Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme The Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme was begun in 1938 in the western Pacific ocean and was the last attempt at human colonisation within the British Empire. Conceived by Henry E. "Harry" Maude, lands commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, and approved by Sir Harry Luke, High Commissioner of the western Pacific in Fiji, its goal was to reduce overpopulation in the southern Gilbert Islands by developing three mostly uninhabited atolls in the Phoenix Islands archipelago: A secondary goal was to enhance the British presence in the western Pacific in response to growing American influence
1978 Pacific hurricane season 1978 Pacific hurricane season The 1978 Pacific hurricane season officially began May 15, 1978, in the eastern Pacific, June 1, 1978, in the central Pacific, and officially ended on November 30, 1978. These dates conventionally delimit the period of time when tropical cyclones form in the eastern north Pacific Ocean. Activity this year was slightly above-average, with eighteen named storms forming. Five of those were tropical storms, thirteen were hurricanes, and six were major hurricanes that reached Category 3 or higher on the Saffir–Simpson scale. In the Central Pacific, a tropical depression and a major hurricane formed. Also, this season