Malta (island) built first fortifications in Malta. Malta was later ruled by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines and Arabs before it was occupied by the County of Sicily in 1091. The island then became part of the Kingdom of Sicily until it was given to the Order of Saint John along with Gozo and Tripoli in 1530. In 1565, the Order and the Maltese withstood a major Ottoman invasion which became known as the Great Siege of Malta. The Order ruled Malta for over 250 years and built many great pieces of architecture, including the capital city Valletta. In 1798 the French
Griffith Island (Nunavut) Griffith Island (Nunavut) Griffith Island lies within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of northern Canada's territory of Nunavut. It is one of the mid-channel islands in the western sector of Barrow Strait. Griffith Island lies directly across from the Inuit hamlet Resolute on Cornwallis Island, separated by the wide Resolute Passage. Capt. Horatio Austin, on board the "Resolute" and seeking the lost Sir John Franklin expedition, wintered off Griffith Island in 1851. Explorations that winter by second master, George F. McDougall, included McDougall Sound, the waterway to the north of Griffith Island. Griffith Island is , and