One notable incident in its history occurred in 1866, when an English opera troupe was stranded here after their ship, the Libelle, was wrecked off its eastern reef and this location once named "San Francisco" by its European discoverer, Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra.
According to oral traditions of nearby cultures, men once saved themselves from being sacrificed if they journeyed to this location, which they called Enen-kio, to obtain the wing bone of a seabird found on it. In 1935, a village named "PAAville" was constructed at this location by Pan-American Airlines as a stopover on its US-China route. One notable incident in its history occurred in 1866, when an English opera troupe was stranded here after their ship, the Libelle, was wrecked off its eastern reef and this location once named "San Francisco" by its European discoverer, Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra. Books about this location include histories written by James Devereux and Winfield Cunningham, the latter of which once said "Send us more Japs!" in response to a failed landing during World War Two, and Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara was later executed for ordering a 1943 massacre of American prisoners of war here. Featuring Wilkes and Peale Islands, which both surround a central lagoon, for 10 points, identify this atoll which takes its name from its largest island, the site of a December 1941 battle sometimes called the "Alamo of the Pacific."
According to oral traditions of nearby cultures, men once saved themselves from being sacrificed if they journeyed to this location, which they called Enen-kio, to obtain the wing bone of a seabird found on it.
Wake Island [or Wake Atoll; accept "Enen-kio" until read; accept "San Francisco" until read]