Hawaii History Just For Entertainment
Hawaii
The Hawaiian Islands were first settled as early as 400 C.E., when Polynesians from the Marquesas Islands, 2000 miles away, traveled to Hawaii’s Big Island in canoes. Highly skilled farmers and fishermen, Hawaiians lived in small communities ruled by chieftains who battled one another for territory.
The first European to set foot in Hawaii was Captain James Cook, who landed on the island of Kauai in 1778. Cook, who named the islands after the Earl of Sandwich, returned to a year later and was killed in a confrontation with Hawaiians at Kealakekua Bay, on Hawaii’s Big Island.
Between 1791 and 1810, King Kamehameha conquered other rulers and united the entire archipelago into one kingdom. Hawaii’s first king, who died in 1819, is still feted with floral parades every June 11, King Kamehameha Day.
In 1820, the first Christian missionaries arrived. Shortly afterward, Western traders and whalers came to the islands, bringing with them diseases that devastated the native Hawaiian population. Hawaiians had numbered
about 300,000 when Cook arrived. By 1853, the native population was down to 70,000.
In 1893, American colonists controlled Hawaii’s sugar-based economy, and they easily overthrew the kingdom and established the Republic of Hawaii. With the agreement of the mostly American elite, the U.S. annexed Hawaii as a territory in 1898.
In the 1890s, the last Hawaiian ruler, Queen Lili’uokalani was deposed, imprisoned and forced to abdicate. The author of “Aloha Oe,” Hawaii’s signature song, she remains a Hawaiian heroine. Honolulu’s Iolani Palace, where the queen lived during her reign and where she was held captive after the coup, was restored to its late 19th-century appearance in the 1970s and is open to the public for tours and concerts.
Interesting Facts
Hawaii (Hawaiian: Hawai‘i) is a group of volcanic islands in the central Pacific Ocean. The islands lie 2,397 miles from San Francisco, California, to the east and 5,293 miles from Manila, in the Philippines, to the west. The capital is Honolulu, located on the island of Oahu. The islands were annexed by the United States in 1900, and as a U.S. territory saw population expansion and the establishment of a plantation system for growing sugar cane and pineapples. On the morning of December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu. The surprise attack destroyed nearly 20 vessels, killed more than 2,000 American soldiers and propelled the United States into World War II. Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959.
Date of Statehood: August 21, 1959
Capital: Honolulu
Size: 10,926 square miles
Nickname(s): Aloha State
Motto: Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono (“The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness”)
Tree: Kukui (Candlenut)
Flower: Pua Aloalo (Yellow Hibiscus)
Bird: Nene
Interesting Facts
- Before the arrival of British Captain James Cook in 1778, the Hawaiian language was strictly oral. Natives were taught by missionaries to read their language so that they could communicate the scriptures of the Bible. Banned in 1898 when Hawaii became a U.S. Territory and then resurrected as the official language in 1978, Hawaiian contains only 13 letters: five vowels and eight consonants.
- In 1866, after leprosy had begun to swiftly spread among the Hawaiian population without a cure, more than 100 victims were forcefully shipped to Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai to live in complete isolation. At its peak in 1890, more than 1,000 people resided in the colony.
- Mount Waialeale on Kauai is one of the wettest places on earth. It receives an average of around 460 inches of rain each year.
- With rich volcanic soil and ideal farming conditions, Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows coffee. In 2006, Kona coffee was named by Forbes.com as one of the world’s top 10 most expensive brews at around $34 per pound.
- Standing 13,796 feet above sea level, Mauna Kea is Hawaii’s tallest volcano. But it stretches an additional 19,680 feet below the surface of the water, making Mauna Kea the tallest mountain in the world at 33,476 feet. Mount Everest’s elevation, measured from sea level, is 29,035 feet.
- Hawaii’s population center is the most isolated on Earth—more than 2,300 miles from the United States, 3,850 miles from Japan, 4,900 miles from China and 5,280 miles from the Philippines.
- Hawaii’s Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain on earth, with a height of over 30,000 feet from its base—on the floor of the Pacific Ocean—to its peak.
Hawaii becomes 50th state
The modern United States receives its crowning star when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a proclamation admitting Hawaii into the Union as the 50th state. The president also issued an order for an American flag featuring 50 stars arranged in staggered rows: five six-star rows and four five-star rows. The new flag became official July 4, 1960.
The first known settlers of the Hawaiian Islands were Polynesian voyagers who arrived sometime in the eighth century. In the early 18th century, American traders came to Hawaii to exploit the islands’ sandalwood, which was much valued in China at the time. In the 1830s, the sugar industry was introduced to Hawaii and by the mid 19th century had become well established. American missionaries and planters occupied the islands and brought about massive changes in Hawaiian political, cultural, economic and religious life. In 1840, a constitutional monarchy was established, stripping the Hawaiian monarch of much of his authority.
In 1893, a group of American expatriates and sugar planters supported by a division of U.S. Marines deposed Queen Liliuokalani, the last reigning monarch of Hawaii. One year later, the Republic of Hawaii was established as a U.S. protectorate with Hawaiian-born Sanford B. Dole as president. Many in Congress opposed the formal annexation of Hawaii, and it was not until 1898, following the use of the naval base at Pearl Harbor during the Spanish-American War, that Hawaii’s strategic importance became evident and formal annexation was approved. Two years later, Hawaii was organized into a formal U.S. territory. During World War II, Hawaii became firmly ensconced in the American national identity following the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
- Iolani Palace in Honolulu is the only royal palace in the United States.
- Hawaii is the southernmost state in the United States.
- Ka Lae on the Big Island of Hawaii is the southernmost point in the United States.
- Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee.
- Hawaii is one of the two states in the United States that do not observe Daylight Savings Time (Arizona is the other).
- In Hawaii you will be fined for riding in the back of a passenger car without a seatbelt, however you can ride in the bed of a pickup truck with no safety equipment
- By law, no building on Kauai is allowed to be built taller than a palm tree.
- Hawaii is the only state in the United States to honor a king, celebrating King Kamehameha Day on June 11th since 1872. King Kamehameha I (Kamehameha the Great) is known for uniting the Hawaiian Islands in 1810.
- There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet. Vowels include A, E, I, O, and U. Consonants include H, K, L, M, N, P, and W.
- The widest state from east to west is Hawaii, stretching across 1,500 miles.
- In 1970, Hawaii became the first state to legalize abortions on the request of the woman.
Hawaii Shortbread Cookies
The Honolulu Cookie Company would have you believe that the idea for a Hawaiian shortbread cookie dropped out of the sky into their laps. However, there is a long and storied history of shortbread cookies in Hawaii. In the mid-twentieth century, they were most associated with school lunches. Their compact size and relative indestructibility proved popular with cafeteria workers. From the 1970s on, the tourist market in Hawaii burgeoned. Many former school cafeteria employees repurposed their cookie-making skill for the tourist market. They discovered that many of the qualities that made shortbread an excellent lunchroom treat carried over to the souvenir business. Small, un-squishable cookies with a long shelf life were the perfect souvenir. The addition of local macadamia nuts, and a chocolate dip, only added to their charm. Exquisite packaging and the invention of the “premium shortbread cookies” label (whatever that means?) followed.
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- Iolani Palace in Honolulu is the only royal palace in the U.S.
- Hawaii is the southernmost state in the United States.
- Ka Lae on the Big Island of Hawaii is the southernmost point in the United States.
- Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee.
- Hawaii is one of the two states in the United States that do not observe Daylight Savings Time (Arizona is the other).
- In Hawaii you will be fined for riding in the back of a passenger car without a seatbelt, however you can ride in the bed of a pickup truck with no safety equipment
- By law, no building on Kauai is allowed to be built taller than a palm tree.
- Hawaii is the only state in the United States to honor a king, celebrating King Kamehameha Day on June 11th since 1872. King Kamehameha I (Kamehameha the Great) is known for uniting the Hawaiian Islands in 1810.
- There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet. Vowels include A, E, I, O, and U. Consonants include H, K, L, M, N, P, and W.
- The widest state from east to west is Hawaii, stretching across 1,500 miles.
- #tuesdayvibes#bedifferent#tuesdaymotivation#celebrateeveryday#tuesday#tuesday#tuesdays#tuesdayvibes#tuesdaymorning#TuesdayThoughts#tuesdaythoughts
AlohaIn the Hawaiian culture it’s not a normal term to say, “Have a Good Day!” It’s always assumed that It’s always a Good Day. We don’t even have a term for Goodbye.
If you really wanted to say Have a Good Day, I would say, “Ho’omaika’i Ke La!” which means to Make your Day Good! It’s all about the frame of our mind and consciousness. We can choose to react in a positive way throughout our day and this in turn makes it a Good Day. So, it’s culturally correct to tell people to make choices to have a good day.
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Hawaii Alphabet
The 5 vowels a,e,i,o and u as well as the 7 consonants h,k,l,m,n,p, and w make up the entire Hawaiian alphabet. In the Hawaiian language a consonant is always followed by a vowel which also means all Hawaiian words end in a vowel.
Names and words are more easily pronounced when they are broken down into single syllable chunks. Take the name of Hawaii’s state fish, humuhumunukunukuapua’a, and pronounce it hu-mu-hu-mu-nu-ku-nu-ku-a-pu-a-a. Phonetically pronounced who-moo-who-moo-new-coo-new-coo-ah-poo-ah-ah. Sometimes the letter W is pronounced the same as V as in the traditional pronunciation of Hawai’i which is phonetically pronounced huh-vi-ee rather than huh-why-ee.
2023 Eddie Aikau female surfers honored on Girl’s Day
