Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, seeing painting and sculpture as "branches of the tree whose trunk is architecture." Aalto's early career ran in parallel with the rapid economic growth and industrialization of Finland during the first half of the 20th century. Many of his clients were industrialists, among them the Ahlström-Gullichsen family. The span of his career, from the 1920s to the 1970s, is reflected in the styles of his work, ranging from Nordic Classicism of the early work, to a rational International Style Modernism during the 1930s to a more organic modernist style from the 1940s onwards. Typical for his entire career is a concern for design as a Gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art, in which he – together with his first wife Aino Aalto – would design the building, and give special treatment to the interior surfaces, furniture, lamps and glassware. His furniture designs are considered Scandinavian Modern, in the sense of a concern for materials, especially wood, and simplification but also technical experimentation, which led him to receiving patents for various manufacturing processes, such as bent wood. As a designer he is celebrated as the inventor of bent plywood furniture. The Alvar Aalto Museum, designed by Aalto himself, is located in what is regarded as his home city Jyväskylä.
The history of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, for many centuries coincided with the development of what is today known as Gamla stan, the Stockholm Old Town. Stockholm's raison d'être always was to be the Swedish capital and by far the largest city in the country.
The Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743 was instigated by the Hats, a Swedish political party that aspired to regain the territories lost to Russia during the Great Northern War, and by French diplomacy, which sought to divert Russia's attention from supporting its long-standing ally the Habsburg monarchy in the War of the Austrian Succession.
The Swedish East India Company was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with China and the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company. This made Gothenburg a European center of trade in eastern products. The main goods were silk, tea, furniture, porcelain, precious stones and other distinctive luxury items. Trade with China saw the arrival of some new customs in Sweden. The Chinese cultural influence increased, and tea, rice, arrack and new root vegetables started appearing in Swedish homes.
Wärtsilä Oyj Abp, trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technologies for the energy sector, including gas, multi-fuel, liquid fuel and biofuel power plants and energy storage systems; and technologies for the marine sector, including cruise ships, ferries, fishing vessels, merchant ships, navy ships, special vessels, tugs, yachts and offshore vessels. Ship design capabilities include ferries, tugs, and vessels for the fishing, merchant, offshore and special segments. Services offerings include online services, underwater services, turbocharger services, and also services for the marine, energy, and oil and gas markets. At the end of June 2018, the company employed more than 19,000 workers.
William Champion (1709–1789) is credited with patenting a process in Great Britain to distill zinc metal from calamine using charcoal in a smelter.
Skeppsbron is both a street and a quay in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, capital of Sweden, stretching from the bridge Strömbron in front of the Royal Palace southward to Slussen.
The attempt to create a Kingdom of Finland in 1742 is a little-known chapter in the history of Finland. Following the Russian occupation in the Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743) and vague promises of making the country independent, Finns elected the then Duke Peter of Holstein-Gottorp as the King of Finland. However, the political situation had outgrown the idea of Finnish independence and it quickly evaporated.
Carl Gustaf Ekeberg was a Swedish physician, chemist and explorer. He made several voyages to the East Indies and China as a sea captain. He brought back reports of the tea tree and wrote a number of books.
Valpuri Eerikintytär Innamaa (1540-1602) was a Finnish merchant and shipowner in Åbo (Turku), Sweden.
Ulrika Fredrika Bremer, née Salonius, was a ship owner and merchant in Swedish Finland. She was the paternal grandmother of Fredrika Bremer. After the death of her husband Jacob Bremer in 1785, at the age of 39, she took over his businesses and ships in Åbo. She successfully managed his business empire over 13 years and was one of the richest Finnish women of her time.
Finland under Swedish rule refers to the historical period when the bulk of the area that later came to constitute Finland was an integral part of Sweden. The starting point of Swedish rule is under a large amount of uncertainty and controversy. Historical evidence of the establishing of Swedish rule in Finland exists from the late 13th century onwards.
Åbo Skeppswarfs Aktie Bolaget was a shipbuilding company that operated in Turku, Finland Proper, in 1741–1883.
William Crichton was a Scottish engineer and shipbuilder who spent most of his career in Turku, located in the Grand Duchy of Finland.
Erik Julin was a Finnish apothecary, shipowner and industrialist.
Meyer Turku Oy is a Finnish shipbuilding company located in Turku, Finland Proper. The company is fully owned by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft GmbH. The main products are cruise ships and cruiseferries.
Esaias Wechter was a Finnish merchant, early industrialist and politician.
Anna Elisabeth Baer née Carlbohm (1722–1799) was a Finnish merchant and shipowner. She was one of the richest merchants in the latter half of the 18th century in Turku, Finland.
Carl Magnus Dahlström was a Finnish merchant, businessman and Commercial Counsellor.
Aktiebolaget Sandvikens Skeppsdocka och Mekaniska Verkstad was a Finnish shipbuilding and engineering company that operated in Helsinki in 1895–1938. The company was set up to continue shipbuilding at Hietalahti shipyard, after its predecessor Helsingfors Skeppsdocka, which operated the yard in 1865–1895, had bankrupted.