Facts about Sweden

•the Nobel Prize

•Absolut Vodka

•Volvo (which is Latin for "I roll")

•Björn Borg, the tennis player

•Greta Garbo •Bergman (both Ingrid and
Ingmar, not related)

•Smörgåsbord (is Swedish for "table of sandwiches")
•IKEA

•SAAB

•Celsius (invented the Centrigrade system)

•Ace of Base

•Roxette

•ABBA

•SKF (makes ball bearings)

•The propeller

•The zip

•The Ombudsman

Facts and figures: important historical events

800-1050 A D
The Viking Age. The Vikings worshipped the Asa gods such as Oden and
Thor. The origin of the word Thursday comes from the Swedish word
Torsdag, meaning... you guessed it... Thors day. Actually, most of the
days of the week come from Nordic mythology.


900
Sweden becomes unified. Olof Skötkonung is the first king.


1050
Sweden becomes christianized.


1610-1718
The Great Power period. Many wars lead to the expansion of Swedish
territory.


1812
Sweden acquires its present borders. This is also the last time Sweden
was engaged in war (We have been very fortunate in that sense).


1850
The breakthrough of industrialism in Sweden.


1939-45
Sweden is neutral during the World War II.


1950
With industry intact after WW2, and with high quality engineering,
Sweden becomes one of the wealthiest countries in the world.


1995
Sweden becomes a member of the European Union.