Forget Paradise. Pitcairn Island is where the Bounty mutineers' bloodbath gave birth to a fragile new world.
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Forget what you learned in school. The old line that the sun never sets on the British Empire? That’s not ancient history, it’s still true. Turns out, Great Britain still controls a scattering of 13 overseas territories, and no matter the time, at least one of them is always catching some rays. But there’s a catch. For a fleeting hour around midnight GMT, the Empire holds its breath and its entire global claim rests on a single, tiny, volcanic rock in the South Pacific. Say hello to Pitcairn Island.
This isn't just any tiny island. It’s a place so remote that when the British first charted it in 1767 they got the coordinates dead wrong, which, hilariously, ended up being its best feature. You see, Pitcairn was once the world’s most perfect hiding spot. And the people who needed the perfect hiding spot were perhaps the most infamous seafarers in naval history. We're talking about the men who decided an endless supply of breadfruit wasn't worth the trouble.
In 1787, the HMS Bounty set sail for Tahiti to collect breadfruit plants, a mission that ended with Captain William Bligh being set adrift and Master's Mate Fletcher Christian leading a band of mutineers and Tahitian companions on a desperate, months-long search for a sanctuary. They finally found Pitcairn, burned the Bounty to the waterline, and settled down, convinced they had created their own private, unreachable paradise. They had fresh water, fertile land, and no one to judge them. What could possibly go wrong when you maroon a few sailors and a group of kidnapped islanders on a desert island? Everything.
