Phosphate........In 1896 a cargo officer, Henry Denson, stopped in Nauru and found an interesting rock that he thought might be petrified wood. He used it as a door stop at his company's office in Sydney, Australia. In 1899, Albert Ellis, who was transferred to Sydney, saw the "petrified wood" and suspected phosphate. Testing showed it to be very rich quality phosphate.

A new industry was born on the island. Much of the phosphate went to Australia for use as fertilizer. When Nauru gained independence in 1968, phosphate provided a great income for all the island citizens. That wealth lasted as long as the phosphate did. But, by the early 1990s, most of it had been depleted. Phosphate is still mined today, but the glory days are a thing of the past.

There are a few theories as to where all that phosphate might have come from. The most entertaining theory is it is all due to bird droppings. But, a more likely theory suggests it is from marine sediment among the limestone while the island formed.

The treasure of phosphate on the island of Nauru brought both great wealth and an environmental disaster. Nearly 80% of the island has been stripped in the process of mining out the phosphate.