841 Aker ASA was founded. By
2007 the industrial holding company was Norway’s largest private
employer with some 35,000 employees.
(WSJ, 12/10/07, p.B1)
1841-1912 Gerard H. Hansen, Norwegian physician.
He discovered the leprosy-causing Mycobacterium leprae (aka Hansen’s
(WUD, 1994, p.644)
1843 Jun 15, Edvard Grieg
(d.1907), Norwegian composer, was born. He was best known for his
"Peer Gynt" suite. In 1999 over 40 unknown pieces from 1858-1862
were found in Bergen, Germany. Grieg studied at Leipzig during this
(WUD, 1994, p.622)(SFC, 2/23/99, p.B3)(HT,
1853 The Kvaerner ASA
conglomerate dated back to this time. It developed into a
hydropower, shipping and pulp and paper giant.
(WSJ, 10/26/01, p.A16)
1856 Christian Schibsted
purchased a hand operated printing press to print a newspaper for
somebody else. When the contract moved elsewhere he began his own
newspaper and in 2006 the original press could be seen in the Oslo
headquarters of the Schibsted newspaper firm.
(Econ, 8/26/06, p.52)
1859 Apr 4, Knut Hamsun
(d.1952), Norwegian writer, was born. He won the Nobel Prize in
literature in 1920.
(SFEC, 4/20/97, DB p.47-49)
1863 Dec 12, Edvard Munch
(d.1944), Norwegian artist (The Scream), was born.
(WUD, 1994 p.941)(NH, 6/00, p.20)(HN, 12/12/00)
1867 Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian
writer, wrote his poetic drama "Peer Gynt." He took his main figure
from a character in Norwegian folklore who flees from his difficult
mother, Ase, gets swept up in a world of trolls, grows up, gets
engaged in a variety of nefarious enterprises, and returns home
where he is redeemed by a woman who always loved him.
(WSJ, 1/28/98, p.A16)
1868 Edvard Hagerup Grieg
(1843-1907), Norwegian composer, completed his “Piano Concerto in A
(Econ, 8/13/11, p.81)
1870 Sophus Lie (1842-1899),
Norwegian mathematician, became a media sensation after he was found
outside Paris with a backpack filled with undecipherable
mathematical notes and arrested as a spy.
1872 May, George C. Johnson,
former sea captain and Consul-General for Norway and Sweden in San
(Ind, 8/11/01, 5A)
1872 Jul 16, Roald Amundsen
(d.1928), Norwegian explorer, discoverer of the South Pole, was
(Ind, 4/27/02, 5A)(MC, 7/16/02)
1872 Aug 3, Haakon VII, King of
Norway, was born in Charlottenlund, Denmark.
1876 Feb 24, Henrik Ibsen's
"Peer Gynt," premiered in Oslo.
1879 Henrik Ibsen wrote his
play "A Doll’s House." Much of the dialogue was written to move
characters on and off stage.
(WSJ, 4/4/97, p.A7)(SFC, 1/7/99, p.A8)
1882 May 20, Henrik Ibsen's
"Ghosts" (Gengangere, 1881) premiered in Chicago.
1882 Henrik Ibsen wrote his
moral melodrama "An Enemy of the People."
(WSJ, 8/11/98, p.A16)
1887 Feb 5, Peder Balke
(b.1804), Norwegian painter, died. He was known for portraying the
nature of Norway in a positive manner and influenced a dramatic and
romantic view of Norwegian landscape.
1887 Jul 18, Vidkum Quisling,
Norwegian minister of Defense, premier (1942-45), was born. He was
considered a traitor to his country for allowing an easy takeover by
(HN, 7/18/98)(MC, 7/18/02)
1887 Sophus Lie (1842-1899),
Norwegian mathematician, recognized a mathematical structure called
E8, which contained 248 dimensions. It took 120 years to solve. In
2007 Dr. Garrett Lisi proposed that this structure could be used to
describe fully the laws of physics.
1888 Mar 4, Knute Rockne,
Norwegian-US football player, coach for Notre Dame, was born.
(HN, 3/4/98)(SC, 3/4/02)
1888 Fridtjof Nansen of Norway
led a 5-man team across Greenland on skis.
(ON, 7/05, p.1)
1891 Feb 26, Henrik Ibsen’s
"Hedda Gabler" premiered in Oslo.
(SFC, 4/14/01, p.B1)(SC, 2/26/02)
1882 May 20, Sigrid Undset,
Norwegian novelist (Kristin Lavransdatter), was born.
1893 Jun, Fridtjof Nansen left
Norway for the North Pole aboard the Fram. He theorized that the
ship would become ice-bound and cross the Arctic and the North Pole
in 3 years.
(ON, 7/05, p.1)
1893 Edvard Munch (1863-1944),
Norwegian artist, painted "The Scream." The red sky in the painting
was later said to have resulted from his views of the red skies over
Norway during the 1883 volcano explosion at Krak