09/03/2026
Funny event in history on September 3rd
The Day Sweden Forgot How to Drive: Dagen H (1967)
Up until 1967, people in Sweden drove on the left side of the road (like the UK), but all their neighbors in Scandinavia drove on the right. To make matters more confusing, most Swedish cars actually had the steering wheel on the left side, meaning drivers spent decades blindly overtaking cars into oncoming traffic.
The government finally decreed that on September 3, 1967, the entire country would simultaneously switch to driving on the right side of the road.
The logistical chaos was hilarious:
*The Grand Halt - At 4:50AM, all non-essential traffic was ordered to pull over and stop completely.
*The Great Shuffle - Drivers were given exactly ten minutes to slowly steer across the road to the opposite side.
*The Green Light - At exactly 5:00AM, a radio countdown ended, and the nation was told to start driving again on the right side.
*The Outcome - Major intersections were completely gridlocked with confused drivers staring at each other. Ironically, because everyone was driving so incredibly slowly and terrified of crashing, there were actually fewer traffic accidents than usual that day!
