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1154 Sweden's King Eric introduces Christianity to Finland (see History of Finland).
1156 According to legend, freeholder Lalli slays English crusader Bishop Henry with an axe on the ice of the lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland.
1229 Founding of the city of Turku, Finland.
1249 Swedish statesman Birger Jarl subjugates the province of Tavastia in Finland, laying the foundations for Sweden's expansionism.
1550 Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is founded by Gustav Vasa.
1555 Russia breaks 60 year old truce with Sweden by attacking Finland.
1556 King John III of Sweden becomes ruler of Finland as Hertig Johan.
1581 Finland becomes a grand duchy.
1638 The Finnish postal service, Suomen Posti, is founded.
1696 A famine wipes out almost a third of the population of Finland.
1771 The Dutch merchant ship Vrouw Maria sinks near the coast of Finland. Captain Raymund Lourens and his crew escape unharmed.
1779 The city of Tampere is founded in Finland.
1808 Russia issues an ultimatum to Sweden, to join France, Denmark and Russia and attacks Finland.
1808 Russian troops cross border to Finland without declaration of war - the Finnish War begins
1808 Troops under colonel Carl von Döbeln clash with Russian troops in Pyhäjoki, Finland
1808 Swedish troops evacuate Finland. Tsar Alexander I of Russia proclaims Finland a part of Russia.
1808 Swedish troops evacuate Finland. Tsar Alexander I of Russia proclaims Finland a part of Russia.
1809 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. King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d'état and is later exiled.
1812 Capital of Finland moved from Turku to Helsinki.
1827 Finland: Great Fire of Turku.
1900 Russia responds to international pressure to free Finland by tightening imperial control over the country.
1917 Finland takes a step towards full sovereignty recognizing the personal union with Russia finished after the Tsar being dethroned.
1918 March 7 — World War I: Finland forms an alliance with Germany.
1920 Finland joins the League of Nations.
1921 Lotta Svärd founded in Finland.
1922 Finnish Minister of the Interior Heikki Ritavuori is assassinated by Ernst Tandefelt.
1923 Finnish flag carrier Finnair airline is started in Aero Oy.
1929 Lapua Movement in Finland
1929 Steamboat ''Kuru'' sinks in Näsijärvi, Tampere, Finland - 136 drowned
1930 Lapua Movement marches in Helsinki, Finland
1931 Pehr Evind Svinhufvud elected president of Finland
1931 New House of Representatives opened in Helsinki, Finland
1932 Mäntsälä Rebellion in Finland
1932 Prohibition is lifted in Finland at 10 in the morning (local time), resulting in a new mnemonic "543210".
1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: Hitler and Stalin agree to divide eastern Europe between themselves (Finland, the Baltic states and eastern Poland to the USSR; Western Poland to Germany).
1939 Winter War begins: Soviet forces attack Finland and reach the Mannerheim Line, starting the war.
1939 League of Nations expels the USSR because of attacking Finland
1940 Soviet Union and Finland sign a peace treaty in Moscow ending the Winter War. Finns, along with the world at large, were shocked by the harsh terms.
1941 World War II: Finland initiate mobilization and put some units under German command.
1941 World War II: Finland attack the Soviet Union to seek the opportunity of revenge in the Continuation War.
1944 Stalin launches an offensive against Finland with the intent of defeating Finland before pushing for Berlin.
1945 World War II: Previously neutral Finland declares war on the Axis powers.
1947 Paris peace treaties signed between the World War II Allies and Italy, Hungary, Romaniam Bulgaria and Finland: Italy cedes most of Istria to Yugoslavia
1948 Great oil fire in the harbor of Naantali, Finland
1949 Soviet Union vetoes United Nations membership of Ceylon, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Jordan and Portugal.
1950 Finland forms diplomatic relations to People's Republic of China
1950 Finland recognizes Indonesia
1950 Juho Kusti Paasikivi re-elected president of Finland
1952 Finnish Armi Kuusela wins the title of Miss Universe.
1952 Last Finnish war reparations to Soviet Union.
1954 Finland and Germany officially end the state of war.
1956 Finland joins UNESCO
1960 June 4 — The Lake Bodom murders occur in Finland.
1962 Urho Kekkonen is re-elected president of Finland.
1966 Floods occur on the Finnish coast.
1975 The Helsinki Accords, which officially recognize Europe's national borders and respect for human rights, are signed in Finland.
1976 An explosion in an ammunition factory in Lapua, Finland kills 40.
1982 Mauno Koivisto is elected President of Finland.
1984 A Soviet cruise missile plunges into Inarinjärvi lake in Finnish Lapland. Finnish authorities announce the fact in public on January 3, 1985.
1989 Veikko "Jammu" Siltavuori abducts and murders two 8 year old girls in Myllypuro suburb in Helsinki, Finland
1994 Voters in Finland decide to join the European Union in a referendum.
1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden enter the European Union.
1998 The "dump site" murder in Hyvinkää, Finland: Satanists Jarno Elg, Terhi Tervashonka and Mika Riska murder, cut up, and partly eat a 23-year-old man.
1999 The Albertinkatu shootings in Helsinki, Finland: Three men are killed and one wounded at a shooting range.
2000 Tarja Halonen is elected the first female president of Finland.
2002 Myyrmanni bombing: A lone bomber explodes a home-made bomb in the Myyrmanni shopping mall north of Helsinki, Finland; the casualties include himself.
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