This month in 1831, the Mediterranean Sea got a whole new island, one that European powers bickered over for a few months before the debate ended pretty abruptly.
This was off the coast of Sicily, which is a very tectonically and volcanically active part of the world.
Fishing boats in the region smelled sulfur, then watched the mouth of a volcano peek up over the surface of the Mediterranean Sea.
It produced so much lava over the next month or so that there was a small island in the water.
And that got quite a few European countries thinking.
The Mediterranean has always been important to shipping, but back then, in the days before the Suez Canal, it was absolutely essential.
Countries were constantly jockeying for better positions in the water than their rivals, sometimes turning to privateers who looted the other countries’ merchant ships.
These nations thought controlling the new island might give them more power in the Mediterranean.
The Sicilians figured this neighboring island was theirs, but England sent sailors to plant a flag and named it Graham Island after James Graham, First Lord of the Admiralty.
France planted a flag there too, and called it Julia, since it formed in July.
The dispute over the island continued for the rest of the year… and then the issue was moot.
The island’s base was made up of a kind of rock that eroded pretty quickly in sea water.
So as the debate ramped up over who could have the island, the island itself was sinking back into the sea.
By January 1832 it was completely gone, leaving months of geopolitical strategising and scheming literally sunk.
Starting Friday at Peddler’s Village in New Hope, Pennsylvania, it’s the Red, White & Blueberries BBQ Bash.
As the name suggests, there will be lots of food on hand, including blueberry pies made from scratch.
But there will also be sack races, axe throwing, a watermelon eating contest and a Stars & Stripes Strut.
The Mediterranean’s short-lived ‘Atlantis’ (BBC)
Red, White & Blueberries BBQ Bash
Image by British School via Wikicommons
