2009 in Norway

Incumbents

• Monarch – Harald V
• Prime Minister – Jens Stoltenberg

  Events

January

• 1 January:
• Same-sex marriage became legal in Norway when a gender neutral marriage bill was enacted after being passed by the Norwegian legislature in June 2008. Norway became the first Scandinavian country and the sixth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.
• A new Norwegian prostitution law bans the buying of sexual favours rather than selling.

  February

March

• 10 March – Varg Vikernes is released on parole having served almost 16 years of a 21 years sentence for murder.

  April

May

June

July

• 31 July – Full City oil spill: the Panama-flagged bulk carrier, Full City, operated by COSCO, experienced engine failure and ran aground near Langesund, Telemark, Norway during a storm, spilling 200 tons of heavy bunker fuel oil in a sensitive wildlife area.

  August

September

• 14 September – The 2009 Parliamentary election takes place. Although the opposition received more votes, the governing Red-Green Coalition obtained more seats in parliament. This allowed Jens Stoltenberg to continue as prime minister.

  October

November

December

• 9 December – The Norwegian spiral anomaly initially shook thousands of witnesses in Northern Norway, as well as people across the globe, when what was later explained as a misfired Russian missile caused a spectacular light formation in the sky. The phenomenon was observed in the dark morning sky from Trøndelag through Finnmark.
• 10 December – The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to U.S. President Barack Obama in Oslo.

  Popular culture

Music

• 16 May – Norway wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song Fairytale performed by Alexander Rybak, with a record-breaking 387 points.

  Sports

Film

Literature

Television

Anniversaries

• 150 years since the birth of author Knut Hamsun on 4 August 1859
• 100 years since the founding of the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted on 22 October 1909
• 100 years since the establishment of the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts on 29 November 1909
• 75 years since the Tafjorden tsunami killed 41 people in Tafjord in Møre og Romsdal on 7 April 1934. The tsunami was triggered by landslide.

  Notable deaths

• 2 January – John Olav Larssen, evangelical preacher and missionary
• 4 January – Arvid Knutsen, soccer player and coach
• 4 January – Leif Herbrand Eriksen, journalist and politician
• 6 January – Magne Rommetveit, philologist
• 6 January – Eldar Hagen, ski salesman and sports official
• 8 January – Björn Haugan, operatic lyric tenor
• 12 January – Jack Erik Kjuus, anti-immigration activist
• 12 January – Arne Næss, philosopher
• 12 January – Knut Eidem, journalist
• 14 January – John Sveinsson, footballer
• 17 January – Otto Birger Morcken, chess player
• 21 January – Astrid Folstad, actress
• 24 January – Kåre Berg, professor in medical genetics
• 24 January – Herman Pedersen, politician
• 29 January – Olaf Øen, politician
• 31 January – Arne E. Holm, artist and architect
• 1 February – Odd Torgeir Rusten, politician
• 2 February – Fredrik Kayser, World War II resistance fighter
• 3 February – Åsa Solberg Iversen, politician
• 4 February – Arnljot Eggen, lyricist
• 8 February – Wenche Klouman Kerr, actress
• 12 February – Willy Haugli, jurist and former Oslo chief of police
• 14 February – Kjersti Graver, jurist and Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman
• 23 February – Sverre Fehn, architect
• 26 February – Ingebjørg Karmhus, politician
• 28 February – Finn Christensen, artist
• 19 February – Jan E. Mellbye, agrarian leader
• 4 March – Triztán Vindtorn, poet.
• 5 March – Bjørg Lødøen, artist
• 10 March – Geir Killingland, modeling agency executive.
• 13 March – Anne Brown, American-born opera singer.
• 16 March – Mons Espelid, politician
• 23 March – Lars Arentz-Hansen, barrister
• 24 March – Ole Edvard Borgen, Methodist leader
• 25 March – Knut Selmer, law professor
• 26 March – Arne Bendiksen, singer, composer and producer.
• 28 March – Inger Lise Gjørv, politician
• 2 April – Guttorm Hansen, writer and politician
• 4 April – Jone Vadla, politician
• 5 April – Ole Gabriel Ueland, politician
• 5 April – Reidun Røed, resistance member
• 12 April – Hans Kleppen, ski jumper and Olympic bronze medallist
• 16 April – Jens Balchen, civil engineer
• 16 April – Svein Longva, economist and civil servant
• 18 April – Thor Hernes, footballer and sports official
• 20 April – Ola M. Steinholt, bishop
• 26 April – Ivar Ramstad, discus thrower
• 30 April – Bjørn Lothe, politician
• 1 May – Torstein Grythe, founder and conductor of the Sølvguttene boys choir
• 13 May – Berit Erbe, actor and theatre historian
• 19 May – Sjur Brækhus, law professor
• 22 May – Asle Sjåstad, alpine skier
• 25 May – Haakon Lie, long-standing party secretary for the Norwegian Labour Party
• 25 May – Rolf Brahde, astronomer
• 31 May – Ingebjørg Sem, actress
• 1 June – Åse Fosli, politician
• 3 June – Geir Høgsnes, sociologist
• 9 June – Arne Tovik, newspaper editor and journalist
• 11 June – Jakob Kjersem, Olympic athlete
• 14 June – Ragnar Frislid, writer, photographer and environmentalist
• 18 June – Elisabeth Schweigaard Selmer, politician and judge
• 22 June – Kaare Langlete, lord chamberlain
• 30 June – Mosse Jørgensen, education reform activist
• 1 July – Gerd Vollum, politician
• 4 July – Hildur Odlaug Os, politician
• 6 July – Marius Eriksen, skier, fighter pilot, model and actor
• 9 July – Ole Johannes Kløv, politician
• 9 July – Egil Arne Braathen, billionaire
• 10 July – Ebba Haslund, author
• 17 July – Per Meinich, economist
• 24 July – Terje Moe, architect
• 25 July – Erling Kristiansen, cyclist
• 28 July – Kjell Colding, diplomat and politician
• 3 August – Oddvar Korme, journalist
• 4 August – Ole A. Sørli, manager and record producer
• 5 August – Bjarne Berg-Sæther, politician
• 9 August – Pål Kraby, barrister and businessman
• 9 August – Leif Husebye, newspaper editor
• 9 August – Vince Sulyok, Hungarian-born librarian and poet
• 14 August – Torstein Slungård, politician
• 24 August – Leif Flengsrud, cyclist
• 26 August – Birger Skeie, businessman
• 26 August – Per Christensen, actor
• 28 August – Ernst Magne Johansen, painter
• 29 August – Inger Johanne Nossum, rector
• 30 August – Kiki Sørum, fashion journalist
• 30 August – Åse Wentzel, singer
• 31 August – Aksel Fossen, politician
• 31 August – Asbjørn Aarseth, philologist
• 4 September – Kåre Karlsen, politician
• 7 September – Torstein Tranøy, journalist
• 15 September – Torfinn Bjørnaas, WWII resistance fighter
• 17 September – Christian Petersen, ice hockey player
• 22 September – Olaf Dufseth, skier
• 22 September – Ada Madssen, sculptor
• 27 September – Martha Schrøder, politician
• 28 September – Elisabeth Bang, actress
• 29 September – Gunnar Haugan, actor
• 1 October – Gunnar Haarberg, television presenter
• 1 October – Bjarne Karsten Vatne, politician
• 9 October – Arne Bakker, football and bandy player
• 9 October – Paul Reine, politician
• 13 October – Atle Jebsen, shipowner
• 14 October – Hans Chr. Mamen, local historian and priest
• 15 October – Tollak B. Sirnes, physician, psychiatrist and pharmacologist
• 17 October – Kurt Nordbø, politician
• 20 October – Carl Fredrik Lowzow, politician
• 21 October – Wilhelm Elsrud, forester
• 23 October – Ragnvald Høier, physicist
• 25 October – Gerhard Knoop, theatre director
• 27 October – Marit Trætteberg, chemist
• 29 October – Olav Hodne, missionary
• 6 November – Kjell Bartholdsen, jazz musician
• 7 November – Arne Natland, footballer
• 11 November – Helge Reiss, actor
• 12 November – Elisabeth Aasen, politician
• 16 November – Anne-Sofie Strømnæs, resistance member
• 20 November – Leiv Erdal, politician
• 21 November – Gerhard Aspheim, trombonist
• 24 November – Alexander Pihl, professor of medicine
• 28 November – Helge Reiss, actor
• 3 December – Lulla Einrid Fossland, politician
• 9 December – Mia Berner, writer
• 9 December – Kjell Eugenio Laugerud García, Norwegian-Guatemalan President of Guatemala
• 11 December – Erland Steenberg, politician
• 11 December – Karl Erik Zachariassen, zoologist
• 12 December – Josef Monsrud, resistance member
• 13 December – Arne Næss, politician
• 15 December – Per Ulven, harness racing coach
• 25 December – Knut Haugland, resistance member and explorer
• 26 December – Peder Lunde, yacht racer
• 26 December – Tarald Weisteen, colonel
• 26 December – Odd Kirkeby, politician
• 29 December – Ottar Landfald, politician
• 29 December – Harold Nicolaisen, politician
• 30 December – Anne Valen Hestetun, politician
• 31 December – Rodney Riise, ice hockey player