1966
Left bloc · SNelly Sachs wins the Nobel Prize, Esrange launches, and Sweden's first colour TV broadcast.
1966 infographic: Nelly Sachs Nobel, Esrange, and colour TV
AI-generated infographic using the page's 1966 anchors.
Highlights
- Nelly Sachs, Nobel Prize in Literature: German-Swedish poet Nelly Sachs, who had fled Nazi Germany to Stockholm in 1940, was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature for writing that 'interprets Israel's destiny with touching strength.' She shared the prize with Shmuel Yosef Agnon.
- Esrange Space Center inaugurated: On 24 September 1966 the Esrange sounding rocket range near Kiruna was officially opened; the first rocket (Centaur-1) launched on 19 November 1966, making Sweden one of the few countries with its own space research infrastructure.
- First colour television broadcast: SVT produced Sweden's first colour television broadcast in 1966, though regular colour programming would not begin until 1970, presaging the coming media transformation of the 1970s.