Home > Tabuaeran

Tabuaeran is an atoll—one of the Line Islands of the central Pacific Ocean—located at Latitude 3° 51' 36" North – Longitude 159° 21' 52" West. The island is also known as Fanning Atoll (both names are recognised by Kiribati constitution). The maximum elevation is about 3 m (10 ft) above high tide.

Tabuaeran has a population of 1,900, principally Gilbertese settlers brought from Kiribati by Fanning Island Plantations, Ltd, to work in the copra industry (copra is the meat of the coconut). Reef fishes and shellfishes, babai, coconut, pigs, chickens, and seaweed (limu) grown in lagoon are local foods, supplementing a main diet of imported rice and tinned meats.

Tabuaeran is a weekly port of call for the Norwegian Star (Norwegian Cruise Lines) whose base port is Honolulu. The island's major exports are copra and hand crafts (including cowrie shell, shark tooth knives, and stamps). A supply ship from Australia calls two or three times a year.

History

At some 900 miles distant, Tabuaeran is one of the closest landfalls to the Hawaiian Islands, and the atoll was possibly used as a stopover by the Polynesians who first settled Hawai'i. Artifacts have been discovered that indicate possible early settlements by people from Polynesia — probably the Cook Islands and Tonga.

The atoll was first charted by the American Captain Edmond Fanning on November 6, 1798, on the USS Betsy and was named for him. At the time, the atoll was uninhabited, and in fact, like all of the Line Islands, has no truly native population.

Fanning was next claimed by the British in 1889Events January-April January 8 Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his electric tabulating machine January 22 Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, DC. February 11 Meiji Constitution of Japan adopted; 1st Diet convenes in 1890 January 30 ? Crown, who blasted coral heads in the deep, natural opening— thereafter called English Channel—on the west side of the lagoon. Tabuaeran once hosted a station on the Trans-Pacific cable between Canada and Australia, a part of the All Red LineAll Red Line is an informal name for the system of electrical telegraphs that linked all the British Empire. It was inaugurated on 31st October, 1902. Name In British political maps, the Empire territory was colored red. Routes Atlantic Ocean Great Britai. In 1914Events January 4 77 seal hunters freeze to death on ice near Labrador January 5 Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor February 13 Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Compos ( World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of), the Cable Station was shelled by a German gunboat, and the station slightly damaged. In 1939Events January-June January 2 End of term for Frank Finley Merriam, 28th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Culbert Levy Olson. January 24 Earthquake kills 30. 000 in Chile about 50. 000 sq mi razed January 26 Falangists take Barcelona January 26 the atoll was incorporated into the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice IslandsThe Gilbert and Ellice Islands were a British protectorate from 1892 and colony from 1916 — until 1 January 1976 when the islands were divided into two different colonies: the Gilbert Islands, now main part of the independent nation of Kiribati since 1979, much later ( 1979Events January-February January 1 Sino-American relations: United States and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations January 4 State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings.) gaining independence as part of the Republic of Kiribati.