Events in Finnish History
- 1156-01-20 According to legend, freeholder Lalli slays English crusader Bishop Henry with an axe on the ice of Lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland
- 1245-02-21 Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after having confessed to torture and forgery
- 1605-08-08 The city of Oulu, Finland, is founded by Charles IX of Sweden.
- 1771-10-09 The Dutch merchant ship Vrouw Maria sinks near the coast of Finland.
- 1808-05-03 Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia
- 1808-09-13 Finnish War: In the Battle of Jutas, Swedish forces under Lieutenant General Georg Carl von Döbeln beat the Russians, making von Döbeln a Swedish war hero.
Gustav IV Adolf Abdicates
1809-03-29 King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d'état. At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland's four Estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.
- 1809-09-17 Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
- 1835-02-28 Dr Elias L"nnrot publishes Finnish poem "Kalevala"
- 1848-05-13 First performance of Finland's national anthem "Maamme", composed by Fredrik Pacius, Swedish words by Johan Ludvig Runeberg
- 1854-05-05 British Commodore James Plumridge attacks Finnish settlements in Gulf of Bothnia, killing civilans and destroying British-owned goods.
- 1857-09-23 Russian warship Leffort disappears in a storm in the Gulf of Finland; 826 die
- 1900-02-14 Russia responds to international pressure to free Finland by tightening imperial control over the country
- 1900-06-26 The Russian Tsar orders that Russian must be the official language of Finland, despite growing unrest within Finland and increasing international concern over Russia's behavior there
Finlandia
1900-07-02 Jean Sibelius' musical tone poem "Finlandia" premieres in Helsinki
- 1904-06-16 Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolai Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland
- 1906-03-07 Finnish Senate accepts universal suffrage, except for poor
- 1906-09-16 Kaarlo Nieminen wins 1st Finnish marathon
- 1907-03-15 Finland is 1st European country to give women the right to vote
- 1907-05-23 The single chamber Parliament of Finland gathers for its first plenary session.
February Manifesto
1909-02-23 Russian Tsar Nicholas II dissolves Finnish Diet
Lenin Joins Russian Revolution
1917-04-16 [OS Apr 3] Lenin arrives back from exile in Russia at Finland Station, Petrograd to join the Russian Revolution
- 1917-12-06 Taking advantage of the temporary relaxation of authority in Russia, Finland declares itself a republic, following the Ukraine on 20 November
- 1917-12-18 The Soviet government issues a decree recognizing Finland's newly-declared independence [N.S. December 31]
- 1918-01-01 Last day of the Julian calendar in Finland
- 1918-01-12 Finland's "Mosaic Confessors" law comes into effect, making Finnish Jews full citizens
- 1918-01-14 Finland and USSR adopt New Style (Gregorian) calendar
- 1918-01-19 Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles between the Red Guards and the White Guard
- 1918-01-27 The first hostilities occurred in the Finnish Civil War.
- 1918-01-28 Finnish Civil War: Rebels seized control of the capital, Helsinki, and members of the Senate of Finland go underground
- 1918-02-10 In Finland, General Carl Gustaf Emil Von Mannerheim gathers an army known as the 'White Guard' to mount a counter revolution against the Bolshevik 'Red Guard'
- 1918-02-22 Germany claims Baltic states, Finland & Ukraine from Russia
- 1918-03-07 World War I: Finland forms an alliance with Germany
- 1918-05-15 Finnish Civil War ends
- 1918-12-16 German troops evacuate Finland, give over Kiev in the Ukraine to revolutionary forces and pull back from Estonia as Bolshevik forces move in
- 1919-06-06 Finland declares war on bolsheviks
- 1919-07-17 Finland adopts constitution
- 1920-10-14 Part of Petsamo province ceded by Soviet Union to Finland
- 1931-02-16 Extreme right wing politician Pehr Evind Svinhufvud becomes President of Finland
- 1932-01-21 USSR and Finland stop non-attack treaty
- 1932-02-29 Failed coup attempt by fascist Lapua Movement in Finland
- 1938-07-20 IOC awards Helsinki, Finland 1940 Summer Olympic Games after Tokyo, Japan withdraws (Second Sino-Japanese War)
- 1938-09-03 1940 Olympic site is changed from Tokyo, Japan to Helsinki, Finland because of the Second Sino-Japanese War; WWII causes eventual cancellation
- 1939-11-26 4 soviet soldiers killed on Finnish-Russian border
- 1939-11-28 Soviet government revokes Russian-Finnish non-aggression treaty
- 1939-11-29 USSR drops diplomatic relations with Finland
- 1939-12-14 The League of Nations expels the Soviet Union for invading Finland
- 1939-12-18 Finnish army recaptures Agläjärvi (Karelia)
- 1939-12-19 Russian air & ground attack against Finnish positions near Summa
- 1939-12-22 Finnish counter offensive at Petsamo
- 1939-12-23 Finnish counter offensive at Summa
- 1940-01-05 Finnish offensive at Suomossalmi against Russia
- 1940-01-12 World War II: Soviets bombs cities in Finland.
- 1940-02-01 Soviet Union begins new offensive against Finland
- 1940-02-22 Finnish troops vacate Koivisto island
- 1940-02-29 Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations
- 1940-03-02 Soviet armies conquer Tuppura Island, Finland
- 1940-03-12 Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty in Moscow, surrendering to Russia and ceding 11% of their pre-WWII territory, ending the "Winter War"
- 1940-03-13 Finland-Russian cease fire signed, the Winter War ends. Finland gives up Karelische
- 1940-03-31 Karelo-Finnish SSR becomes 12th Soviet republic (until 1956)
- 1941-06-25 Finland declares war on Soviet Union
- 1941-06-25 Finland enters WW2 against the USSR following a massive airstrike the previous day
- 1941-07-10 Continuation War: Finland invades East Karelia as hostilities with the Soviet Union resume following the German invasion in June
- 1941-11-25 Finland joins the anti-communist Anti-Komintern Pact
- 1944-09-04 Finland breaks diplomatic contact with Nazi Germany
- 1944-09-19 Armistice between Finland and Soviet Union is signed. (End of the Continuation War)
- 1945-03-04 Finland declares war on Nazi Germany
- 1947-02-10 Province of Petsamo returned to Soviet Union by Finland
- 1950-02-01 Urko Kekkonen elected Prime Minister of Finland
- 1952-07-19 XV Summer Olympic Games open in Helsinki, Finland
- 1954-04-19 58th Boston Marathon won by Veikko Karvonen of Finland in 2:20:39
- 1955-12-14 16 countries join the United Nations, including Austria, Finland, Italy, and Spain
- 1956-01-26 Porkkala military base returned to Finland by USSR
- 1956-02-15 Urho Kekkonen appointed president of Finland
- 1956-04-16 60th Boston Marathon won by Antti Viskari of Finland in race record 2:14:14
- 1956-07-16 Karelo-Finnish SSR becomes part of Russian SFSR
- 1958-12-04 Finnish government of Fagerholm resigns
- 1959-04-20 63rd Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:22:42
- 1960-04-18 64th Boston Marathon won by Paavo Kotila of Finland in 2:20:54
- 1961-04-17 65th Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:23:39; his 2nd event title
- 1961-07-14 Finland's Miettunen government forms
- 1962-04-16 66th Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:23:48; second straight win and 3rd title overall
- 1969-11-17 SALT-discussions open in Helsinki Finland
- 1972-04-17 76th Boston Marathon: Olavi Suomalainen of Finland wins men's race in 2:15:39; American Nina Kuscsik takes inaugural women's title in 3:10:26; first year women's race officially sanctioned
- 1982-01-26 Mauno Koivisto elected president of Finland
- 1982-01-27 Mauno Koivisto installed as President of Finland
- 1982-07-31 Finland, Italy, Germany, Austria and France form American European Football Federation (AEFF)
Sports History
1983-03-11 Ice Dance Championship at Helsinki, Finland won by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (Great Britain)
Sports History
1983-08-07 Grete Waitz of Norway wins inaugural women's marathon at the 1st world athletics championships in Helsinki, Finland
Jan Kurri
1983-11-19 Jari Kurri becomes the first (and only) Finnish player to score five goals in a game
Sports History
1985-03-17 Matti Nykanen of Finland set a world ski jump record of 623'
- 1987-09-02 Trial begins in Moscow for West German pilot Mathias Rust, who flew a private plane from Finland to Moscow, USSR
- 1991-05-06 Seppo Raty of Finland sets javelin record to 301' 9"
- 1991-06-02 Seppo Raty of Finland improves his world javelin record to 318' 1"
- 1994-02-06 Martti Ahtisaari elected President of Finland
- 1994-03-01 Martti Ahtisaari inaugurated as president of Finland
- 1995-01-01 Austria, Finland & Sweden act to join European Union
- 1995-03-19 Finnish Social Democratic Party wins parliamentary election
- 1998-02-08 Finland beats Sweden, 6-0 at the Aqua Wing Arena in Nagano, Japan in the first female ice hockey game played in Olympic history
- 2000-03-01 The Constitution of Finland is rewritten
- 2000-08-24 Argon fluorohydride, the first Argon compound ever known, is discovered at the University of Helsinki by Finnish scientists.
- 2002-10-11 A bomb attack in a shopping mall in Vantaa, Finland kills seven.
- 2004-03-19 A truck and a bus crash head-on in Äänekoski, Finland. 24 people are killed and 13 injured.
- 2005-08-06 10th Athletics World Championships open at Helsinki, Finland
- 2006-03-01 Tarja Halonen is inaugurated as President of Finland for the second and last time
- 2006-05-20 51st Eurovision Song Contest: Lordi for Finland wins singing "Hard Rock Hallelujah" in Athens
- 2007-11-07 Jokela school shooting in Tuusula, Finland, resulting in the death of nine people.
- 2009-02-27 Statistics Finland informs that Finland's gross domestic product diminished by 1.3% in the last quarter of 2008 from the previous quarter
- 2010-06-09 Finland falls back into a state of recession after GDP contracted 0.4% in Q1 2010 and 0.2% in Q4 2009
- 2012-05-26 A gunman in the Finnish town of Hyvinkaa kills 2, wounds 7
- 2014-06-14 Alexander Stubb becomes Prime Minister of Finland for the first time
- 2016-10-10 Nobel Prize for Economics awarded to UK-born Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom of Finland for work on contract theory
Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
Clas Thunberg
Jari Kurri
Jean Sibelius
Kimi Räikkönen
Linus Torvalds