Talk:Howland Island

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[edit] Wrong island

There seems to be some confusion in this article between "Howland Island" and "Howard Island". In most cases, it appears to be just a typo.

However, I'm deleting the following link, because it seems to be referring to a totally different island (Howard Island, near Elcho Island, near Arnhem Land, in Australia).

Ray Spalding 06:52, 11 Mar 2004 (UTC)


Miles problem--distnace here off by 500 km. See Talk:Baker Island. Gene Nygaard 17:30, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Note: No plane is known to have ever landed on Howland island.Wyss 23:35, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Adding Abbott "alternate history hoax"

While searching for some trivia on Valentine's Day celebrity Esther Howland, I ran across the (real) factbook entry for Howland Island, and then immediately into the hoax website (ranked today as 1st and 4th, respectively, on google, under the term "Howland").

The hoax has some red flags, but in the end is surprisingly believable out of sheer depth; he's included the full text for a constitution, a seating chart for a government assembly hall, a long series of local news articles, and home pages for nearly half a dozen local political parties. His disclaimer is linked from the front page, but sounds like a travel company slogan and is missable.

I added a three paragraph description of the phenomenon both because I think it is interesting and marginally topical, but also as a prophylaxis against anyone "correcting" the reference material after seeing the hoax.

--Option 17:11, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] An atoll?

Howland Island is a coral island that does not appear to have a central depression as atolls typically do. According to [1]: "There is no pronounced beach crest and no central basin (dried up lagoon) such as one usually finds on such flat coral islands. For this reason it was naturally adapted to development as an airfield." Does that mean it is not an atoll? A-giau 05:47, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You are correct; it is an island, not an atoll. --Safety Cap 17:10, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

There is indeed a slight (and dry) central depression and technically it's an atoll, Encyclopædia Britannica calls it Howland Island coral atoll. Wyss 17:31, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Earhart Light

It has been called Earhart light since around 1938. Wyss 03:57, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Locator map

This article needs a locator showing the position of the territory in the world. -- Beland 01:06, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

(It has since been provided.) -- Beland 01:50, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

The red x on the locator is way too far east. Howland is on the other side of the dateline, for starters. Gwen Gale 01:37, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure where it is supposed to be, but you can move it by editing the x and y coordinates of Template:Howland Island Locator. Good catch, -- Beland 01:50, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Guano?

Was this island REALLY mined for guano? 66.161.222.40 13:01, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Si, but not as much as some other islands like Jarvis Island. -Indolences 14:35, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
Most of these Pacific atolls were literally covered in it. 120 years ago mining the stuff was a cost-effective way to bring fertilizer to market. Gwen Gale 00:07, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
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