2 Comments TIL Mark Twain was one of the first American writers to document native islanders surfing in Polynesia. In his 1872 travelogue, “Roughing It”, Twain describes watching it, and even attempts it himself. But only once. by whatilearned September 4, 2022, 4:22 am 8 Points Upvote Downvote
1 Comment TIL that in addition to using the stars, Micronesians navigated the Pacific by recognizing and interpreting different type of ocean swells, even using them to pinpoint the existence of islands hundreds of miles away. Marshallese islanders additionally made stick maps of these ocean swell patterns. by whatilearned August 26, 2022, 7:42 am 11 Points Upvote Downvote
11 Comments TIL Some Ancient Pacific Islanders explored the seas using their testicles as a navigational tool. by whatilearned January 10, 2022, 3:36 am 12 Points Upvote Downvote
2 Comments TIL in 1885 Edward Tregear, an English born New Zealand legislator, wrote a book called “The Aryan Maori” that theorized that the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand, as well as other Pacific Islanders, were members of the Aryan race and were descended from people from Northern India by whatilearned October 30, 2021, 8:55 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
4 Comments TIL that the Marshall Islands are still waiting for $2 billion compensation from the US for conducting nuclear tests there in 1946 which had large fallout. Many of the islanders and their descendants still live in exile, as the islands remain contaminated with high levels of radiation. by whatilearned September 25, 2021, 7:09 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
TIL Madeira Islanders that emigrated to Hawaii in the late 1870s brought their musical instruments with them, including small guitars called ‘cavaquinho’ and ‘rajão’. They gave birth to the iconic ukulele. by whatilearned July 4, 2021, 9:25 am 12 Points Upvote Downvote
12 Comments TIL when a pedophile ring was uncovered in the Pitcairn Islands the islanders tried to declare independence from the UK as a legal defence, in perhaps the only example of a group seeking independence for the freedom to sexually abuse children by whatilearned June 2, 2021, 2:04 pm 13 Points Upvote Downvote
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