History of the Pacific Islands was the first European to sail through the islands and sighted Nui during his expedition in search of Terra Australis. European explorers did not return until two centuries later. In 1819 the island of Funafuti was named Ellice's Island; the name Ellice was applied to all nine islands after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay (1812–1876). The islands came under Britain's sphere of influence in the late 19th century, when each of the Ellice Islands was declared a British protectorate by Captain Gibson R.N., of HMS "Curacoa", between 9 and 16 October 1892. The Ellice Islands were administered
Postage stamps and postal history of the Marshall Islands used from 1914 to 1944. The islands became part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific in 1947 and used U.S. stamps until 1984. Marshall Islands has issued stamps since achieving postal independence in 1984. The website of the U.S. Pacific Islands Bulletin is now: https://sites.google.com/site/pacificislanditems/united-states-pacific-islands-bulletin Postage stamps and postal history of the Marshall Islands This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the Marshall Islands. The "Republic of the Marshall Islands" (RMI) is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date