convicted terrorist get asylum and housing, www.aftonbladet.se 103-year old woman is evicted from care home for elderly. The city said, "to save money", while the city made room for more refugees. avpixlat.info
- published: 07 Jul 2012
- views: 4398
- author: whathitthefan
Ecstatic Swedes celebrate Eurovision Song Contest win
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:19
- Updated: 23 Oct 2012
Euphoric fans celebrate as Sweden's entry Loreen wins Eurovision Song contest.
http://wn.com/Ecstatic_Swedes_celebrate_Eurovision_Song_Contest_win
Euphoric fans celebrate as Sweden's entry Loreen wins Eurovision Song contest.
- published: 27 May 2012
- views: 2449
- author: telegraphtv
How To Behave Like A Swede In 10 Steps
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:24
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
This is a short video tutorial we made in our english class. Actors: Viking: Nils Vreman Soccerfan: Olof Bjering Farmer: Calle Nilsson Enjoy!
http://wn.com/How_To_Behave_Like_A_Swede_In_10_Steps
This is a short video tutorial we made in our english class. Actors: Viking: Nils Vreman Soccerfan: Olof Bjering Farmer: Calle Nilsson Enjoy!
- published: 18 Jun 2012
- views: 41989
- author: Irdeen
UFC 149: Anton Kuivanen Says Finnish Fighters Are Tougher Than Swedes (Post-Fight Interview)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:36
- Updated: 11 Dec 2012
MMA HEAT's Karyn Bryant talks with UFC Lightweight Anton Kuivanen, minutes after his victory over Mitch Clarke at UFC 149 in Calgary. Anton talks about the split decision win, whether he realized Clarke had blown out his knee during the match and what it meant to get a W inside the Octagon. As the only current Finnish fighter in the UFC, Anton also lets us know what the fight scene is like in his home country and how Finnish fighters compare to Swedes. Be sure to visit www.MMAHEAT.com for more interviews and MMA content. Nós falamos Português! * We're on Facebook www.facebook.com * Follow MMAHEAT on Twitter: www.twitter.com * Follow Karyn on Twitter: www.twitter.com
http://wn.com/UFC_149_Anton_Kuivanen_Says_Finnish_Fighters_Are_Tougher_Than_Swedes_Post-Fight_Interview
MMA HEAT's Karyn Bryant talks with UFC Lightweight Anton Kuivanen, minutes after his victory over Mitch Clarke at UFC 149 in Calgary. Anton talks about the split decision win, whether he realized Clarke had blown out his knee during the match and what it meant to get a W inside the Octagon. As the only current Finnish fighter in the UFC, Anton also lets us know what the fight scene is like in his home country and how Finnish fighters compare to Swedes. Be sure to visit www.MMAHEAT.com for more interviews and MMA content. Nós falamos Português! * We're on Facebook www.facebook.com * Follow MMAHEAT on Twitter: www.twitter.com * Follow Karyn on Twitter: www.twitter.com
- published: 22 Jul 2012
- views: 17309
- author: KarynBryant
GT Popping - Southern Oman with the Swedes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:14
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
Sami went GT popping in Southern Oman in April, 2012. He was joined by three anglers from Sweden, Daniel A., Daniel, and Christian. The group fished with Ocean Active charters. Sami would like to thank Nick from Ocean Active, Ashraf and Captain Saoud for their outstanding services, as well as the Swedish anglers. www.saltywatertackle.com www.oceanactive.com
http://wn.com/GT_Popping_Southern_Oman_with_the_Swedes
Sami went GT popping in Southern Oman in April, 2012. He was joined by three anglers from Sweden, Daniel A., Daniel, and Christian. The group fished with Ocean Active charters. Sami would like to thank Nick from Ocean Active, Ashraf and Captain Saoud for their outstanding services, as well as the Swedish anglers. www.saltywatertackle.com www.oceanactive.com
- published: 03 Jun 2012
- views: 2682
- author: egluck
Crazy Swede!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:32
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
The Swedish looney-tunes were out in force at the London Balboa Festival 2006, this was just for starters...
http://wn.com/Crazy_Swede!
The Swedish looney-tunes were out in force at the London Balboa Festival 2006, this was just for starters...
- published: 19 Apr 2007
- views: 351344
- author: swingcommand
Swedes are Watching Me
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:36
- Updated: 07 Nov 2012
In which Emily sees you watching me watching you, from Sweden. ~~~~~~~~~~ "Every Breath You Take" - Sting and The Police (New Lyrics by Me)
http://wn.com/Swedes_are_Watching_Me
In which Emily sees you watching me watching you, from Sweden. ~~~~~~~~~~ "Every Breath You Take" - Sting and The Police (New Lyrics by Me)
- published: 02 Aug 2012
- views: 397
- author: mlemleh
photo: AP / Manu Brabo
13 Dec 2012
MOSCOW, December 13 (RIA Novosti) – Syrian rebels behind the kidnapping of Ukrainian journalist Ankhar Kochneva have released a video threatening more attacks on Russians and Ukrainians, as a deadline for her execution approaches on Thursday. Kochneva, a 40-year-old Ukrainian citizen, was abducted in October by Syrian rebels as she traveled to the city of Homs, and has been held there by them since, they claim ... ....(size: 2.1Kb)
photo: AP / Bullit Marquez
11 Dec 2012
The death toll brought about by typhoon “Pablo” continued to rise with 714 persons confirmed dead by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) yesterday while those missing ballooned to 890 as massive search, retrieval and relief operations continue in the typhoon-ravaged areas in Mindanao ... 4 ... They were subsequently brought to Caraga Regional Hospital ... (NHMFC) (P100,000) ... With AFP ....(size: 5.4Kb)
photo: AP / Lee Jin-man
13 Dec 2012
The head of the internet giant Google has defiantly defended his company’s tax avoidance strategy claiming he was “proud” of the steps it had taken to cut its tax bill which were just “capitalism”. In an interview in New York Eric Schmidt, Google’s Chairman, confirmed the company had no intention of paying more to the UK exchequer ... “I am very proud of the structure that we set up ... ” ....(size: 3.7Kb)
photo: Russian Presidential Press and Information Office
12 Dec 2012
MOSCOW. Russia President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday denounced opponents who receive financial assistance from abroad and vowed that the country would not allow democracy to be imposed from the outside. Putin said in his first annual state-of-the-nation address since he returned to the Kremlin for a third term that it should be illegal for anyone who receives money from abroad to be a politician in Russia ... ....(size: 3.9Kb)
photo: AP / KCNA
14 Dec 2012
North Koreans have gathered in Pyongyang for a mass rally to celebrate Wednesday's long-range rocket launch. State television showed huge crowds cheering to mark the launch, which has been condemned by many nations as a banned test of missile technology. South Korea, meanwhile, says it has retrieved debris from the rocket and will study it to assess its technology. The first stage of the rocket fell west of the Korean peninsula ... ....(size: 2.7Kb)
Novosti
14 Dec 2012
MOSCOW, December 14 (R-Sport) - Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin scored as Russia came back from a goal down to beat Sweden 5-1 in the opening match of the Euro Hockey Tour’s Russian stage. In Thursday’s other Channel One Cup match, Finland joined world champions Russia at the top of the table after scraping a 3-2 win over the Czech Repulic ... ....(size: 1.9Kb)
noodls
14 Dec 2012
(Source. Swedavia AB). 2012-12-14, kl. 09.10 ... Doctors Without Borders is one of five organisations that Swedavia partners with under the framework for the Group's sustainability work ... With the installation, there is also an opportunity for Swedes to donate by making an SMS (text message) payment ... Every year some 100 Swedes go out into the field for Doctors Without Borders, and about a third of them are non-medical staff ... distributed by....(size: 3.2Kb)
Deutsche Welle
14 Dec 2012
When shopping for the holidays, would you buy your daughter a toy gun? Or your son a doll? Swedish retailers think you would - and they've pioneered gender-neutral advertising aimed at children ... toys ... Some Swedish retailers think you would ... But Nathalie Rothschild, a freelance journalist living in Stockholm, told DW that many Swedes don't see gender neutrality as such. "I think a lot of Swedes feel quite positive towards it," she said ... ....(size: 4.8Kb)
BBC News
14 Dec 2012
Sky Sports
14 Dec 2012
Europe stormed into an early lead at the Royal Trophy after winning the opening foursomes against Asia 3½-½ ... The Swede and Spaniard were eight-under par in beating Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa and South Korean Bae Sang-moon 5&4 ... ....(size: 1.4Kb)
Canberra Times
14 Dec 2012
Nikki Campbell is trying to make the Ladies European Tour. Photo. Gary Schafer ... She failed to negotiate Japan Tour qualifying a fortnight ago, forcing her to look towards Europe as her next challenge ... Swede Isabella Ramsay leads the field after a blistering opening round of 65. ....(size: 1.3Kb)
STL Today
14 Dec 2012
Not even a layer of ice was enough to keep three people from torching the giant straw goat in a Swedish town where the annual challenge of charring it to the ground has become an unusual Christmas tradition for vandals ... Many Swedes place a small straw goat underneath their Christmas trees, or hang miniature versions on the branches ... ....(size: 1.6Kb)
Seattle Post
14 Dec 2012
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Not even a layer of ice was enough to keep three people from torching the giant straw goat in a Swedish town where the annual challenge of charring it to the ground has become an unusual Christmas tradition for vandals ... Many Swedes place a small straw goat underneath their Christmas trees, or hang miniature versions on the branches ... ....(size: 1.6Kb)
San Francisco Chronicle
14 Dec 2012
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Not even a layer of ice was enough to keep three people from torching the giant straw goat in a Swedish town where the annual challenge of charring it to the ground has become an unusual Christmas tradition for vandals ... Many Swedes place a small straw goat underneath their Christmas trees, or hang miniature versions on the branches ... ....(size: 1.6Kb)
Sacramento Bee
14 Dec 2012
STOCKHOLM -- Not even a layer of ice was enough to keep three people from torching the giant straw goat in a Swedish town where the annual challenge of charring it to the ground has become an unusual Christmas tradition for vandals ... Many Swedes place a small straw goat underneath their Christmas trees, or hang miniature versions on the branches....(size: 1.6Kb)
Star Tribune
14 Dec 2012
STOCKHOLM - Not even a layer of ice was enough to keep three people from torching the giant straw goat in a Swedish town where the annual challenge of charring it to the ground has become an unusual Christmas tradition for vandals ... Many Swedes place a small straw goat underneath their Christmas trees, or hang miniature versions on the branches ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)
Denver Post
14 Dec 2012
STOCKHOLM—Not even a layer of ice was enough to keep three people from torching the giant straw goat in a Swedish town where the annual challenge of charring it to the ground has become an unusual Christmas tradition for vandals ... Many Swedes place a small straw goat underneath their Christmas trees, or hang miniature versions on the branches ... All rights reserved ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)
The Charlotte Observer
14 Dec 2012
To achieve this Christmas wish, I drove into the heart of the country and the holiday, to Minnesota and Wisconsin, where Swedes, Swiss and Germans immigrated more than a century ago, moving from one wintry landscape to another ... Swedes “probably don’t go back and learn about their heritage and their ancestors.”....(size: 15.8Kb)
This article is about the Swedes as an ethnic group. For information on the population of Sweden, see Demographics of Sweden. For the ancient Germanic tribe, see Swedes (Germanic tribe).
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| Bridget of Sweden • Anders Celsius • Carl Linnaeus • Alfred Nobel Selma Lagerlöf • Dag Hammarskjöld • Greta Garbo • Astrid Lindgren Ingmar Bergman • Björn Ulvaeus • Carl Sandburg • Annika Sörenstam |
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| 'c. 14,000,000 Including those with Swedish ancestry |
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 Sweden: 7,712,376 (2010 est.)[1]
Swedish-speaking ethnic minorities |
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Mainly Lutheranism and more recently Secularism. Also see Religion in Sweden. Historically Norse paganism |
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Other Scandinavian peoples } |
Swedes (Swedish: svenskar) are a nation and ethnic group native to Sweden, mostly inhabiting Sweden and the other Nordic countries, with descendants living in a number of countries.
Contents |
Etymology[link]
Further information: Name of Sweden
Most scholars agree that Suiones and the attested Germanic forms of the name derive from the same Proto-Indo-European reflexive pronominal root, *s(w)e, as the Latin suus. The word must have meant "one's own (tribesmen)". In modern Scandinavian, the same root appears in words such as svåger (brother-in-law) and svägerska (sister-in-law). The same root and original meaning is found in the ethnonym of the Germanic tribe Suebi, preserved to this day in the name Schwaben.[21][22][23][24]
History[link]
Further information: History of Sweden
Origins[link]
Sweden enters proto-history with the Germania of Tacitus in AD 98. In Germania 44, 45 he mentions the Swedes (Suiones) as a powerful tribe (distinguished not merely for their arms and men, but for their powerful fleets) with ships that had a prow in both ends (longships). Which kings (kuningaz) ruled these Suiones is unknown, but Norse mythology presents a long line of legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC. As for literacy in Sweden itself, the runic script was in use among the south Scandinavian elite by at least the 2nd century AD, but all that has come down to the present from the Roman Period is curt inscriptions on artefacts, mainly of male names, demonstrating that the people of south Scandinavia spoke Proto-Norse at the time, a language ancestral to Swedish and other North Germanic languages.
In the 6th century Jordanes named two tribes he calls the Suehans and the Suetidi who lived in Scandza. These two names are both considered to refer to the same tribe. The Suehans, he says, has very fine horses just as the "Thyringi" tribe (alia vero gens ibi moratur Suehans, quae velud Thyringi equis utuntur eximiis). Snorri Sturluson wrote that the contemporary Swedish king Adils (Eadgils) had the finest horses of his days. The Suehans were the suppliers of black fox skins for the Roman market. Then Jordanes names the Suetidi which is considered to be the Latin form of Svitjod. He writes that the Suetidi are the tallest of men together with the Dani who were of the same stock. Later he mentions other Scandinavian tribes for being of the same height.
Originating in semi-legendary Scandza, believed to be somewhere in modern Götaland, Sweden, a Gothic population had crossed the Baltic Sea before the 2nd century AD, reaching Scythia at the coast of the Black Sea in modern Ukraine where Goths left their archaeological traces in the Chernyakhov culture. In the 5th and 6th centuries, they became divided as the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, and established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in the Iberian peninsula and Italy.[25] Crimean Gothic communities appear to have survived intact in Crimea until the late 18th century.[26]
Viking and Middle Ages[link]
File:Eric the victorious.jpg
Eric the Victorious praying to Odin, Eric was the first king to rule over both the Swedes and the Goths.
The Swedish Viking Age lasted roughly between the 8th and 11th centuries. During this period, it is believed that the Swedes expanded from eastern Sweden and incorporated the Geats to the south.[27] It is believed that Swedish Vikings and Gutar mainly travelled east and south, going to Finland, the Baltic countries, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine the Black Sea and further as far as Baghdad. Their routes passed through the Dnieper down south to Constantinople, on which they did numerous raids. The Byzantine Emperor Theophilos noticed their great skills in war and invited them to serve as his personal bodyguard, known as the varangian guard. The Swedish Vikings, called "Rus" are also believed to be the founding fathers of Kievan Rus. The Arabic traveller "Ibn Fadlan" described these Vikings as following:
I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys and encamped by the Itil. I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blond and ruddy; they wear neither tunics nor caftans, but the men wear a garment which covers one side of the body and leaves a hand free. Each man has an axe, a sword, and a knife, and keeps each by him at all times. The swords are broad and grooved, of Frankish sort.—[28]
The adventures of these Swedish Vikings are commemorated on many runestones in Sweden, such as the Greece Runestones and the Varangian Runestones. There was also considerable participation in expeditions westwards, which are commorated on stones such as the England Runestones. The last major Swedish Viking expedition appears to have been the ill-fated expedition of Ingvar the Far-Travelled to Serkland, the region south-east of the Caspian Sea. Its members are commemorated on the Ingvar Runestones, none of which mentions any survivor. What happened to the crew is unknown, but it is believed that they died of sickness.
- The Kingdom of Sweden
It is not known when and how the 'kingdom of Sweden' was born, but the list of Swedish monarchs is drawn from the first kings who ruled both Svealand (Sweden) and Götaland (Gothia) as one province with Erik the Victorious. Sweden and Gothia were two separate nations long before that into antiquity. It is not known how long they existed, Beowulf described semi-legendary Swedish-Geatish wars in the 6th century.
- Cultural advances
During the early stages of the Scandinavian Viking Age, Ystad in Scania and Paviken on Gotland, in present-day Sweden, were flourishing trade centres. Remains of what is believed to have been a large market have been found in Ystad dating from 600–700 AD.[29] In Paviken, an important centre of trade in the Baltic region during the 9th and 10th century, remains have been found of a large Viking Age harbour with shipbuilding yards and handicraft industries. Between 800 and 1000, trade brought an abundance of silver to Gotland, and according to some scholars, the Gotlanders of this era hoarded more silver than the rest of the population of Scandinavia combined.[29]
St. Ansgar is usually credited for introducing Christianity in 829, but the new religion did not begin to fully replace paganism until the 12th century. During the 11th century, Christianity became the most prevalent religion, and from 1050 Sweden is counted as a Christian nation. The period between 1100 and 1400 was characterized by internal power struggles and competition among the Nordic kingdoms. Swedish kings also began to expand the Swedish-controlled territory in Finland, creating conflicts with the Rus who no longer had any connection with Sweden.[30]
- Feudal institutions in Sweden
Except for the province of Skane, on the southern most tip of Sweden which was under Danish control during this time, feudalism never developed in Sweden as it did in the rest of Europe.[31] Therefore, the peasantry remained largely a class of free farmers throughout most of Swedish history. Slavery (also called thralldom) was not common in Sweden,[32] and what slavery there was tended to be driven out of existence by the spread of Christianity, the difficulty in obtaining slaves from the lands east of the Baltic Sea, and by the development of cities before the 16th century[33] Indeed, both slavery and serfdom were abolished altogether by a decree of King Magnus Erickson in 1335. Former slaves tended to be absorbed into the peasantry and some became laborers in the towns. Still, Sweden remained a poor and economically backward country in which barter was the means of exchange. For instance, the farmers of the province of Dalsland would transport their butter to the mining districts of Sweden and exchange it there for iron, which they would then take down to the coast and trade the iron for fish they needed for food while the iron would be shipped abroad.[34]
- The Plague in Sweden
In the 14th century, Sweden was struck by the Black Death. The population of Sweden was decimated.[35] During this period the Swedish cities also began to acquire greater rights and were strongly influenced by German merchants of the Hanseatic League, active especially at Visby. In 1319, Sweden and Norway were united under King Magnus Eriksson, and in 1397 Queen Margaret I of Denmark effected the personal union of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark through the Kalmar Union. However, Margaret's successors, whose rule was also centred in Denmark, were unable to control the Swedish nobility.
- Minors and Regents
A large number of children inherited the Swedish crown over the course of the kingdom's existence, consequently — real power was held for long periods by regents (notably those of the Sture family) chosen by the Swedish parliament. King Christian II of Denmark, who asserted his claim to Sweden by force of arms, ordered a massacre in 1520 of Swedish nobles at Stockholm. This came to be known as the "Stockholm blood bath" and stirred the Swedish nobility to new resistance and, on 6 June (now Sweden's national holiday) in 1523, they made Gustav Vasa their king.[36] This is sometimes considered as the foundation of modern Sweden. Shortly afterwards he rejected Catholicism and led Sweden into the Protestant Reformation. Economically, Gustav Vasa broke the monopoly of the Hanseatic League over Swedish Baltic Sea trade.[37]
The Hanseatic League had been officially formed at Lübeck on the sea coast of Northern Germany in 1356. The Hanseatic League sought civil and commercial privileges from the princes and royalty of the countries and cities along the coasts of the Baltic Sea.[38] In exchange they offered a certain amount of protection. Having their own navy the Hansa were able to sweep the Baltic Sea free of pirates.[39] The privileges obtained by the Hansa included assurances that only Hansa citizens would be allowed to trade from the ports where they were located. They also sought agreement to be free of all customs and taxes. With these concessions, Lübeck merchants flocked to Stockholm, Sweden and soon came to dominate the economic life of that city and made the port city of Stockholm into the leading commercial and industrial city of Sweden.[40] Under the Hanseatic trade 2/3 of Stockholm's imports consisted of textiles and 1/3 of salt. Exports from Sweden consisted of iron and copper.[41]
However, the Swedes began to resent the monopoly trading position of the Hansa (mostly German citizens) and to resent the income they felt they lost to the Hansa. Consequently, when Gustav Vasa or Gustav I broke the monopoly power of the Hanseatic League he was regarded as a hero to the Swedish people. History now views Gustav I as the father of the modern Swedish nation. The foundations laid by Gustave would take time to develop. Furthermore, when Sweden did develop, freed itself from the Hanseatic League and entered its golden era, the fact the peasantry had traditionally been free meant that more of the economic benefits flowed back to them rather than going to a feudal landowning class.[42] This was not the case in other countries of Europe like Poland were the peasantry was still bound by serfdom and a strong feudalistic land owning system.
Swedish Empire[link]
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See also: History of Sweden (1611–1648), Swedish Empire, Swedish overseas colonies, Sweden and the Great Northern War, Absolute Monarchy in Sweden, Sweden-Finland, and Union between Sweden and Norway
During the 17th century Sweden emerged as a European great power. Before the emergence of the Swedish Empire, Sweden was a very poor and scarcely populated country on the fringe of European civilization, with no significant power or reputation. Sweden rose to prominence on a continental scale during the tenure of king Gustavus Adolphus, seizing territories from Russia and Poland–Lithuania in multiple conflicts, including the Thirty Years' War.
During the Thirty Years' War, Sweden conquered approximately half of the Holy Roman states. Gustav Adolphus planned to become the new Holy Roman Emperor, ruling over a united Scandinavia and the Holy Roman states, but he died at the Battle of Lützen in 1632. After the Battle of Nördlingen, Sweden's only significant military defeat of the war, pro-Swedish sentiment among the German states faded. These German provinces excluded themselves from Swedish power one by one, leaving Sweden with only a few northern German territories: Swedish Pomerania, Bremen-Verden and Wismar. The Swedish armies may have destroyed up to 2,000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500 towns in Germany, one-third of all German towns.[43]
In the middle of the 17th century Sweden was the third largest country in Europe by land area, only surpassed by Russia and Spain. Sweden reached its largest territorial extent under the rule of Charles X after the treaty of Roskilde in 1658.[44][45] The foundation of Sweden's success during this period is credited to Gustav I's major changes on the Swedish economy in the 16th century, and his introduction of Protestantism.[46] In the 17th century, Sweden was engaged in many wars, for example with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with both sides competing for territories of today's Baltic states, with the disastrous Battle of Kircholm being one of the highlights.[47] One-third of the Finnish population died in the devastating famine that struck the country in 1696.[48] Famine also hit Sweden,[49] killing roughly 10% of Sweden's population.[50]
The Swedes conducted a series of invasions into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, known as the Deluge. After more than half a century of almost constant warfare, the Swedish economy had deteriorated. It became the lifetime task of Charles' son, Charles XI, to rebuild the economy and refit the army. His legacy to his son, the coming ruler of Sweden Charles XII, was one of the finest arsenals in the world, a large standing army and a great fleet. Sweden's largest threat at this time, Russia, had a larger army but was far behind in both equipment and training.
After the Battle of Narva in 1700, one of the first battles of the Great Northern War, the Russian army was so severely decimated that Sweden had an open chance to invade Russia. However, Charles did not pursue the Russian army, instead turning against Poland-Lithuania and defeating the Polish king Augustus II and his Saxon allies at the Battle of Kliszow in 1702. This gave Russia time to rebuild and modernize its army.
After the success of invading Poland, Charles decided to make an invasion attempt of Russia which ended in a decisive Russian victory at the Battle of Poltava in 1709. After a long march exposed to cossack raids, Russian Tsar Peter the Great's scorched-earth techniques and the cold Russian climate, the Swedes stood weakened with a shattered morale and enormously outnumbered against the Russian army at Poltava. The defeat meant the beginning of the end for the Swedish Empire.
Charles XII attempted to invade Norway 1716; however, he was shot dead at Fredriksten fortress in 1718. The Swedes were not militarily defeated at Fredriksten, but the whole structure and organization of the Norwegian campaign fell apart with the king's death, and the army withdrew.
Forced to cede large areas of land in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, Sweden also lost its place as an empire and as the dominant state on the Baltic Sea. With Sweden's lost influence, Russia emerged as an empire and became one of Europe's dominant nations. As the war finally ended in 1721, Sweden had lost an estimated 200,000 men, 150,000 of those from the area of present-day Sweden and 50,000 from the Finnish part of Sweden.[51]
In the 18th century, Sweden did not have enough resources to maintain its territories outside Scandinavia, and most of them were lost, culminating with the 1809 loss of eastern Sweden to Russia which became the highly autonomous Grand Principality of Finland in Imperial Russia.
In interest of reestablishing Swedish dominance in the Baltic Sea, Sweden allied itself against its traditional ally and benefactor, France, in the Napoleonic Wars. Sweden's role in the Battle of Leipzig gave it the authority to force Denmark-Norway, an ally of France, to cede Norway to the King of Sweden on 14 January 1814 in exchange for northern German provinces, at the Treaty of Kiel. The Norwegian attempts to keep their status as a sovereign state were rejected by the Swedish king, Charles XIII. He launched a military campaign against Norway on 27 July 1814, ending in the Convention of Moss, which forced Norway into a personal union with Sweden under the Swedish crown, which lasted until 1905. The 1814 campaign was the last war in which Sweden participated as a combatant. Swedish troops partake in peace-keeping missions and currently have forces deployed in Afghanistan and Kosovo.
Modern history[link]
There was a significant population increase during the 18th and 19th centuries, which the writer Esaias Tegnér in 1833 attributed to "the peace, the (smallpox) vaccine, and the potatoes".[52] Between 1750 and 1850, the population in Sweden doubled. According to some scholars, mass emigration to America became the only way to prevent famine and rebellion; over 1% of the population emigrated annually during the 1880s.[53] Nevertheless, Sweden remained poor, retaining a nearly entirely agricultural economy even as Denmark and Western European countries began to industrialize.[53][54]
Many looked towards America for a better life during this time. It is believed that between 1850 and 1910 more than one million Swedes moved to the United States.[55] In the early 20th century, more Swedes lived in Chicago than in Gothenburg (Sweden's second largest city).[56] Most Swedish immigrants moved to the Midwestern United States, with a large population in Minnesota, with a few others moving to other parts of the United States and Canada.
Despite the slow rate of industrialization into the 19th century, many important changes were taking place in the agrarian economy because of innovations and the large population growth.[57] These innovations included government-sponsored programs of enclosure, aggressive exploitation of agricultural lands, and the introduction of new crops such as the potato.[57] Because the Swedish peasantry had never been enserfed as elsewhere in Europe,[58] the Swedish farming culture began to take on a critical role in the Swedish political process, which has continued through modern times with modern Agrarian party (now called the Centre Party).[59] Between 1870 and 1914, Sweden began developing the industrialized economy that exists today.[60]
Strong grassroots movements sprung up in Sweden during the latter half of the 19th century (trade unions, temperance groups, and independent religious groups), creating a strong foundation of democratic principles. In 1889 The Swedish Social Democratic Party was founded. These movements precipitated Sweden's migration into a modern parliamentary democracy, achieved by the time of World War I. As the Industrial Revolution progressed during the 20th century, people gradually began moving into cities to work in factories and became involved in socialist unions. A communist revolution was avoided in 1917, following the re-introduction of parliamentarism, and the country saw comprehensive democratic reforms under the joint Liberal-Social Democrat cabinet of Nils Edén and Hjalmar Branting, with universal and equal suffrage to both houses of parliament enacted for men in 1918 and for women in 1919. The reforms were widely accepted by King Gustaf V, who had previously ousted Karl Staaff's elected Liberal government in the Courtyard Crisis because of differences in defence policy. It is possible that the Monarchy of Sweden survived because of the breakout of World War One, which saw a major shift in public sentiment towards the king's more pro-military views.
World Wars[link]
See also: Sweden during World War II
Sweden remained officially neutral during World War I and World War II, although its neutrality during World War II has been disputed.[61][62] Sweden was under German influence for much of the war, as ties to the rest of the world were cut off through blockades.[61] The Swedish government felt that it was in no position to openly contest Germany,[63] and therefore made some concessions.[64] Sweden also supplied steel and machined parts to Germany throughout the war. However, Sweden supported Norwegian resistance, and in 1943 helped rescue Danish Jews from deportation to concentration camps. Sweden also supported Finland in the Winter War and the Continuation War with volunteers and materiel.
Toward the end of the war, Sweden began to play a role in humanitarian efforts and many refugees, among them many Jews from Nazi-occupied Europe, were saved partly because of the Swedish involvement in rescue missions at the internment camps and partly because Sweden served as a haven for refugees, primarily from the Nordic countries and the Baltic states.[63] Nevertheless, internal and external critics have argued that Sweden could have done more to resist the Nazi war effort, even if risking occupation.[63]
Post-war era[link]
Sweden was officially a neutral country and remained outside NATO or Warsaw pact membership during the cold war, but privately Sweden's leadership had strong ties with the United States and other western governments.
Following the war, Sweden took advantage of an intact industrial base, social stability and its natural resources to expand its industry to supply the rebuilding of Europe.[65] Sweden was part of the Marshall Plan and participated in the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). During most of the post-war era, the country was governed by the Swedish Social Democratic Party largely in cooperation with trade unions and industry. The government actively pursued an internationally competitive manufacturing sector of primarily large corporations.[66]
Sweden, like countries around the globe, entered a period of economic decline and upheaval, following the oil embargoes of 1973–74 and 1978–79.[67] In the 1980s pillars of Swedish industry were massively restructured. Shipbuilding was discontinued, wood pulp was integrated into modernized paper production, the steel industry was concentrated and specialized, and mechanical engineering was robotized.[68]
Between 1970 and 1990 the overall tax burden rose by over 10%, and the growth was low compared to other countries in Western Europe. The marginal income tax for workers reached over 80%[citation needed]. Eventually government spent over half of the country's gross domestic product. Sweden GDP per capita ranking declined during this time.[66]
Recent history[link]
See also: History of Sweden (1989–present)
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A bursting real estate bubble caused by inadequate controls on lending combined with an international recession and a policy switch from anti-unemployment policies to anti-inflationary policies resulted in a fiscal crisis in the early 1990s.[69] Sweden's GDP declined by around 5%. In 1992, there was a run on the currency, with the central bank briefly jacking up interest to 500%.[70][71]
The response of the government was to cut spending and institute a multitude of reforms to improve Sweden's competitiveness, among them reducing the welfare state and privatising public services and goods. Much of the political establishment promoted EU membership, and the Swedish referendum passed with 52% in favour of joining the EU on 13 November 1994. Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995.
Sweden remains non-aligned militarily, although it participates in some joint military exercises with NATO and some other countries, in addition to extensive cooperation with other European countries in the area of defence technology and defence industry. Among others, Swedish companies export weapons that are used by the American military in Iraq.[72] Sweden also has a long history of participating in international military operations, including most recently, Afghanistan, where Swedish troops are under NATO command, and in EU sponsored peacekeeping operations in UN protectorate Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Cyprus. Sweden held the chair of the European Union from 1 July to 31 December 2009.
Language[link]
Further information: Swedish language
The native language of nearly all Swedes is Swedish ( svenska (help·info)) a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people,[73] predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is, to a considerable extent, mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish (see especially "Classification"). Along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. It is currently the largest of the North Germanic languages by numbers of speakers.
Standard Swedish, used by most Swedish people, is the national language that evolved from the Central Swedish dialects in the 19th century and was well established by the beginning of the 20th century. While distinct regional varieties descended from the older rural dialects still exist, the spoken and written language is uniform and standardized. Some dialects differ considerably from the standard language in grammar and vocabulary and are not always mutually intelligible with Standard Swedish. These dialects are confined to rural areas and are spoken primarily by small numbers of people with low social mobility. Though not facing imminent extinction, such dialects have been in decline during the past century, despite the fact that they are well researched and their use is often encouraged by local authorities.
Genetics[link]
According to recent genetic analysis, both mtDNA and Y chromosome polymorphisms showed a noticeable genetic affinity between Swedes and other Germanic ethnic groups.[74] For the global genetic make-up of the Swedish people and other peoples (see also [75] and [76]).
In Patrilineage through the Y haplogroups of their DNA, the Swedes are most diverse and strongly of Haplogroup I1d1 in over 40% of the population tested in different studies,followed by R1a1a and R1b1a2a1a1 with over 20% each one and haplogroup N1c1 with over 5% at different regional variance. The rest are among haplogroups J and E1b1b1 and other less common ones.[77]
Among Mitochondrial haplogroups the Swedes are in matrilineage strongly of haplogroup H in a 25-30%,followed by haplogroup U at a 10% or more,with haplogroup J and T, K at around 5% each one.
Another detailed nuclear genetic study has also implied that Swedes largely share genetics with Finns.[78]
Geographic distribution[link]
Further information: Swedish diaspora
The largest area inhabited by Swedes, as well as the earliest known original area inhabited by their linguistic ancestors, is in the country of Sweden, situated on the eastern side of the Scandinavian Peninsula and the islands adjacent to it, situated west of the Baltic Sea in northern Europe. The Swedish-speaking people living in near-coastal areas on the north-eastern and eastern side of the Baltic Sea also have a long history of continuous settlement, which in some of these areas possibly started about a millennium ago[citation needed]. These people include the Swedish-speakers in mainland Finland – speaking Swedish dialect commonly referred as Finland Swedish (finlandssvenska which is part of East-Swedish dialect group) and the almost exclusively Swedish-speaking population of the Åland Islands speaking in a manner closer to the adjacent dialects in Sweden than to adjacent dialects of Finland Swedish. Estonia also had an important Swedish minority which persisted for about 650 years. Smaller groups of historical descendants of 18th–20th-century Swedish emigrants who still retain varying aspects of Swedish identity to this day can be found in the Americas (especially Minnesota and Wisconsin, see Swedish Americans) and in Ukraine.
Currently, Swedes tend to emigrate mostly to the Nordic neighbour countries (Norway, Denmark, Finland), English speaking countries (USA, UK), Spain and Germany.[79]
Historically, the Kingdom of Sweden has been much larger than nowadays, especially during "The Era of Great Power" (Swedish Empire) in 1611–1718. Finland belonged to Sweden until 1809. Since there was no separate Finnish nationality at those times, it is not unusual that sources predating 1809 refer both to Swedes and Finns as "Swedes". This is particularly the case with New Sweden, where some of the Swedish settlers were of Finnish origin.
Culture[link]
Further information: Culture of Sweden
Cuisine[link]
Main article: Swedish cuisine
Swedish food has traditionally been practical and sustaining. A typical old fashioned meal consists of boiled potatoes, some kind of meat or fish, a sauce and some vegetables. Fish has historically been very important. Swedes are among the heaviest coffee drinkers in the world, second only to Finland. Brewed coffee is dominant. For meals cider, beer, milk, juice, or water is standard. Swedish cider is sweeter and more fruity than foreign ciders, and is enjoyed in almost as large quantities as beer is.
Film[link]
Main article: Cinema of Sweden
Swedish cinema is one of the most widely-known national film industries in the world. The silent period saw the flourish of the gifted visionaries Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström, who brought international attention to Swedish filmmaking and its particular vision of the world[citation needed].
Ingmar Bergman, regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th Century, emerged as a prominent figure in world cinema during the 1950s with his existential epic The Seventh Seal, which he followed with a host of critically revered psychological dramas. Two of his films in particular, Persona and Cries and Whispers, received unparalleled critical adoration and put Sweden in the map as a one of the most progressive cinematic entities. The revered naturalist Jan Troell as well as the socially conscious Bo Widerberg would quickly follow Bergman as the country's foremost visual artists[citation needed].
Famous actresses and actors include Ingrid Bergman, Greta Garbo, Max von Sydow, Alexander Skarsgård, Stellan Skarsgård, Ingrid Thulin, Lena Olin, Dolph Lundgren and Peter Stormare.
Music[link]
Main article: Music of Sweden
Singing is popular in Sweden, and of its 9,000,000 inhabitants, 600,000 belong to various choirs. ([5])
Three of the world's leading songwriters, Jörgen Elofsson, Max Martin and RedOne live in Sweden.
In popular music, the group ABBA became the essence of Swedish music during the 1970s and early 1980s. Later Roxette emerged, mostly performing joyful songs in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This band was also successful in the USA. Europe, Ace of Base and The Cardigans are Swedish pop groups that have been popular in the world.
It can be noted that Britney Spears had at least one of her early albums produced in Sweden, and so did Bon Jovi and the Backstreet Boys[citation needed].
Indie pop/rock is very big in Sweden. Especially Gothenburg has spawned a great deal of prominent bands and artists thanks to labels such as Sincerely Yours, Service and Luxury. Notable Swedish indie bands and artists include Jens Lekman, The Knife, Love Is All, The Concretes, Broder Daniel, The Tough Alliance, Peter, Bjorn and John, Fever Ray, Popsicle, Studio, The Embassy, The Honeydrips, Brainpool, Air France, jj, Joel Alme, Pacific! etc.
In contrast to the large pop music scene in Sweden, they also boast one of the most prolific death metal scenes in the world. Gothenburg is famed in the scene for the "melodic death metal" sound. Many of these bands such as In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates, The Haunted, as well as Stockholm's Amon Amarth and Opeth have seen growing commercial success throughout Europe and the United States. Melodic death metal is quite a broad genre with many variations, but with its more obvious roots in traditional death metal, black metal and classic metal such as Iron Maiden. Still, many bands are influenced by genres as broad as Swedish folk music, alternative music, electronica, gothic music, progressive music and even neo-classical music. Sweden is known for in the extreme metal community for its famous late 80's-early 90's death metal scene, spawning important bands as Entombed, Dismember, Grave and Unleashed as well as more obscure, brutal bands as God Macabre, Obscurity, Treblinka (later Tiamat) and Grotesque. Highly influential band Bathory also had a huge impact on the then-to-come black metal scene of Norway and the 1990s with albums Bathory (1984), The Return (1985), and Under the Sign of the Black Mark (1987), as well as being the first Viking Metal band[citation needed].
There is a notable Swedish hip hop scene. This culture has spawned a new sociolect/dialect (see Rinkeby Swedish), so named after the Rinkeby suburb)[citation needed].
Sweden has produced several notable opera singers. In the 1850s, Jenny Lind (a.k.a. the Swedish Nightingale) toured the United States, and the price of admission for her performances was at a rate never before seen. In the 1950s, Jussi Björling was one of few non-Italian opera singers, and he is to this day a household name in opera circles[citation needed].
Other Swedish bands and artists that seem to manage the international crowd better than others are The Ark, Dungen, José González, Mando Diao, The Sounds, The Hives, Neverstore, Sahara Hotnights, Robyn, Tages, The Mascots, The Shanes etc. However, there are a lot of other bands and artists that dominate the national music scene, such as Kent, Håkan Hellström and Lars Winnerbäck.
Literature[link]
Main article: Swedish literature
Swedish literature is vibrant and active[citation needed]. Sweden ranks joint fifth in the list of countries with most Nobel Prize laureates in literature. Famous Swedish writers and poets are Astrid Lindgren, Selma Lagerlöf, August Strindberg, Hjalmar Söderberg, Tomas Tranströmer, Karin Boye, Stieg Larsson etc.
Architecture[link]
Main article: Architecture of Sweden
Before the 13th century most buildings were made of brick, but a shift began towards stone. Early Swedish stone buildings are the Romanesque churches on the country side. As so happens, many of them were built in Scania and are in effect Danish churches. This would include the magnificent Lund Cathedral from the 11th century and the somewhat younger church in Dalby, but also many early Gothic churches built through influendes of the Hanseatic League, such as in Ystad, Malmö and Helsingborg.
Cathedrals in other parts of Sweden were also built as seats of Sweden's bishops. The Skara Cathedral is of bricks from the 14th century, and the Uppsala Cathedral in the 15th. In 1230 the foundations of the Linköping Cathedral were made, the material was there limestone, but the building took some 250 years to finish.
Among older structures are also some significant fortresses and other historical buildings such asat Borgholm Castle, Halltorps Manor and Eketorp fortress on the island Öland, the Nyköping fortress and the Visby ring wall.
Around 1520 Sweden was out of the Middle Ages and united under King Gustav Vasa, who immediately initiated grand mansions, castles and fortresses to be built. Some of the more magnificent include the Kalmar fortress, the Gripsholm Castle and the one at Vadstena.
In the next two centuries, Sweden was designated by Baroque architecture and later the rococo. Notable projects from that time include the city Karlskrona, which has now also been declared a World Heritage Site and the Drottningholm Palace.
1930 was the year of the great Stockholm exhibition, which marked the breakthrough of Functionalism, or "funkis" as it became known. The style came to dominate in the following decades. Some notables projects of this kind were the Million Programme, offering affordable but anti-human living in large apartment complexes.
Clothing[link]
Current clothing is very internationally influenced, but traditional Swedish national costumes are sometimes used on special occasions, such as Midsummer.
Sweden has in late years taken an interest in the fashion industry, through headquartering famous brands like Hennes & Mauritz (operating as H&M), J. Lindeberg (operating as JL), Gina Tricot, Tiger of Sweden, Acne Jeans and Filippa K within its borders. These companies, however, are largely made up of buyers who import fashionable goods from throughout Europe and the Americas, continuing the trend of Swedish business toward multinational economic dependency like many of its neighbours.[citation needed]
A new breed of smaller Swedish fashion labels like Diana Orving, So Last Season, Odd Molly, WESC, Whyred, Hope, Nakkna, Velour, Carin Wester, Ida Sjöstedt, Unwind Clothing, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, Acne, Cheap Monday, Nudie Jeans and The Local Firm are emerging and getting recognition.[80][81]
Arts[link]
Main article: Art of Sweden
The oldest remains of Swedish art are found in the churches: frescos, altar pieces and baptismal founts. Little unique beauty is generally attributed to these, except for occasional. The motifs evolve around religious beliefs, focused on purgatory, the devil, Jesus Christ, and Virgin Mary[citation needed].
In the 19th century, the painter Carl Larsson (1853–1919) shaped the image of the idyllic countryside home with his naïve picturesque illustrations.
Science and technology[link]
Main article: List of Swedish inventions
In the 18th century Sweden's scientific revolution took off. Previously, technical progress had mainly come from mainland Europe. In 1739, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was founded, with people such as Carolus Linnaeus and Anders Celsius as early members. Many of the companies founded by early pioneers are still remain major international brands. Gustaf Dalén founded AGA, and received the Nobel Prize for his sun valve. Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and instituted the Nobel Prizes. Lars Magnus Ericsson started the company bearing his name, Ericsson, still one of the largest telecom companies in the world. Jonas Wenström was an early pioneer in alternating current and is along with Serbian inventor Tesla credited as one of the inventors of the three-phase electrical system.[82]
The traditional engineering industry is still a major source of Swedish inventions, but pharmaceuticals, electronics and other high-tech industries are gaining ground. Tetra Pak was an invention for storing liquid foods, invented by Erik Wallenberg. Losec, an ulcer medicine, was the world's best-selling drug in the 1990s and was developed by AstraZeneca. More recently Håkan Lans invented the Automatic Identification System, a worldwide standard for shipping and civil aviation navigation. A large portion of the Swedish economy is to this day based on the export of technical inventions, and many large multinational corporations from Sweden have their origins in the ingenuity of Swedish inventors.[82]
Swedish inventors hold a total of 33,523 patents in the United States as of 2007, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. As a nation, only ten other countries hold more patents than Sweden.[83]
See also[link]
- Sweden
- List of Swedes
- List of Swedish actors
- List of Swedish film directors
- List of Swedish scientists
- List of Swedish sportspeople
- Swedish diaspora
- List of Germanic peoples
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References[link]
- ^ "Summary of Population Statistics 1960 - 2008 (corrected version 2009-05-13)". www.scb.se. 2009-05-13. http://www.scb.se/Pages/Product____25799.aspx. Retrieved 2010-02-06. (excluding 1,661,003 persons, or 17.9% of the population, living in Sweden with immigrant background.)
- ^ Finnish Population Registry Center 31.12.2008
- ^ Swedish Embassy, Madrid (2008) - in Swedish
- ^ American Community Survey & Census 2000
- ^ SSB Population Count 2009 (in Norwegian)
- ^ a b "Country-of-birth database". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/18/23/34792376.xls. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
- ^ Joshua project-Ethnic groups of Denmark
- ^ 16 000 svenskar i Frankrike
- ^ "Migration" (PDF). 2006 Census. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 29 March 2007. http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/E0A79B147EA8E0B5CA2572AC001813E8/$File/34120_2005-06.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-16. (table 6.8)
- ^ Sweden's embassy in Ottawa (in Swedish)
- ^ "Det bor, mer eller mindre permanent, uppskattningsvis 6 000 svenska medborgare i Italien" - Swedish embassy in Rome
- ^ "PC225: Population By Ethnic Nationality, Mother Tongue and Citizenship". Estonian Population Census 2000. Statistics Estonia. http://pub.stat.ee/px-web.2001/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=PC225&path=../I_Databas/Population_census/08Ethnic_nationality._Mother_tongue._Command_of_foreign_languages/&lang=1. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ^ Sweden's embassy in Argentina (in Swedish)
- ^ SCB estimates that 300,000 Swedes live abroad. The countries above add up to roughly 228,000.
- ^ US Census Bureau
- ^ Statistics Canada - Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories
- ^ Swedish-Argentines
- ^ 2006 Australian Census Reports 30,375 people of Swedish Ancestry
- ^ Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand
- ^ [1]
- ^ Noreen, A. Nordens äldsta folk- och ortnamn (i Fornvännen 1920 sid 32).
- ^ name = pokorny>Pokorny. Indogermanisches Etymologisches Woerterbuch. 1959
- ^ Hellquist, Elof. 1922. Svensk etymologisk ordbok. Svear. [2]
- ^ Bandle, Oskar. 2002.
- ^ Goth (people). Britannica Online Encyclopedia.
- ^ Ingemar Nordgren (2004). "The Well Spring of the Goths: About the Gothic Peoples in the Nordic Countries and on the Continent". iUniverse. p. 520 ISBN 0-595-33648-5
- ^ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001–05[dead link]
- ^ Quoted from: Gwyn Jones. A History of the Vikings. Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-19-280134-1. Page 164.
- ^ a b Sawyer, Birgit and Peter Sawyer (1993). Medieval Scandinavia: from Conversion to Reformation, Circa 800–1500. University of Minnesota Press, 1993. ISBN 0-8166-1739-2, pp. 150–153.
- ^ Bagge, Sverre (2005) "The Scandinavian Kingdoms". In The New Cambridge Medieval History. Eds. Rosamond McKitterick et al. Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-521-36289-X, p. 724: "Swedish expansion in Finland led to conflicts with Rus', which were temporarily brought to an end by a peace treaty in 1323, dividing the Karelian peninsula and the northern areas between the two countries."
- ^ Franklin D. Scott, Sweden: The Nation's History (University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, 1977) p. 58.
- ^ Träldom. Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 30. Tromsdalstind – Urakami /159–160, 1920. (In Swedish)
- ^ Scott, p. 55.
- ^ Scott, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Scott, pp. 56–57.
- ^ Scott, p. 121.
- ^ Scott, p. 132.
- ^ Robert S. Hoyt & Stanley Chodorow, Europe in the Middle Ages (Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich, Inc.: New York, 1976) p. 628.
- ^ John B. Wolfe, The Emergence of European Civilization (Harper & Row Pub.: New York, 1962) pp. 50–51.
- ^ Scott, p. 52.
- ^ Scott
- ^ Scott, pp. 156–157.
- ^ "Population". History Learningsite. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/population_thirty_years_war.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
- ^ "A Political and Social History of Modern Europe V.1./Hayes..." Hayes, Carlton J. H. (1882–1964), Title: A Political and Social History of Modern Europe V.1., 2002-12-08, Project Gutenberg, webpage: Infomot-7hsr110.
- ^ However, Sweden's largest territorial extent lasted from 1319 to 1343 with Magnus Eriksson ruling all of the traditional lands of Sweden and Norway.
- ^ "Gustav I Vasa – Britannica Concise" (biography), Britannica Concise, 2007, webpage: EBConcise-Gustav-I-Vasa.
- ^ "Battle of Kircholm 1605". Kismeta.com. http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/images/kircholm_27_sept.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
- ^ Finland and the Swedish Empire. Source: U.S. Library of Congress
- ^ Agricultural Yields and Years of Famine – Sweden. Hans Högman.
- ^ Elizabeth Ewan, Janay Nugent (2008) "Finding the family in medieval and early modern Scotland". Ashgate Publishing. p. 153 ISBN 0-7546-6049-4
- ^ Losses statistics at Militaria. (Swedish)
- ^ Paul Robert Magocsi, editor.; Paul Robert Magocsi (1998). Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples. University of Minnesota Press. p. 1220. ISBN 0-8020-2938-8.
- ^ a b Einhorn, Eric and John Logue (1989). Modern Welfare States: Politics and Policies in Social Democratic Scandinavia. Praeger Publishers, p. 9: "Though Denmark, where industrialization had begun in the 1850s, was reasonably prosperous by the end of the nineteenth century, both Sweden and Norway were terribly poor. Only the safety valve of mass emigration to America prevented famine and rebellion. At the peak of emigration in the 1880s, over 1% of the total population of both countries emigrated annually."
- ^ Koblik, Steven (1975). Sweden's Development from Poverty to Affluence 1750–1970, University of Minnesota Press, pp. 8–9, "In economic and social terms the eighteenth century was more a transitional than a revolutionary period. Sweden was, in light of contemporary Western European standards, a relatively poor but stable country. [...] It has been estimated that 75–80% of the population was involved in agricultural pursuits during the late eighteenth century. One hundred years later, the corresponding figure was still 72%."
- ^ Einhorn, Eric and John Logue (1989), p. 8.
- ^ Ulf Beijbom, "European emigration"[dead link], The House of Emigrants, Växjö, Sweden.
- ^ a b Koblik, pp. 9–10.
- ^ Sweden: Social and economic conditions (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
- ^ Koblik, p. 11: "The agrarian revolution in Sweden is of fundamental importance for Sweden's modern development. Throughout Swedish history the countryside has taken an unusually important role in comparison with other European states."
- ^ Koblik, p. 90. "It is usually suggested that between 1870 and 1914 Sweden emerged from its primarily agrarian economic system into a modern industrial economy."
- ^ a b Koblik, pp. 303–313.
- ^ Nordstrom, p. 315: "Sweden's government attempted to maintain at least a semblance of neutrality while it bent to the demands of the prevailing side in the struggle. Although effective in preserving the country's sovereignty, this approach generated criticism at home from many who believed the threat to Sweden was less serious than the government claimed, problems with the warring powers, ill feelings among its neighbours, and frequent criticism in the postwar period."
- ^ a b c Nordstrom, pp. 313–319.
- ^ Zubicky, Sioma (1997) (in Swedish). Med förintelsen i bagaget. Stockholm: Bonnier Carlsen. p. 122. ISBN 91-638-3436-7.
- ^ Nordstrom, pp. 335–339.
- ^ a b Globalization and Taxation: Challenges to the Swedish Welfare State. By Sven Steinmo.
- ^ Nordstrom, p. 344: "During the last twenty-five years of the century a host of problems plagued the economies of Norden and the West. Although many were present before, the 1973 and 1980 global oil crises acted as catalysts in bringing them to the fore."
- ^ Krantz, Olle and Lennart Schön. 2007. Swedish Historical National Accounts, 1800–2000. Lund: Almqvist and Wiksell International.
- ^ Englund, P. 1990. "Financial deregulation in Sweden." European Economic Review 34 (2–3): 385–393. Korpi TBD. Meidner, R. 1997. "The Swedish model in an era of mass unemployment." Economic and Industrial Democracy 18 (1): 87–97. Olsen, Gregg M. 1999. "Half empty or half full? The Swedish welfare state in transition." Canadian Review of Sociology & Anthropology, 36 (2): 241–268.
- ^ "Sweden's `Crazy' 500% Interest Rate; Fails to Faze Most Citizens, Businesses; Hike Seen as Short-Term Move to Protect Krona From Devaluation". Highbeam.com. 1992-09-18. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1025624.html. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ Lars Jonung, Jaakko Kiander, Pentti Vartia (2009). The Great Financial Crisis in Finland and Sweden. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 1-84844-305-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=NxFh9qk0wBYC&pg=PA44.
- ^ The Local. "New Swedish weapon in Iraq". http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=3013&date=20060207. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
- ^ "Ethnologue report for Swedish". http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=swe. Retrieved 2009-02-09. gives the number of 8,789,835, but is based on data from 1986. Sweden has currently a population of 9.2 Mio (2008 census), and there are about 290,000 native speakers of Swedish in Finland "Statistics Finland - Population Structure". http://www.stat.fi/tup/suoluk/suoluk_vaesto_en.html. Retrieved 2009-02-09. , based on data from 2007), leading to an estimate of about 9 to 10 Mio.
- ^ http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/EJHG_2002_v10_521-529.pdf
- ^ scs.uiuc.edu
- ^ nationalgeographic.com
- ^ http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/~mcdonald/WorldHaplogroupsMaps.pdf
- ^ "The similarity between Finns and Swedes in allele and haplotype frequencies indicates that these two populations may be descended from the same central European source population—as has been suggested by Sajantila and Pääbo (1995)" [3]
- ^ "Flest svenskar tros bo i USA, Norge och Finland. Därefter följer Danmark, Storbritannien, Spanien och Tyskland."
- ^ Det svenska modeundret - Elle
- ^ Stockholmfashiondays.com - The Local Firm - a/w 2008
- ^ a b "Innovation, Science/Research: Inventing tomorrow's world". Fact Sheet FS 4. Sweden.se. February 2010. http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Education/Research/Facts/Innovation/. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
- ^ Patents By Country, State, and Year – All Patent Types (December 2007)[4]
External links[link]
- The Global Etiquette Guide: Sweden
- VisitSweden - Sweden's official website for tourism and travel information (English)
http://wn.com/Swedes
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Svedesi
http://cs.wn.com/Švédové
http://id.wn.com/Bangsa Swedia
http://es.wn.com/Sueco (etnia)
http://ru.wn.com/Шведы
http://nl.wn.com/Zweden (volk)
http://pt.wn.com/Suecos
http://pl.wn.com/Szwedzi
http://fr.wn.com/Suédois (peuple)
http://de.wn.com/Schweden (Ethnie)
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedes
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Show It Off | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Amar | ||||
| Released | February 15, 2010 | |||
| Genre | Hip Hop, Filmi, R&B | |||
| Label | Sunset Entertainment | |||
| Amar chronology | ||||
|
||||
Show It Off is a 2010 music album by British Indian singer Amar.
Track listing[link]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Loye Loye" | |||
| 2. | "Bombay Billionaire feat. Sonu Niigaam" | |||
| 3. | "Sajana feat. Shankar Mahadevan" | |||
| 4. | "See Me Girl feat. Apache Indian" | |||
| 5. | "Show It Off feat. Rebel" | |||
| 6. | "Maanga feat. el Feco" | |||
| 7. | "Masala feat. Jim Beanz & D.O.E." | |||
| 8. | "Dil Ruba" | |||
| 9. | "Saajan" | |||
| 10. | "Teri Bahon" | |||
| 11. | "Tonight feat. Cavan" | |||
| 12. | "Deewana feat. Mangal Singh" | |||
| 13. | "Dekhne Tumko Tarsa Naina" | |||
| 14. | "Jaana Hai Humne Yeh Kyun feat. Kufie & Cavan" | |||
| 15. | "Teri Bahon (Rock Mix)" | |||
| 16. | "Chup Chupke feat. Rebel" |
http://wn.com/Show_It_Off
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_It_Off
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Kate Beckinsale | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Beckinsale at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con |
|
| Born | Kathrin Romary Beckinsale (1973-07-26) 26 July 1973 (age 38) Finsbury Park, London, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Spouse | Len Wiseman (2004–present) |
| Partner | Michael Sheen (1995–2003) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parents | Richard Beckinsale Judy Loe |
Kathrin Romary "Kate" Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing (1993) while still a student at Oxford University. She then appeared in British costume dramas such as Prince of Jutland (1994), Cold Comfort Farm (1995), Emma (1996) and The Golden Bowl (2000), in addition to various stage and radio productions. She began to seek film work in the United States in the late 1990s and, after appearing in small-scale dramas The Last Days of Disco (1998) and Brokedown Palace (1999), she had a breakout year in 2001 with starring roles in the war epic Pearl Harbor and the romantic comedy Serendipity. She built on this success with appearances in the bio-pic The Aviator (2004) and the comedy Click (2006).
Beckinsale became known as an action star following an appearance in 2003's Underworld and has since starred in many action films, including Van Helsing (2004), Underworld: Evolution (2006), Whiteout (2009), Contraband (2012), and Underworld: Awakening (2012). She also makes occasional appearances in smaller dramatic projects such as Snow Angels (2007), Winged Creatures (2008), Nothing but the Truth (for which she earned a Critic's Choice Award nomination in 2008) and Everybody's Fine (2009). Her next onscreen appearance will be in the sci-fi action remake Total Recall, due for release in August 2012.
Born and raised in London, Beckinsale is the child of actor Richard Beckinsale (1947–1979) and actress Judy Loe. She had an eight-year relationship with Welsh actor Michael Sheen from 1995 until 2003; they have one daughter. She married American film director Len Wiseman in 2004 and they live in Brentwood, Los Angeles. Publications such as Esquire and People Magazine have repeatedly included Beckinsale in their annual rankings of the world's sexiest and most beautiful women. She has worked occasionally as a model in television and print campaigns to promote Gap denim, Diet Coke, Absolut Vodka and Lux shampoo.
Contents |
Early life[link]
Kathrin Romary Beckinsale[1][2] was born in London. She is the only child of actor Richard Beckinsale and actress Judy Loe.[3] She made her first television appearance at the age of four, in an episode of This is Your Life dedicated to her father.[4][5] When she was five years old, her 31-year-old father died suddenly of a heart attack. Beckinsale was deeply traumatised by the loss and "started expecting bad things to happen".[6] While she has seen her father "more on television than I have in life," "there are certainly enough memories for me not to feel that it's somebody I didn't know."[3] Her widowed mother moved in with director Roy Battersby when Beckinsale was nine and she was brought up alongside his four sons and daughter.[7] She has a close relationship with her step-father: "I couldn't have knitted a better one ... He wasn't pushy, he let me come to him."[3] She has a paternal half-sister, actress Samantha Beckinsale, but they have not had regular contact.[3]
Beckinsale was educated at the fee-paying Godolphin and Latymer School in West London[8] and was involved with the Orange Tree Youth Theatre.[9] In her teens, she twice won the W.H. Smith Young Writers' competition—once for short stories and once for poetry[10]—and was presented with the prize by poet Ted Hughes.[11] She has described herself as "a late bloomer": "All of my friends were kissing boys and drinking cider way before me. I found it really depressing that we weren't making camp fires and everyone was doing grown-up stuff."[12] "I loathed being a teenager."[13] She had a nervous breakdown and developed anorexia at the age of 15 and underwent Freudian psychoanalysis for four years.[3]
Beckinsale read French and Russian literature at New College, Oxford and was later described by a contemporary, journalist Victoria Coren, as "whip-clever, slightly nuts and very charming".[14] She was involved with the Oxford University Dramatic Society, most notably being directed by fellow student Tom Hooper in a production of A View from the Bridge at the Oxford Playhouse.[15] She spent her third year in Paris as required of all Modern Language students at Oxford, after which she decided to leave university to concentrate on her burgeoning acting career: "It was getting to the point where I wasn't enjoying either thing enough because both were very high pressure. I was burning out and I knew I had to make a decision."[3]
Acting career[link]
Early roles (1991–1997)[link]
Beckinsale decided at a young age that she wanted to be an actress: "I grew up immersed in film. My family were in the business. I quickly realised that my parents seemed to have much more fun in their work than any of my friends’ parents."[16] She made her television debut in 1991 with a small part in an ITV adaptation of P.D. James’ Devices and Desires.[17] Also that year, she appeared as a young woman engaging in a forbidden affair with a Nazi officer in the Hallmark film One Against The Wind.[18] In 1992, she starred alongside Christopher Eccleston in Rachel’s Dream, a 30-minute Channel 4 short,[19] and in 1993, she appeared in the pilot of the ITV detective series, Anna Lee, starring Imogen Stubbs.[20]
In 1993, Beckinsale landed the role of Hero in Kenneth Branagh's big-screen adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. It was filmed in Tuscany, Italy during a summer holiday from Oxford University.[21] She attended the film's Cannes Film Festival premiere and later remembered it as an overwhelming experience. "Nobody even told me I could bring a friend!"[12] "I had Doc Martens boots on, and I think I put the flower from the breakfast tray in my hair".[22] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone was won over by her "lovely" performance[23] while Vincent Canby of The New York Times noted that she and Robert Sean Leonard "look right and behave with a certain naive sincerity, although they often seem numb with surprise at hearing the complex locutions they speak."[24] The film earned over $22 million at the box office.[25] She made three other films while at university. In 1994, she appeared as Christian Bale's love interest in Prince of Jutland, a film based on the Danish legend which inspired Shakespeare's Hamlet,[26] and starred in the murder mystery Uncovered.[27] In 1995, while studying in Paris, she filmed the French language Marie-Louise Ou La Permission.[28]
Shortly after leaving Oxford University in 1995, Beckinsale starred in Cold Comfort Farm as Flora Poste, a newly orphaned 1930s socialite sent to live with distant family members in rural England. The John Schlesinger-directed film was an adaptation of Stella Gibbons's novel and also featured Joanna Lumley, Eileen Atkins, Ian McKellen, Rufus Sewell and Stephen Fry. Beckinsale was initially considered too young, but was cast after she wrote a pleading letter to the director.[29] Emanuel Levy of Variety was reminded of "the strength of a young Glenda Jackson and the charm of a young Julie Christie.[30] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times classed the actress as "yet another of those effortlessly skilled British beauties who light up the screen."[31] Janet Maslin of The New York Times felt she played the role "with the perfect snippy aplomb".[32] The film grossed over $5 million at the US box office.[33] Also in 1995, she appeared in Haunted, a ghost story in which Derek Elley of Variety felt she "holds the screen, with both physical looks and verbal poise".[34]
1995 also saw Beckinsale's first professional stage appearance as Nina in The Seagull at Theatre Royal, Bath. She became romantically involved with co-star Michael Sheen after meeting during play rehearsals.[35] "He was the young lion of the theatre".[36] "I was all revved up to feel very intimidated. It was my first-ever play and my mother had cut out reviews of him in previous productions. And then he walked in ... It was almost like, 'God, well, I'm finished now. That's it, then.'... He's the most outrageously talented person I've ever met."[37] Irving Wardle of The Independent felt that "the casting, including Michael Sheen's volcanic Kostya and Kate Beckinsale's steadily freezing Nina, is mainly spot-on."[38] In early 1996, she starred in two further plays; Sweetheart at the Royal Court Theatre[39] and Clocks and Whistles at the Bush Theatre.[40]
Beckinsale next starred in an ITV adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, playing Emma to Mark Strong's Mr Knightley and Samantha Morton's Harriet Smith. "You shouldn't necessarily like Emma," Beckinsale has said of her character. "You do love her, but in the way the family of a teenage girl could be exasperated by her outrageous behaviour and still love her."[29] The programme was aired in autumn 1996, just months after Gwyneth Paltrow had starred in a film adaptation of the same story.[29] Caryn James of The New York Times felt that, while "Ms. Beckinsale's Emma is plainer looking than Ms. Paltrow's", she is "altogether more believable and funnier."[41] Jonathan Brown of The Independent has described Beckinsale's interpretation as "the most enduring modern performance" as Emma.[42]
In 1997, Beckinsale appeared opposite Stuart Townsend in the comedy Shooting Fish, one of the most commercially successful British films of that year.[43][44] "I'd just had my wisdom teeth out," Beckinsale later recalled of the initial audition. "I was also on very strong painkillers, so it was not the most conventional of meetings."[45] Elley wrote of "an incredibly laid-back performance"[46] while Thomas felt she "just glows as an aristocrat facing disaster with considerable aplomb".[47] She narrated Austen's Emma for Hodder & Stoughton AudioBooks[48] and Diana Hendry's The Proposal for BBC Radio 4.[49] Also in 1997, she played Juliet to Michael Sheen's Romeo in a radio production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Sheen.[50]
Move to Hollywood (1998–2002)[link]
At this point in her career, Beckinsale began to seek work in the United States, something she has said wasn't "a conscious decision ... My boyfriend was in a play on Broadway so that's why we ended up in New York, and my auditions happened to be for American films".[51] She starred opposite Chloe Sevigny in 1998's The Last Days of Disco. The Whit Stillman film focused on a group of Ivy League graduates socialising in the Manhattan disco scene of the early 1980s. Beckinsale's attempt at an American accent was widely praised.[52][53][54] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times felt her role as the bossy Charlotte was "beautifully played".[55] Todd McCarthy of Variety was unimpressed by the film but noted that "compensations include Beckinsale, looking incredible in a succession of black dresses, whose character can get on your nerves even if the actress doesn't."[56] Her performance earned her a London Critics' Circle Film Award.[57] The film grossed $3 million worldwide.[58] Also that year, she starred as Alice in a Channel 4 production of Through the Looking-Glass.[59]
In 1999, Beckinsale appeared opposite Claire Danes in Brokedown Palace, a drama about two teenage Americans forced to deal with the Thai justice system on a post-graduation trip abroad. A then-26 year old Beckinsale played a teenager.[60] Danes had hoped to become friends with Beckinsale during the shoot but found her "complicated" and "prickly".[61] McCarthy said the leads "confirm their status as two of the young actresses on the scene today most worth watching", finding Beckinsale "very effective at getting across layered character traits and emotions."[62] "Danes and Beckinsale are exceptionally talented young actresses", said Thomas, but "unfortunately, the script's seriously underdeveloped context defeats their considerable efforts at every turn."[63] Stephen Holden of The New York Times felt that Beckinsale's character "never comes into focus".[64] The film was a box office failure.[65]
2000's The Golden Bowl marked Beckinsale's first role following the birth of her daughter. The Merchant/Ivory production was based on the novel by Henry James and also starred Uma Thurman and Jeremy Northam. Beckinsale's partner, Michael Sheen, hit Northam on the film set after he followed Beckinsale to her trailer to scold her for forgetting a line.[66] Holden noted that "the most satisfying of the four lead performances belong to the British cast members, Ms. Beckinsale and Mr. Northam, who are better than their American counterparts at layers of emotional concealment", adding that each beat of Beckinsale's performance "registers precisely".[67] Thomas felt her performance would take her to "a new career level".[68] Andrew Sarris of The New York Observer asserted that she "comes close to capturing the sublimity of Maggie, despite the obvious fact that no movie can capture the elegant copiousness of James’ prose."[69] The film grossed over $5 million worldwide.[70]
Beckinsale rose to fame in 2001 with a leading role in the war epic Pearl Harbour as a nurse torn between two pilots, played by Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett. She was drawn to the project by the script: "It's so unusual these days to read a script that has those old-fashioned values to it. Not morals, but movie values. It's a big, sweeping epic ...You just never get the chance to do that."[71] Director Michael Bay initially had doubts about casting the actress: "I wasn't sure about her at first ... she wore black leather trousers in her screen test and I thought she was a little nasty ... it was easy to think of this woman as a slut".[72] He eventually decided to hire her because she wasn't "too beautiful. Women feel disturbed when they see someone’s too pretty."[73] He asked her to lose weight during filming.[74] In a 2004 interview, the actress noted that his comments were "upsetting"[75] and said she wore leather trousers because "it was snowing out. It wasn't exactly like I had my nipple rings in."[76] She felt grateful that she had not had to deal with such criticism at a younger age: "If I had come on to a movie set at [a younger] age and someone had said, 'You're a bit funny-looking, can you go on a diet?' - I might have jumped off a building. I just didn't have the confidence to put that into perspective at the time."[72] However, speaking in 2011, she said she was "very fond" of Bay.[77]
Pearl Harbor received negative reviews. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praised "the avid eyed, ruby lipped Kate Beckinsale, the rare actress whose intelligence gives her a sensual bloom; she's like Parker Posey without irony."[78] A.O. Scott of The New York Times noted that "Mr. Affleck and Ms. Beckinsale do what they can with their lines, and glow with the satiny shine of real movie stars."[79] However, Mike Clark of USA Today felt that the "usually appealing Kate Beckinsale" is "inexplicably submerged — like her hospital colleagues — under heaps of tarty makeup that even actresses of the era didn't wear."[80] The film was a commercial success, grossing $449 million worldwide.[81]
Beckinsale's second film appearance of 2001 was in the romantic comedy Serendipity as the love interest of John Cusack. It was filmed directly after Pearl Harbour and Beckinsale found it "a real relief to return to something slightly more familiar."[51] Turan praised the "appealing and believable" leads, adding that Beckinsale "reinforces the strong impression she made in Cold Comfort Farm, The Golden Bowl and The Last Days of Disco" after "recovering nicely" from her appearance in the much-maligned Pearl Harbor.[82] Claudia Puig of USA Today felt that "Beckinsale's talents haven't been mined as effectively in any other film since Cold Comfort Farm".[83] McCarthy found her "energetic and appealing"[84] while Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times described her as "luminous but determined".[85] In an uncomplimentary review of the film, Ebert described her as "a good actress, but not good enough to play this dumb".[86] The film has grossed over $77 million at the worldwide box office.[87]
In 2002, Beckinsale starred in Lisa Cholodenko's Laurel Canyon as a strait-laced academic who finds herself increasingly attracted to her free-spirited future mother-in-law. The independent film was another opportunity for Beckinsale to work with Christian Bale, her Prince of Jutland co-star. She found their sex scene awkward because she knew Bale well: "If it was a stranger, it would have been easier."[88] While Frances MacDormand's performance as Bale's mother was widely praised, Beckinsale received negative reviews. Holden found the film "superbly acted, with the exception of Ms. Beckinsale, whose tense, colourless Alex conveys no inner life".[89] Schwarzbaum was unimpressed by the "tedious" characters and criticised "the fussy performances of Bale and Beckinsale" in particular.[90] The film has grossed over $4 million worldwide.[91]
Action heroine roles (2003–2006)[link]
Beckinsale became known as an action star following an appearance as a vampire in 2003's Underworld. It was markedly different from her previous work and Beckinsale has said she was grateful for the change of pace after appearing in "a bunch of period stuff and then a bunch of romantic comedies."[92] "It was quite a challenge for me to play an action heroine and pull off all that training when [in real life] I can’t catch a ball if it’s coming my way."[93] The film received negative to mixed reviews but was a surprise box office hit and has gained a cult following.[94] Also that year, she starred in the little-seen Tiptoes with Gary Oldman and Matthew McConaughey.[95]
In 2004, Beckinsale starred in the action horror film Van Helsing. She was "so surprised" to be appearing in her second action film in two years. "It just seemed like a very good role."[96] Beckinsale had just separated from her long-term partner Michael Sheen at the time of filming and appreciated the warm atmosphere created on set by director Stephen Sommers and co-star Hugh Jackman: "I really did find that working with people like Stephen and Hugh made it possible to get through what I was going through."[97] The film grossed over $120 million at the United States box office and over $300 million worldwide, but it was not well-reviewed.[98][99] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle described her as "a pretty actress doing her best to maintain dignity, vainly trying to craft a feminist statement from a filmmaker's whimsy"[100] while Rex Reed of The New York Observer felt she was "desperately in need of a new agent".[101]
Also in 2004, Beckinsale portrayed Ava Gardner in Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator. Scorsese decided to cast Beckinsale because, "I’ve always liked her. I’ve seen all her work, and I was glad that she agreed to audition."[102] Beckinsale's performance received mixed reviews. Ken Tucker of New York Magazine said she played the part "in full va-va-voom blossom"[103] while LaSalle felt that she manages "to convince us that Ava was one of the great broads of all time."[104] However, Clark described it as "the one performance that doesn't come off (though Beckinsale has the requisite beauty)"[105] while Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian stated that "Gardner's rich, voluptuous sexiness is completely absent as Beckinsale sleepwalks through the role as if she was advertising perfume."[106] The film grossed over $213 million worldwide.[107]
In 2006, Beckinsale reprised her role as Selene in the successful vampire sequel Underworld: Evolution, directed by her husband.[108] It was the first time she had "been involved with a movie from the moment it’s a germ of an idea right through the whole editing process."[109] Her daughter had a small role as the younger Selene.[109] The film was a box office success, grossing $111 million worldwide.[110] Beckinsale's second film appearance of 2006 was opposite Adam Sandler in Click, a comedy about an overworked family man who discovers a magical remote control that allows him to control time. The opportunity to play a mother "was one of the things that was attractive to me" about the part.[111] The film was also a chance to work with Christopher Walken.[112] The film was highly profitable, grossing $237 million worldwide from a production budget of $82.5 million.[113]
Focus on small-scale drama (2007–2011)[link]
Beckinsale then made a return to smaller-scale projects: "My experience is that I sort of stepped away from the independent movies and did a couple of big movies. But that's not necessarily how it's perceived by everybody else, which I do understand."[114] "I enjoy an action movie as much as the next person [but] it’s not something that I would like to do solely."[115] She explained that she had originally decided to appear in Underworld because she felt typecast in classical roles — it was "assumed that I use a chamber pot and wear bloomers"[116] - but that her action career "kind of took off a little too much".[117]
In 2007, Beckinsale starred opposite Sam Rockwell in the independent drama Snow Angels, based on the novel by Stewart O'Nan. The harrowing film, in which she played an overwhelmed single mother, put Beckinsale "in kind of a tough place". "I did have my kid, my husband and, in fact, my ex was around a lot, so it was very nice to come home to my people whom I love."[115] Puig felt "Beckinsale gives her best performance in years"[118] while Richard Corliss of Time described it as "her sharpest work yet".[119] However, Scott felt that "her skill and discipline cannot overcome the sense that she is an exotic species transplanted into this grim ecosystem. Hard as she works to convince us otherwise, it’s a stretch to believe that a woman with the kind of poised confidence in her own beauty she manifests would wind up with an underachieving mouth breather like Glenn."[120] The film grossed just $414,404 worldwide.[121]
Also in 2007, Beckinsale appeared alongside Luke Wilson in Vacancy, a thriller set in an isolated motel. Sarah Jessica Parker was originally cast in the part, but dropped out before filming began.[122] Bradshaw felt that "Wilson and Beckinsale have the chops for scary movies"[123] while Gleiberman noted that "Luke Wilson, with his hangdog defensive mopiness, and Kate Beckinsale, all sexy severity, are ideally matched as a couple who hate each other."[124] However, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times was unimpressed, referring to Beckinsale as "the reigning queen of the bland B's".[125] The film was profitable, grossing $35 million worldwide from a production budget of $19 million.[126]
In 2008, Beckinsale appeared in Winged Creatures, a film about how six different witnesses cope with the aftermath of a shooting. Beckinsale played a waitressing single mother in an ensemble cast which included Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson and Forest Whitaker. "It was a really, really nice experience but it was quick," said Beckinsale of the filming process. "I just felt a bit like I was shot through a cannon."[115] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times felt she played the role "with a white-trash verve" and found that her character's "raw ache for that someone with money and respectability is palpable."[127] However, Dargis felt that Beckinsale and her cast mates have "a tough time filling out characters that are at best abstractions of grief and often just clichés".[128] The film received a very limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles only. It was released simultaneously on DVD.[129]
Also in 2008, Beckinsale starred in Nothing but the Truth as a journalist who refuses to reveal her source. The film, co-starring Vera Farmiga and Matt Dillon, was inspired by the case of Judith Miller. As part of her research for the role, "I spent some time at The L.A. Times with some female reporters, and I spoke to Judith Miller about her experience ... I really researched the hell out of that one and it was an amazingly fulfilling, brilliant experience."[115] Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post asserted that Beckinsale and Farmiga played "two of the most fascinating female movie characters to hit screens in a long while, and they've been brought to life by two gifted actresses, each working at the top of her game".[130] Beckinsale received a Critic's Choice Award nomination for her performance.[131] The film never received a full theatrical release after the distributor filed for bankruptcy[132] and the film has grossed just $186,702 worldwide.[133] "I have prayed - prayed - for film companies to go bankrupt on films I've made, and then this happens on the one I love," said Beckinsale. "Usually it's the ones you're most embarrassed about that are on the side of every bus."[134]
In 2009, Beckinsale starred in the comic-book adaption Whiteout as a US Marshal tasked with investigating a murder in Antarctica. It was filmed in Manitoba, Canada.[117] She found the action scenes less physically demanding than those in Underworld because "three pairs of trousers and a parka gives you a bit more protection than the latex suit."[117] The film was critically panned and a box office failure, failing to recoup its budget.[135] She also made a brief cameo in the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans; she appeared in flashforwards composed of footage from 2003's Underworld.[136] Also in 2009, Beckinsale starred in the family drama Everybody's Fine alongside Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore and Rockwell, her Snow Angels co-star. Beckinsale was excited for the opportunity to work with De Niro whom she had first encountered "years and years ago when I just had Lily and he was putting together a reading of The Good Shepherd. I was in New York because Michael [Sheen] was doing Amadeus".[114] Everybody's Fine was a box office failure, failing to recoup its production budget.[137] In May 2010, Beckinsale sat on the nine-member 2010 Cannes Film Festival jury, chaired by director Tim Burton.[138] Unable to find a script she felt passionate about, Beckinsale otherwise kept a low profile in 2010 and 2011, opting to spend time with her daughter.[11]
Return to action films (2012)[link]
Beckinsale returned to work in 2012 with appearances in three action films. Beckinsale first appeared in the action thriller Contraband. She had a supporting role as the wife of Mark Wahlberg's character, a former criminal who gets forced back into a life of crime after his family are threatened. The film was directed by Baltasar Kormákur, who also starred in the Icelandic language version of the film, Reykjavík-Rotterdam.[139] The San Francisco Chronicle felt Beckinsale was "stuck in a bit of a thankless role as the victimised wife, but she does try to infuse a harder edge to the character".[140] The Hollywood Reporter stated that "Beckinsale, her innate classiness calibrated down a few notches, has little to do but be supportive, worried and, eventually, besieged".[141] Entertainment Weekly felt that the "woman-in-peril stuff is second-rate, giving off a whiff of exploitation"[142] while Variety found the repeated violence towards Beckinsale's character disturbing.[143] The film had a production budget of $25 million and has grossed over $94 million worldwide.[144]
Beckinsale next reprised her role as Selene in the fourth installment of the vampire franchise Underworld: Awakening.[136] The franchise was initially conceived of as a trilogy and Beckinsale was not "intending to do another one" but was convinced by the quality of the script.[145] The Hollywood Reporter noted that "when she’s not actually fighting, her performance consists of little more than striding purposefully toward or away from the camera".[146] The Los Angeles Times remarked that she "finally manages to perfect the monotone delivery she'd been honing for the series' first two entries".[147] The film had a production budget of $70 million and has grossed over $160 million worldwide.[148] With adjustments for inflation, Underworld:Awakening is the lowest grossing Beckinsale-led film in the franchise.[149]
In August 2012, Beckinsale will appear in the sci-fi action remake Total Recall, directed by her husband Len Wiseman. She will star as Lori, a villain played by Sharon Stone in the original film.[150] Beckinsale has said that Wiseman joined the project because he was unable to receive studio financing for an original sci-fi idea: "You’re constantly finding yourself having to defend doing a remake when you didn’t really want to make one in the first place."[11] Beckinsale is currently filming The Trials of McCall opposite Nick Nolte and James Cromwell.[151] She will play a recovering alcoholic lawyer who becomes convinced that a woman was framed for murder.[152]
Modelling career[link]
Beckinsale has worked occasionally as a model. In 1997, she appeared in the music video for George Michael's Waltz Away Dreaming.[57] She starred opposite Orlando Bloom in a 2002 Gap television advert, directed by Cameron Crowe.[153] She appeared in a Diet Coke television advert in 2004, directed by Michael Gondry.[154][155] She advertised Absolut Vodka in a 2009 print campaign photographed by Ellen von Unwerth.[156][157] She has also promoted Lux shampoo in a Japanese television advert.[158]
Beckinsale was named "England's Number One Beauty" by Hello! in 2002[159] and appeared at number 41 in People Magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People list in 2008.[160] Many publications have included her in their rankings of the world's sexiest women. Esquire named her the Sexiest Woman Alive in 2009.[161] She was at number 22 in Maxim's Hot 100 2009 list.[162] She came in at number 41 on FHM's Sexiest Women of 2010 list,[163] having previously appeared at number 15 in their 2009 list[164] and at number 12 in their 2008 list.[165] She has frequently appeared in AskMen.com's annual list of the 99 Most Desired Women: she was at number 22 in 2012,[166] at number 14 in 2011,[167] at number 3 in 2010,[168] at number 10 in 2009[168] and at number 3 in 2008.[169]
Personal life[link]
Relationships[link]
Beckinsale had an eight-year relationship with actor Michael Sheen from 1995 until 2003. They met when cast in a touring production of The Seagull in early 1995 and moved in together shortly afterwards.[170] She has said it was "love at first sight"[171] and that he saved her from "a hospital for the criminally insane".[172] In 1997, they appeared in a radio production of Romeo and Juliet.[50] Their daughter, Lily Mo Sheen, was born in London in 1999. The actress has said she was "embarrassed" that Sheen never proposed[37][173] but remarked, "If you keep a library book out long enough, you feel it's yours."[174]
Their relationship ended in early 2003, after the filming of Underworld.[175] Beckinsale had persuaded director Len Wiseman to cast Sheen in the film[176] but, while on set, she and Wiseman (who was married) fell in love. All parties, aside from Wiseman's first wife,[177] have maintained that there was no infidelity.[176] Beckinsale and Wiseman both remain friends with Sheen.[178] "We were very lucky in that we didn't have an acrimonious split," Beckinsale has said. "We are still very close and [our daughter] sees us around each other."[179] "He's absolutely one of my most favourite people ever."[180] "I love him dearly – I would miss him dreadfully if he wasn't in my life."[181] Sheen has said that Beckinsale "will always be one of the most important people in my life. I have real love for her and a lot of affection for Len."[182]
Beckinsale moved with her daughter from London to Brentwood, Los Angeles, in 2003 to live with Wiseman. She has said she is "a fish out of water" in Los Angeles[183] but that residing in London would be impractical for Wiseman's career.[172] They married in 2004 at the Hotel Bel-Air in California,[184] choosing a passage from Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass as their first reading.[185] While she is not religious, she has said it was "very nice to be asked [to get married], which I wasn't in my previous relationship".[186] Since their marriage, Wiseman has directed her in two further films: an Underworld sequel and Total Recall. She has no plans for more children: "Maybe I will at some point but I feel I have everything I want. Lily is the perfect child ... I am my mum and dad’s only child so I don’t really have the mindset for more children."[187]
Legal actions[link]
In July 2003, the Press Complaints Commission dismissed a complaint filed by Beckinsale. Beckinsale had claimed that the Daily Mail invaded her and her daughter's privacy by publishing photographs of the actress embracing and kissing her new partner Len Wiseman.[188] The article was headlined "Mummy's latest love scene leaves Lily unimpressed" and included a picture in which her four-year-old daughter appeared to be ignoring her mother's romantic actions.[188] The Commission found that "the photographs had been taken in a public place and did not reveal any private details about Lily — such as her health or schooling — but were restricted to general observations about her apparent reaction to her surroundings".[188]
In August 2003, Beckinsale received a published apology from the Daily Mail after the newspaper reported that she had "spent time in a clinic" following her split from partner Michael Sheen.[189] The apology was issued after the actress filed a complaint with the Press Complaints Commission.[189] In 2009, Beckinsale was awarded £20,000 in damages by the British High Court after taking legal action against Express Newspapers.[190] The Daily Express had falsely reported that the actress was "facing heartbreak" after losing out on a part in a remake of Barbarella.[190]
Health[link]
In 2004, Beckinsale underwent emergency surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to remove a burst appendix.[191] In 2007, she was treated for exhaustion at a Memphis hospital after experiencing numbness in her left arm and leg.[192] Beckinsale does not drink alcohol, "not because I’m an alcoholic, I just don’t really like it": "If I drank a whole glass of red wine I would have Chekhovian despair the next day."[193][194] She has smoked since the age of 16,[195] but stopped for three years after becoming pregnant with her daughter.[196] She has since said, "I’d be insufferable if I didn’t smoke. You’d have to push me off a balcony I’d be so boring.”[197]
Charity work[link]
The British Heart Foundation has been Beckinsale's charity of choice "ever since I was six years old".[198] She has also donated film memorabilia to the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation,[199][200] MediCinema,[201] Habitat For Humanity[202] and the Entertainment Industry Foundation.[203] In 2008, she hosted the 4th Annual Pink Party to raise funds for the Women’s Cancer Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center[204] and organised a screening of All About Eve for FilmAid International.[205] In 2012, Beckinsale joined Nestlé's Share the Joy of Reading Programme to raise awareness about the importance of children's literacy.[206]
Filmography[link]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Much Ado About Nothing | Hero | |
| 1994 | Uncovered | Julia | |
| 1994 | Prince of Jutland | Ethel | |
| 1995 | Marie-Louise Ou La Permission | Marie-Louise | |
| 1995 | Cold Comfort Farm | Flora Poste | |
| 1995 | Haunted | Christina Mariell | |
| 1997 | Shooting Fish | Georgie | |
| 1998 | The Last Days of Disco | Charlotte Pingress | |
| 1998 | Alice Through the Looking Glass | Alice | |
| 1999 | Brokedown Palace | Darlene Davis | |
| 2001 | Pearl Harbor | Nurse Lt. Evelyn Johnson | |
| 2001 | Serendipity | Sara Thomas | |
| 2001 | The Golden Bowl | Maggie Verver | |
| 2002 | Laurel Canyon | Alex Elliot | |
| 2003 | Underworld | Selene | |
| 2003 | Tiptoes | Carol | |
| 2004 | The Aviator | Ava Gardner | |
| 2004 | Van Helsing | Anna Valerious | |
| 2006 | Click | Donna Newman | |
| 2006 | Underworld: Evolution | Selene | |
| 2007 | Vacancy | Amy Fox | |
| 2007 | Snow Angels | Annie Marchand | |
| 2008 | Nothing but the Truth | Rachel Armstrong | |
| 2008 | Winged Creatures | Carla Davenport | |
| 2009 | Whiteout | Carrie Stetko | |
| 2009 | Underworld: Rise of the Lycans | Selene | Previously recorded flashforwards only |
| 2009 | Everybody's Fine | Amy | |
| 2012 | Contraband | Kate Farraday | |
| 2012 | Underworld: Awakening | Selene | |
| 2012 | Total Recall | Lori | |
| 2013 | The Trials of Cate McCall | Cate | Filming |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Devices and Desires | Young Alice Mair | ITV
One episode |
| 1991 | One Against the Wind | Barbe Lindell | Hallmark Hall of Fame/CBS
Film |
| 1992 | Rachel's Dream | Rachel | Channel 4 |
| 1993 | Anna Lee: Headcase | Thea Hahn | ITV |
| 1996 | Emma | Emma Woodhouse | ITV
Film |
| 1998 | Alice Through the Looking Glass | Alice | Channel 4
Film |
Stage
- The Seagull (as Nina), Theatre Royal, Bath and Tour, 1995
- Sweetheart (as Toni), Royal Court Theatre, 1996
- Clocks and Whistles (as Anne), The Bush, 1996
Radio
- Narrated Emma (1997) for Hodder & Stoughton AudioBooks
- Narrated Diana Hendry's The Proposal (1997) for BBC Radio 4
- Appeared as Juliet in the Naxos AudioBooks's production of Romeo and Juliet (1997)
Awards and nominations[link]
| Year | Award | Award ceremony | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Best Actress | Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival | Shooting Fish | Won |
| 1999 | British Supporting Actress of the Year (tied with Minnie Driver for Good Will Hunting) | London Critics Circle Film Awards | The Last Days of Disco | Won |
| 2001 | Worst Screen Couple (with Ben Affleck) | Golden Raspberry Award | Pearl Harbour | Nominated |
| 2002 | Best Actress | Saturn Award | Serendipity | Nominated |
| 2004 | Best Actress | Saturn Award | Underworld | Nominated |
| 2004 | Best Trans-Atlantic Breakthrough Performer | MTV Movie Awards | Nominated | |
| 2005 | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (shared with the cast) | Screen Actors Guild Awards | The Aviator | Nominated |
| 2005 | Favourite Female Action Film Star | People's Choice Awards | Nominated | |
| 2006 | Best Hero | MTV Movie Awards | Underworld: Evolution | Nominated |
| 2006 | Favourite Female Action Star | People's Choice Awards | Nominated | |
| 2008 | Best Actress | Broadcast Film Critics Association Award | Nothing But the Truth | Nominated |
References[link]
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External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kate Beckinsale |
Quotations related to Kate Beckinsale at Wikiquote- Kate Beckinsale at the Internet Movie Database
- Kate Beckinsale at People.com
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Beckinsale, Kate |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Actress |
| Date of birth | 26 July 1973 |
| Place of birth | London, England, UK |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
