The whaler Delta lands smallpox-stricken crew; the epidemic kills about 4,000, roughly 40% of Pohnpeians.

What happened

The whaleship Delta put ashore two crewmen sick with smallpox and buried a third; when Pohnpeians took the sick men’s clothing, the disease spread across the island for months despite efforts by an American missionary and physician. Missionary Albert Sturges reported that Sokehs fell from about 2,000 to 1,000 people and that Net might now number only 200.

Why it matters

Hezel calls it the most devastating of the century’s epidemics; with later outbreaks, Pohnpei’s population fell to about 5,000 by 1900, half its 1840 level.