Björn Þórðarson (; 6 February 1879 – 25 October 1963) was

prime minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland ( is, Forsætisráðherra Íslands) is Iceland's head of government. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president and exercises executive authority along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary supp ...

from 16 December 1942 to 21 October 1944, in the only government that did not rely on parliamentary support. He was prime minister when Iceland became a republic. His cabinet was named the Coca-Cola rule because two of its ministers started franchises of two big American companies during the US occupation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Vilhjálmur Þór, from the Progressive Party, took on

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic ...

, and Björn Ólafsson, later a member of the

Alþingi The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembly ...

, founded Vífilfell, the company that sells

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...

in Iceland.

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Biography
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1879 births 1963 deaths Bjorn Thordarson Bjorn Thordarson World War II political leaders {{Iceland-politician-stub