The Roggeveen expedition, voyaging westward from the Juan Fernandez Islands, finds Easter Island (Rapa Nui) on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1722, whereupon he reports seeing two thousand to three thousand inhabitants.

The number may have been greater, since some may have been frightened into hiding by a misunderstanding that had led Roggeveen's men to fire on the natives, killing more than a dozen and wounding several more.

The first European to visit Rapa Nui, Roggeveen calls it Paaseiland (Easter Island) in commemoration of the sighting day.

Roggeveen finds all the island’s massive stone statues toppled from their bases, an event that had probably occurred during a period of internal conflict possibly brought on by deforestation and the resultant collapse of the social order.