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===Discovery=== [[File:Isla Robinson1890-1922.JPG|thumb|right|[[Robinson Crusoe Island]], as seen in the late 19th or early 20th century. The ship in Cumberland Bay is the cruiser ''[[Chilean cruiser Esmeralda (1883)|Esmeralda]]''.]] The [[archipelago]] was discovered on 22 November 1574, by the [[Spanish people|Spanish]] sailor [[Juan Fernández (explorer)|Juan Fernández]], who was sailing south between [[Callao]] and [[Valparaíso]] along a route which he also discovered, hundreds of miles west of the coast of [[Chile]], which avoided the northerly [[Humboldt current]]. He called the islands [[Más Afuera]], [[Más a Tierra]], and Santa Clara.<ref>Brand, Donald D. (1967). ''The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations''. New York: The American Geographical Society. p. 127.</ref> In the 17th and 18th centuries, the islands were used as a hideout for [[pirate]]s and became the location of a [[penal colony]]. It was during this period that [[Alexander Selkirk]] became marooned on the islands. In the 1740s, they were visited by [[George Anson, 1st Baron Anson|Commodore Anson's]] flotilla during his ill-fated venture to the South Seas. The location of the [[archipelago]] was fixed by [[Alessandro Malaspina]] in 1790; previous charts had differed on the location.<ref>{{cite book |last= Kendrick |first= John |title= Alejandro Malaspina: Portrait of a Visionary |year= 2003 |publisher= McGill-Queen's Press |location=Montreal, Quebec |isbn= 0-7735-2652-8 |page= 46}}</ref> British and American [[whaling]] vessels were regular visitors to the islands, starting with the ''London'' (Captain Joshua Coffin) in 1795.<ref>Robert Langdon (ed.) ''Where the whalers went: an index to the Pacific ports visited by American whalers (and some other ships) in the 19th century'', Canberra, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, 1984, p.124. {{ISBN|0-86784-471-X}}</ref> During the [[maritime fur trade]] era of the early 19th century the islands were a source of [[fur seal]] skins, and the [[Juan Fernández fur seal]] was nearly driven to extinction. In his book ''[[Two Years Before the Mast]]'' (Chapter VII), [[Richard Henry Dana Jr.]] described the islands as he found them circa 1834. At this time the main island was being used as a [[penal colony]]. However, when Dr John Coulter visited it in the early 1840s, he reported the island deserted after the approximately 1000 convicts had risen up, killing the soldiers and Governor who had held them captive. The prisoners fled to mainland [[Chile]], where "great numbers" were later hunted down and shot. The story appears in Coulter's book ''Adventures in the Pacific'' (1845).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coulter |first=John |title=Adventures in the Pacific |publisher=W. Curry, jun. and company |year=1845 |pages=32–33 |language=English}}</ref> On 6 May 1846, a ship carrying Mormon missionaries visited the archipelago, re-stocking before travelling onward. During their stop, they buried the body of a pregnant woman, Laura Graham, who had died during a storm.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Juan Fernandez Islanders Commemorate Brooklyn Landing - Church News and Events |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/juan-fernandez-islanders-commemorate-brooklyn-landing-?lang=eng |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref> In 1908, the islands were visited by the [[Swedish Magellanic Expedition]] and [[Carl Skottsberg]] is believed to have been the last to have seen the ''[[Santalum fernandezianum]]'' tree alive. [[File:SMS Dresden before scuttling.jpg|thumb|left|{{SMS|Dresden|1907|6}} in March 1915, shortly before its scuttling in Cumberland Bay]] Late in 1914 the islands were the rendezvous for Admiral [[Maximilian von Spee]]'s [[East Asia Squadron]] as he gathered his ships together before defeating the British under Admiral [[Christopher Cradock]] at the [[Battle of Coronel]]. Following the [[Royal Navy]]'s win at the [[Battle of the Falkland Islands]] a month later, the only surviving German cruiser, {{SMS|Dresden|1907|6}}, was hunted down and cornered illegally at Más a Tierra early in 1915, although she was in Chilean territorial waters, where it was scuttled after [[Battle of Más a Tierra|a brief battle]] with British cruisers.<ref>[http://www.comunajuanfernandez.cl/dresden.htm "El Crucero Alemán Dresden"]. Commune Juan Fernández (2010). Retrieved 8 August 2010.</ref> In 1966 the Chilean government renamed Más Afuera as Alejandro Selkirk Island and Más a Tierra as Robinson Crusoe Island, in order to promote tourism. Incidentally, Selkirk never set foot on Más Afuera, only on Más a Tierra. On 30 July 2007, a constitutional reform gave the Juan Fernández Islands and Easter Island the status of "special territories" of Chile. Pending the enactment of a charter the [[archipelago]] will continue to be governed as a commune of the [[Valparaíso Region]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071001104310/http://www.bcn.cl/leyes/pdf/original/263040.pdf "Chilean Law 20,193"]. National Congress of Chile (2007).</ref> On 27 February 2010, a [[tsunami]] following the [[2010 Chile earthquake|8.8 magnitude earthquake]] off [[Maule, Chile]] struck the islands causing at least 8 deaths.<ref name="TimeMag">Harrell, Eben (2 March 2010). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604143303/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1969009,00.html?iid=sphere-inline-bottom "Chile's President: Why Did Tsunami Warnings Fail?"]. ''Time Magazine''. Retrieved 4 March 2010.</ref> Eleven people were reported as missing.<ref name="CNN01">{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/27/chile.quake.hawaii/?hpt=Sbin|title=First Waves of Tsunami Arrive at Hawaii|last=Gutierrez|first=Thelma|date=27 February 2010|website=CNN |access-date=27 February 2010}}</ref> Some early reports described the tsunami as being {{convert|40|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} high, but later reports measured it at {{convert|3|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}. Most of the town of San Juan Bautista on Robinson Crusoe Island was destroyed.<ref name="Tsunami">{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodbackstage.com/world/tsunami-chile-352.php4|title=40 Meter Tsunami Wave Smashes Juan Fernández Island|last=Spinali|first=Gwen|date=27 February 2010|publisher=Hollywood Backstage|access-date=27 February 2010|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803044915/http://www.hollywoodbackstage.com/world/tsunami-chile-352.php4|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://timesonline.typepad.com/science/2010/03/unravelling-the-chilean-tsunami.html Unravelling the Chilean Tsunami] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305221614/http://timesonline.typepad.com/science/2010/03/unravelling-the-chilean-tsunami.html |date=5 March 2010 }}. Times Online (1 March 2010). Retrieved 1 March 2010.</ref><ref name="Newsolio1">[http://newsolio.com/40-meter-tsunami-wave-hits-juan-fernandez-island,5972 "Forty-Meter Tsunami Wave Hits Juan Fernández Island"]. Newsolio (27 February 2010). Retrieved 27 February 2010</ref>
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