Randa Abdel-Fattah

that allowed the U.S.

to claim unoccupied islands in the Pacific that contained large amounts of guano, bird shit, bird droppings.

No joke, this is a real thing.

This act from 1856 says that if an American citizen finds enough guano, bird poop, on an island not yet claimed by another country or empire, the U.S.

president could choose to use military force to claim sovereignty there.

Why guano?

Because it's a great fertilizer, necessary for maintaining food production at a time when synthetic fertilizers didn't yet exist.

And it was also used to produce an ingredient for explosives.

It was considered so valuable it got the nickname white gold.

U.S.

citizens invoked the Guano Act to claim over 100 islands around the globe.

And John Monroe Longyear tried his luck with it in Svalbard, arguing that it should be expanded to include not just guano, but also coal and other minerals.

He had a lobbyist.

He had a guy on K Street.

He was even showing up to hotel lobbies to try to talk delegates into taking his side.

The U.S.

government ultimately decided not to intervene.

And then, in 1914, reality came knocking.

The war made it quite difficult to export coal.

When World War I broke out, his company's shipping and trade ground to a halt.