Located off the southern coast of mainland Singapore, Sentosa (Isle of Tranquillity) was initially known as Pulau Blakang Mati (Island Behind Death). Starting from the 1880s, the island was an important British military base with a number of forts built on it to protect the southern shipping lanes. In 1970, the island was renamed Sentosa following a naming contest organised by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB). The development of the island into a tourist and recreation resort came under the management of the Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), which was formed in 1972.By the mid 1970s, most of the development works on Sentosa were completed. The first major project to be opened was the cable car service that linked the island to Mount Faber on the mainland. Other notable attractions on the island included a new 18-hole golf course built for the Sentosa Golf Club, the renovated Fort Siloso fortress complex, the Sentosa Coralarium on Mount Serapong with an 18-metre-tall coralon tower, and the Maritime Museum developed by the Port of Singapore Authority.
