Thursday 13 November 2025Before the Wire, which starts 26 October 2026Updated 23:59
Polar night, day 18 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, 12 November
1942
On 12 November 1942 a lifeboat from the British steamer Chulmleigh, wrecked on a reef off Sørkapp, was thrown ashore at Kapp Linné, at the mouth of Isfjorden; nine of its men were found alive there by a Norwegian patrol on 2 January 1943. On 14 November a lifeboat from the Soviet steamer Dekabrist landed on Hopen, where four of its crew lived through the winter.
History Store norske leksikon
From the timeline, The coal town
1973
On 15 November 1973 Norway, Denmark, Canada and the United States signed the international agreement on the conservation of polar bears in Oslo, at the end of a three-day conference of the five Arctic states; the Soviet Union signed later. Under the agreement polar bear hunting on Svalbard became unlawful.
History Store norske leksikon
The timeline by era
Svalbard