Tuesday 28 October 2025Before the Wire, which starts 26 October 2026Updated 23:59
Polar night, day 2 of 111. The sun returns 15 February.
Svalbard Wire starts on 26 October 2026. Pages before that date show the history of the island.
This week in history, 31 October
1932
The Dutch owners sold Barentsburg to the Soviet state company Arktikugol in 1932. That autumn the steamer Tawaritsch Stalin, bringing workers and machinery for the Soviet mine, ran aground at the mouth of Isfjorden and was pulled off by a Soviet ship and British trawlers.
History Store norske leksikon
From the timeline, The present transition
2019
After avalanches in December 2015 and February 2017 it was clear that housing low in Longyeardalen is exposed. Building of a new housing area in Gruvedalen began in 2018, and in December 2019 the demolition of 140 homes in the exposed area started.
History Store norske leksikon
The timeline by era
Svalbard