Caroline Island is the easternmost of the uninhabited coral atolls which comprise the the southern Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean. First sighted by Europeans in 1606, claimed by Britain in 1868, and part of the Republic of Kiribati since the island nation's independence in 1979, Caroline Island has remained relatively untouched and is considered one of the world's most pristine tropical islands, despite guano mining, copra harvesting, and human habitation in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is home to one of the world's largest populations of the coconut crab and is an important breeding site for seabirds, most notably the sooty tern. The atoll is best known for its role in celebrations surrounding the arrival of the year 2000 – a 1995 realignment of the International Date Line made Caroline Island the easternmost land west of the Date Line and therefore one of the first points of land on earth to see sunrise in the year 2000.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Island

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1521: Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc was captured and the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán fell to forces led by Conquistador Hernán Cortés after an extended siege. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenochtitlan)

1704: The Battle of Blenheim, a pivotal event of the War of the Spanish Succession, took place. England and Austria claim victory over France and Bavaria. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blenheim)

1913: Harry Brearley developed stainless steel. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Brearley)

1961: Construction of the Berlin Wall, a long barrier separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the surrounding territory of East Germany, began. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"Make the world better." -- Lucy Stone (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lucy_Stone)