Today is Flag Day in American Samoa. The day celebrates the first raising of the American Flag there in 1900. 10 things you might not know about American Samoa.
It is an unincorporated territory of the United States in the Polynesia region of the South Pacific Ocean, and the southernmost territory of the USA, situated 2,200 miles (3,500 km) southwest of Hawaii. It’s actually closer to New Zealand than it is to the continental U.S. It is one of two U.S. territories south of the Equator, along with Jarvis Island, which is uninhabited.
It consists of inhabited volcanic islands: Tutuila, Aunuʻu, Ofu, Olosega and Taʻū and the uninhabited Rose Atoll and Swains Island, a remote Coral atoll. The territory is 117,500 square miles (30,400 square km) in total, about the size of New Zealand. However, most of that is ocean; only 76.1 square miles (197 square km), or 0.1% of the territory, is dry land.
The waters were used in the 60s and 70s as the splash landing area for the astronauts who had been to the Moon, A small American Samoa flag was taken to the moon on one mission, and later presented, with three moon rocks, to American Samoa by Richard Nixon.
The capital is Pago Pago, which is located on the island of Tutuila.
The only mammals native to these islands are Bats. They are two species of fruit bat and one species of bat which eats insects.
The highest point in American Samoa is 3,056 feet at Olamatimu.
Since 2013, fares on Samoa Air are determined by how much the passenger and their luggage weigh. The fatter you are, the more expensive it is to fly.
The islands are nicknamed "Football Island," as the islands produce more American football players than anywhere else in the world. A young man from here is 56 times more likely to play in the NFL than the average young man in the USA.
The main industry here is Tuna canneries. These employ 80% of the working population and make up 93% of the exports. All the tuna canned here is exported to the US.
American Samoa is slowly moving towards China. The Pacific plate moves about 3 inches nearer to China each year.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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