A Flatpack History of Sweden Podcast / Kingdom
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flatpacksweden.bsky.social
A Flatpack History of Sweden Podcast / Kingdom
@flatpacksweden.bsky.social
A Brit (Chris) and a Swede (Åsa) chronologically chart Swedish history in a light-hearted podcast, currently covering the 16th Century. Now with a new podcast, Kingdom: Swedish Rulers, ranking all the Swedish rulers!
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We're Chris and Åsa, hosts of A Flatpack History of Sweden and Kingdom: Swedish Rulers!

We go chronologically through Swedish history and also rate and judge all the rulers of Sweden in our two podcasts.

You can find all you need to know on our website!

www.aflatpackhistoryofsweden.com
29th December: We wish the current Swedish prime minister Happy Birthday! Ulf Kristersson was born today in 1963.
December 29, 2025 at 3:03 PM
28th December: In 1882, the Salvation Army holds their first meeting in Sweden on this day. Under their Swedish name Frälsningsarmen, they will go on to do a huge amount of social outreach work. And their chain of secondhand shops, Myrorna, is a favourite haunt for vintage bargains.
December 28, 2025 at 3:01 PM
We forgot to mention, but last Sunday we released a new episode on our Kingdom feed.

We did a stock check of where Sweden's at now we've come to the start of the 1300s. We look into the towns, cities, geography and day to day life for everyone.

Check it out, if you haven't already 😊
December 28, 2025 at 11:54 AM
The famous Christmas goat in the Swedish city of Gävle has collapsed due to the strong, stormy winds in Sweden! 😱🌬🐐😭

You can see the video here:

www.tv4.se/artikel/7tRQ...
December 27, 2025 at 7:43 PM
27th December: The Gottröra plane crash, one of the most famous aviation accidents in Swedish history, occurred today in 1991. The flight crashed shortly after take off from Arlanda airport in Stockholm, crashlanding in a field near the village of Gottröra. Miraculously all 129 onboard survive.
December 27, 2025 at 3:01 PM
26th December: Known as Boxing Day in English, we call it Annandag jul (second day Christmas). In 1302 Swedish king Valdemar, son of podcast favourite, the influential Birger Jarl, drew his last breath on this day.
December 26, 2025 at 3:04 PM
25th December: God Jul again, to all who are having their main Christmas celebration today! Traditionally, in Sweden, the 25th meant getting up at dawn for the early morning Christmas church service - the Julottan. Although not observed by as many today, it is still around in most churches.
December 25, 2025 at 3:03 PM
24th December: God Jul (the Swedish Merry Christmas greeting) and thanks for staying tuned for the Christmas calendar fun facts! Today, Christmas Eve, is the main Christmas celebration for Åsa, and other Swedes and our Nordic neighbours, when presents are open and Christmas food eaten.
December 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
23rd December: We wish Queen Silvia a Happy Birthday! Sweden’s current queen was born in Heidelberg, Germany, today in 1943. She became queen of Sweden in 1976, when she married King Carl XVI Gustaf, who was already King at the time.
December 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM
22nd December: Should it be illegal for the male head of a household to beat his wife, children, servants and apprentices for disciplinary purposes? Well, parliamentarian and editor Lars Johan Hierta thought so when he introduced a bill to ban it today in 1847.
December 22, 2025 at 3:03 PM
21st December: In the Flatpack timeline we’re right now in the middle of the legacy that Gustav Vasa left on Sweden, as we’ve so far seen three of his sons and one grandson rule Sweden. But old GV also had several daughters. One of them, Katarina, died today in 1610.
December 21, 2025 at 3:01 PM
20th December: The first book printed in Sweden, with the Latin title Dyalogus Creaturarum Moralizatus, was printed today in 1483.
December 20, 2025 at 3:02 PM
19th December: Modern-day Sweden’s second oldest university, the university in Åsa’s town of birth, Lund, was founded today in 1666. Back then it was a new part of Sweden, having been conquered in 1658 from Denmark.
December 19, 2025 at 3:03 PM
18th December: A three-phase electric power system, invented by Swedish inventor Jonas Wenström, was first used today in 1893. It provides constant power flow, smoother torque for motors, and efficient transmission, making it the backbone of modern grids & industry.
December 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM
17th December: The Swedish parliament voted to introduce free and full suffrage in local elections today in 1918, an important step to bringing complete free and full suffrage in the general election three years later in 1921.
December 17, 2025 at 3:15 PM
16th December: A galaxy far far away reached Sweden today in 1977 when Stjärnornas krig or Star Wars premiered in the country, now known as Episode IV, A New Hope!
December 16, 2025 at 3:02 PM
We had no new episode yesterday but instead you could check out @beyondthebreakers.bsky.social!

If you're like Chris, you might save up dozens of episodes of podcasts to binge listen to a load at once and that's what he is doing with BTB at the moment! Spoilers; sometimes steamboat boilers explode.
December 15, 2025 at 8:08 PM
15th December: In 1768 King Adolf Fredrik decided that enough was enough and abdicated on the 15th of December. We will cover the reasons why in future episodes when we get there…
December 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
14th December: Sten Sture the Older, regent and protagonist in several important events in the 1400s, and of several Flatpack episodes, died today in 1501. This painting is of him arriving in Stockholm.
December 14, 2025 at 3:01 PM
As we mentioned in our Christmas calendar post, the 13th of December is Luciadagen (the Day of St Lucia). Åsa actually went to watch a beautiful real life Luciatåg, as the procession and singing is called, hosted by the Swedish embassy in Bogotá 🇨🇴🕯
December 13, 2025 at 11:43 PM
13th December: Today we celebrate Luciadagen. Originally a catholic saint, Lucia is celebrated as the bringer of light to darkness in Sweden, with saffron buns and choir singing. Young girls also wear a crown of burning candles, in a quite dangerous tradition…
December 13, 2025 at 3:02 PM
12th December: In 1990, the Swedish Parliament officially voted yes, saying that the country should strive towards membership in the European Union, a membership that became reality five years later, in 1995, when we joined along with Finland and Austria, making the EU a lot more mountainous.
December 12, 2025 at 3:05 PM
11th December: One of history’s worst family gatherings, The Feast of Nyköping or Nyköpingsgästabud, took place today in 1317 when King Birger invited his brothers Dukes Valdemar and Erik to his castle, only to imprison them and then starve them to death. Oops.
December 11, 2025 at 3:03 PM
10th December: Stockholm is all dressed up, because today we honour this year’s recipients of the Nobel Prize in a tradition that’s been going since 1901.
December 10, 2025 at 2:45 PM
9th December: Historically, according to folklore and tradition, today is the day you should have a taste of your home brewed Christmas beer to check that it’s coming along nicely for Christmas. Cheers!
December 9, 2025 at 3:02 PM