Happy 17th of May, all!

[Mr. Bloom]

I've learned something from this thread that may help me in Trivial Pursuit!

After Denmark–Norway was attacked by Britain, it entered into an alliance with Napoleon , and in 1814 found itself on the losing side in the Napoleonic Wars and in dire conditions and mass starvation in 1812. The Dano-Norwegian Oldenburg king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden. Norway took this opportunity to declare independence, adopted a constitution based on American and French models , and elected the Danish crown prince Christian Fredrik as king on May 17, 1814. However, Sweden militarily forced Norway into a personal union with Sweden , establishing the Bernadotte dynasty as rulers of Norway. Under this arrangement, Norway kept its liberal constitution and independent institutions, except for the foreign service.

A Personal Union is something akin to Canada's recognition of the british monarchy (I think...)

[Duck on Wheels]

Yep, Wikipedia has it right. Of course, leading up to that is the "400-year night" of Danish rule, thanks to another "personal union" Norway entered into when the population was decimated by the Plague. Nowadays we're on good terms with Danes and Swedes. We all speak pretty much the same language, all have liberal welfare democracies, and all like brown cheese.