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Tuesday 9 June 2015

Hawaii

When Captain James Cook became the first European to visit Hawaii in 1778, he named it "The Sandwich Islands" in honor of his sponsor, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.

Wynee, a Native of Owyhee, was the first Native Hawaiian from the Hawaiian Islands to travel abroad on a Western ship. She traveled to British Columbia and China before dying of illness on the voyage home to Hawaii on February 5, 1788.

In ancient Hawaii, men and women ate meals separately and women weren't allowed to eat certain foods. King Kamehameha II removed all religious laws that and performed a symbolic act by eating with the women in 1819. This is when the lūʻau parties were first created.

In November 1874 King Kalākaua of Hawaii became the first foreign leader to head a state visit to the United States, when he traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet President Ulysses S. Grant.

Kalākaua's state dinner at the White House, meeting with President Ulysses S. Grant.

The  agenda of the 1881 world tour of King Kalākaua was to negotiate contract labor for the Kingdom of Hawaii's sugar plantations, with hopes of saving the dwindling Native Hawaiian population by drawing immigration from Asia-Pacific nations.  The 281-day trip gave Kalākaua the distinction of being the first monarch to circumnavigate the Earth.

Queen Liliʻuokalani (September 2, 1838 – November 11, 1917) ascended the Hawaiian throne in 1891 upon the death of her brother, King Kalakaua. Her refusal to recognize the constitutional changes inaugurated in 1887 precipitated a revolt, fostered largely by sugar planters—mostly American residents of Hawaii. This led to her dethronement early in 1893 and the establishment of a provisional government.

Queen Liliuokalani. Photograph from 1891

The short lived Republic of Hawaii proclaimed its independence on July 4, 1894. Liliuokalani failed in an attempt to regain the throne the following year, and formally renounced her royal claims.

Troops of the Republic of Hawaii after the counter-revolution.

The Hawaiian flag was lowered from Iolani Palace in an elaborate annexation ceremony on August 12, 1898 and temporarily replaced with the flag of the United States to signify the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawaii to the United States.

The Hawaiian flag is the only U.S. state flag to feature the Union Jack flag of the United Kingdom. It was put there by King Kamehameha as a symbol of friendship after being presented the British flag by Captain George Vancouver. It resembles both the US and UK flag in order to avoid being dragged by either side into the War of 1812.

Flag of Hawaii

In 1900, Hawaii was granted self-governance by the United States and retained ʻIolani Palace as the territorial capitol building. Despite several attempts to become a state, Hawaii remained a territory for sixty years.

The Bird of Paradise, a U.S. Army Air Corps Fokker tri-motor, completed on June 29, 1927 the first transpacific flight over the Pacific Ocean, from California to Hawaii.

Arrival at Wheeler Field.

Oahu (the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands) was the target of a surprise attack by Imperial Japan on December 7, 1941. The attack on the island's Pearl Harbor and other military and naval installations, carried out by aircraft and by midget submarines, brought the United States into World War II.

USS Arizona (BB-39) sinking during the attack.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was under Martial Law. The government fingerprinted residents, imposed blackouts and curfews, rationed food and gasoline, prohibited alcohol and censored the news, media and all mail. Violations meant punishment without appeal by military tribunals.

Hawaii became the fiftieth and most recent US state to join the union on August 21, 1959. Hawaii's admission is currently commemorated by Hawaii Admission Day, which is a legal holiday celebrated annually on the third Friday in August.



GEOGRAPHY

The State of Hawaii comprises hundreds of islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. The largest of those islands is confusingly called Hawaii. To avoid confusion the island of Hawaii is often known by the nickname of 'The Big Island.'

Ni’ihau, the smallest inhabited Hawaiian island, has roughly 130 residents who live rent-free with no paved roads, running water, or stores.

Hawaii is the only US state that is composed entirely of islands.

The principal island of Hawaii is almost 2,300 miles from mainland United States.

Hawaii is the most geographically isolated land mass in the world.

Hawaii is the only US state that is directly opposite inhabited land on a globe of the Earth. Most of it is antipodal to Botswana but part is opposite Namibia.



Iolani Palace i, Hawaii is the only royal palace in the United States.

Mauna Kea is a volcano on the island of Hawaii. Standing 4,205 m (13,796 ft) above sea level, its peak is the highest point in the state of Hawaii. However, much of the mountain is under water; when measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is over 10,000 m (33,000 ft) tall—significantly taller than Mount Everest.

In Hawaiian mythology, the peaks of the island of Hawaii are sacred, and Mauna Kea is the most sacred of all.

Mount Waialeale on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is the rainiest place on Earth, with up to 350 rainy days a year.

If all of the oceans in the world evaporated, Hawaii would be the tallest mountain in the world.

Hawaii is the only US state to never report a temperature of zero degrees F or below.

Hawaii is moving toward Japan at a rate of about 4 inches per year.

Due to their time zones, Honolulu, Hawaii is among the last to ring in the New Year.

LANGUAGE

The word Hawaii is from the Proto-Polynesian hawaiki, meaning “place of the gods” or “homeland.”

The mark before the final i of Hawai'i is not an apostrophe but a letter called 'okina (which itself begins with an 'okina) in the Hawaiian alphabet indicating a glottal stop.

The Hawaiian alphabet consists of 10 vowels and eight consonants (including the 'okina).

The Hawaiian for Hawaii is Hawai'i.

In Hawaii, Tagalog, a Pacific Island language widely spoken in the Philippines, is the second-most commonly spoken language after English.

FUN FACTS

Hawaii is the only US state that still has the Union Jack as part of its flag.

The name of the TV series Hawaii Five-O comes from the fact that Hawaii is the 50th State.

The official fish of Hawaii is the Reef Triggerfish, also known by its Hawaiian name, humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa.

Hawaii is currently the least obese US state and is the only one where the obesity rate is under 20 percent.

Source Daily Express

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