South Pacific (Oceania) Islands

1. This island state, which became a big tourist destination for Americans sometime after 1954, is located about 150 miles south of the largest landmass in all of Oceania.

2. When Reader’s Digest exposed the post-World War II poverty on this partially American Polynesian archipelago, President John F. Kennedy showed up with a football, and now the ratio of NFL players from there to NFL teams is some 1:1.

3. In November 1952, the United States successfully tested the first hydrogen bomb on this Anglicized Micronesian island chain.

4. Given its proximity to the International Date Line, “Where America’s Day Begins,” is the motto of this Micronesian island.

5. This Polynesian island didn’t get its name because it is the easternmost island in Oceania, rather, because Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen encountered it on the first Sunday of April 1722.

6. These Polynesian islands are named for the English sea captain who routinely explored the South Pacific, one whose name is most befitting since when he was killed by islanders they baked his body over an open fire.

7. But it was on these northernmost Polynesian islands where the aforesaid captain was baked, although the islanders didn’t make him lunch, in spite of the islands having once been named Sandwich Islands.

Courtesy of The Democratic Republic of Trivia