It’s no secret that 100 years ago, Icelanders weren’t very modern. On the contrary, they were seen as a bit uncultivated in the eyes of their contemporaries. In fact, people from other countries saw them as being a little weird. Although they seemed strange, Icelanders had a reputation for being very nice people and extremely happy. Perhaps it was some of their bizarre laws that made them appear a little backward to foreigners. Take, for example, the law regarding television. Until 1966, Icelanders had no Icelandic television broadcasting service, instead relying on broadcasts from the U.S. Naval Air Station at Keflavik. What’s more, until 1983 Icelandic TV did not broadcast for the entire month of July to facilitate summer vacations. Even more strange was the fact that there was no television on Thursdays from 1966 until 1987. This was done to promote human interaction. Today, Iceland has its own broadcasting service — RÚV — which provides five free-to-view channels and a number of subscription channels, and broadcasts are made 365 days a year.
