The recorded history of Iceland began with the settlement by Viking explorers and their slaves from the east Norway and the British Isles, in the late ninth century. Iceland was still uninhabited. Recorded settlement has conventionally been dated back to 874, although archaeological evidence indicates Gaelic monks from Ireland, known as papar according to sagas, had settled Iceland before that date; the land was settled mainly by Norwegians who may have been fleeing conflict or seeking new land to farm. By 930, the chieftains had established a form of governance, the Althing, making it one of the world's oldest parliaments. Towards the end of the tenth century, Christianity came to Iceland through the influence of the Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason. During this time, Iceland remained independent, a period known as the Old Commonwealth, Icelandic historians began to document the nation's history in books referred to as sagas of Icelanders. In the early thirteenth century, the internal conflict known as the age of the Sturlungs weakened Iceland, which became subjugated to Norway through the Old Covenant ending the commonwealth.

Norway, in turn, was united with Sweden and Denmark. All of the Nordic states were united in one alliance, the Kalmar Union, but on its dissolution, Iceland fell under Danish rule; the subsequent strict Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly in the 17th and 18th centuries was detrimental to the economy. Iceland's resultant poverty was aggravated by severe natural disasters like the Móðuharðindin or "Mist Hardships". During this time, the population declined. Iceland remained part of Denmark, but in keeping with the rise of nationalism around Europe in the nineteenth century, an independence movement emerged; the Althing, suspended in 1799, was restored in 1844, Iceland gained sovereignty after World War I, becoming the Kingdom of Iceland on 1 December 1918. However, Iceland shared the Danish Monarchy until World War II. Although Iceland was neutral in the Second World War, the United Kingdom invaded and peacefully occupied it in 1940 to forestall a Nazi occupation, after Denmark was overrun by the German Wehrmacht.

Due to the island's strategic position in the North Atlantic, the Allies occupied the island until the end of the war, with the United States taking over occupation duties from the British in 1941. In 1944, Iceland declared itself a republic. Following the Second World War, Iceland was a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and joined the United Nations one year after its establishment, its economy grew largely through fishing, although this was marred by disputes with other nations. Following rapid financial growth, the 2008–11 Icelandic financial crisis occurred. Iceland continues to remain outside the European Union. Iceland is remote, therefore has been spared the ravages of European wars but has been affected by other external events, such as the Black Death and the Protestant Reformation imposed by Denmark. Iceland's history has been marked by a number of natural disasters. Iceland is a young island in the geological sense, being formed about 20 million years ago by a series of volcanic eruptions in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, but it is still growing from fresh volcanic eruptions.

The oldest stone specimens found in Iceland date back to ca. 16 million years ago. In geological terms, Iceland is a young island, it started to form in the Miocene era about 20 million years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where it lies between the North American and Eurasian plates. These plates spread at a rate of 2.5 centimeters per year. This elevated portion of the ridge is known as the Reykjanes Ridge; the volcanic activity is attributed to a hotspot, the Iceland hotspot, which in turn lies over a mantle plume an anomalously hot rock in the Earth's mantle, to be responsible for the island's creation and continued existence. For comparison, it is estimated that other volcanic islands, such as the Faroe Islands have existed for about 55 million years, the Azores about 8 million years, Hawaii less than a million years; the younger rock strata in the southwest of Iceland and the central highlands are only about 700,000 years old. The geological history of the earth is divided based on temperature and climate.

The last glacial period referred to as The Ice Age is thought to have begun about 110,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago. While covered in ice, Iceland's icefalls and valleys were formed. Iceland remained, for a long time, one of the world's last uninhabited larger islands, it has been suggested that the land called Thule by the Greek geographer Pytheas was Iceland, although it seems unlikely considering Pytheas' description of it as an agricultural country with plenty of milk and fruit: the name is more to have referred to Norway, or the Faroe Islands or Shetland. The exact date that humans first reached the island is uncertain. Roman currency dating to the third century has been found in Iceland, but it is unknown whether they were brought there at that time or came with Vikings after circulating for centuries. There is some literary evidence that monks from a Hiberno-Scottish mission may have settled in Iceland before the arrival of the Norsemen; the Landnámabók, written in the 1100s, mentions the presence of Irish monks, called the Papar, prior to Norse settlement and states

Tom Jones Live in Las Vegas is a live album recorded at The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada during the summer of 1969, released in November 1969. Performed and recorded during one of the peaks of his popularity, due to his TV series, This is Tom Jones and several hit singles in the late 1960s, Tom Jones and his accompanying band, led by Johnnie Spence, gave a tight and energetic performance. Jones' band featured some of the top studio musicians of the day, including Big Jim Sullivan on guitar and Chris Slade on drums. Jones acknowledged these musicians to the audience at the beginning of the sixth track, "Danny Boy" - stating "I brought with me from England three of the finest musicians that we have there...on drums, we have Chris, on bass, we have John, on lead guitar, we have Jimmy." A harsh critic of inferior music, Buddy Rich, on The Mike Douglas Show in 1971, stated "The band that plays behind Tom Jones is one of the great bands of all time."Jones' powerful vocals are matched with unique horn and big band arrangements, tackling several styles and genres of music: fast rock, big band & jazz in 6/8 time signature, blues and Beatles covers.

The last track on Side 1, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", is a studio recording with applause overdubbed in the studio. This record was another bonus to Jones' career, peaking at #2 in the UK and #3 in the US, it remains his highest charting album in the United States. Tom Jones – Lead vocals Johnnie Spence – Conductor, arranger John Rostill – Bass guitar Big Jim Sullivan – Lead guitar Chris Slade – Drums

The Riot Act Tour was a concert tour by the American rock band Pearl Jam to support its seventh album, Riot Act. Pearl Jam promoted Riot Act with tours in Australia and North America in 2003; the tours were the band's first with keyboardist Boom Gaspar. The two legs of the North American tour focused on the Midwestern United States, the East Coast, the West Coast. Opening acts for the tours included Johnny Marr, Sleater-Kinney and Idlewild. Pearl Jam received much publicity for its energetic politically charged performances during the tour; the band gave a noteworthy performance during the encore of its February 23, 2003 show in Perth at the Burswood Dome where it was joined on stage by Hunters & Collectors frontman Mark Seymour to perform "Throw Your Arms Around Me", a personal favorite of vocalist Eddie Vedder. At many shows during the 2003 North American tour, Vedder performed Riot Act's "Bu$hleaguer", a commentary on President George W. Bush, with a rubber mask of Bush, wearing it at the beginning of the song and hanging it on a mic stand to allow him to sing.

The band made news when it was reported that several fans left after Vedder had "impaled" the Bush mask on his mic stand at the band's April 1, 2003 show in Denver, Colorado at the Pepsi Center. Following a performance of the song at Pearl Jam's April 30, 2003 show in Uniondale, New York at the Nassau Coliseum, the band was met with boos from the crowd and chants of "U-S-A." Vedder responded by defending his right to free speech and the band followed with a performance of The Clash's "Know Your Rights". The song "Arc" was performed by Vedder at nine shows during the second North American leg of the tour as a tribute to the victims of the Roskilde disaster. On the second leg of the North American tour the band performed a three-day set of Boston shows at the Tweeter Center Boston. Pearl Jam played a different set list each night, spanning 105 songs from its catalog with only one repeat between the three shows, the popular concert-ending "Yellow Ledbetter". In May 2003, Pearl Jam extended its North American tour by announcing that it would be playing in Mexico for the first time.

Before the first concert on July 17, 2003 in Mexico City at Palacio de los Deportes, the band gave its first press conference in ten years. In addition, the third concert was transmitted live on radio and television to all of Latin America for free; the Australia and North America tours were documented by a long series of official bootlegs, all of which were available through the band's official website. A total of six bootlegs were made available in record stores: Perth, State College, two shows from Madison Square Garden, Mansfield, Massachusetts. One of the four warm-up dates was released as a DVD entitled Live at the Showbox, made available through the band's website; the first of two shows at Madison Square Garden was released as the Live at the Garden DVD. Information taken from various sources. Pearl JamJeff Ament – bass guitar Stone Gossard – rhythm guitar Mike McCready – lead guitar Eddie Vedder – lead vocals, guitar Matt Cameron – drumsAdditional musiciansBoom Gaspar – Hammond B3 and keyboards February 23, 2003 Perth Australia- released June 10, 2003