A BRIEF HISTORY OF HAWAI'I

These lovely islands were discovered by the Polynesians, who gave them the name Hawai'i. 
When Captain Cook discovered Hawai'i, he renamed them The Sandwich Islands, only to be renamed 
again Hawai'i later :-).

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300 - 750   PICTURE
 Polynesians arrive by outrigger canoe from Tahiti.

1778   PICTURE
 British explorer Captain James Cook discovers the Hawaiian Islands and names  them 
Sandwich Islands after Britain's Earl of Sandwich (patron of Cook's expeditions and inventor of the 
sandwich). Captain Cook's other famous discovery: A daily  dose of sauerkraut prevents scurvy and 
beriberi (vitamins).

1779   PICTURE
Captain Cook is killed in a Big Island dispute at Kealakekua Bay, near Kona.    

1810   PICTURE
  King Kamehameha the Great unites all the Hawaiian islands into one kingdom.  
  
1813   PICTURE
The first pineapple plants are introduced from Spain. 

1816   PICTURE
First Hawaiian flag is sewn. 

1817   PICTURE
Coffee is first planted. 

1819   PICTURE
The first whaling ships arrive.

1819   PICTURE
The reign of King Kamehameha II starts.
  King Kamehameha the Great dies. Prince Liholiho ascends the throne as Kamehameha II.
He abandons the ancient kapu (taboo) of men eating together with women and starts dismantling
 traditional Hawaiian religion. 

1820   PICTURE
First American Protestant missionaries arrive aboard the brig Thaddeus from New England and soon 
drive the two pillars of Hawaiian culture, hula dancing and surfing, underground.

1825  PICTURE
The reign of King Kamehameha III starts
The first constitution of the kingdom is established. The king releases his absolute right to all lands,
private people can buy and own land now. The Royal Hawaiian Band
is established.

1835   PICTURE
First sugar plantation is established

1854   PICTURE
The reign of Kamehameha IV starts.
The idea of annexation by the United States is increasingly circulated  by some sugar plantation owners.

1863   PICTURE
The reign of Kamehameha V starts
A "treaty of reciprocity" is offered to defuse annexationists' demands. 

1866   PICTURE
The leper colony on Molokai is established and father Damien soon starts his famous mission.

1873   PICTURE
The reign of King Lunalilo starts
First Hawaiian king is elected by popular vote.

1874   PICTURE
The reign of King David Kalakaua starts
 The hula "prohibition" finally ends, the Hawaiian renaissance starts. America's only royal residence, 
Iolani Palace is built on O'ahu. After a while many start questioning the king's politics and finances.

 1883   PICTURE
Mutual Telephone Company was started in Hawai'i. The name was later changed to Hawaiian Telephone 
and then changed again to GTE Hawaiian Tel. Nowadays it's called Verizon of Hawai'i.

1886   PICTURE
Contract laborers from Japan arrive in large numbers to work on the sugar cane plantations. 
Many other different nationalities follow them.

1886   PICTURE
First pineapple plantation is established.

1887   PICTURE
The United States is granted exclusive rights to Pearl Harbor for naval coaling and repair station.
Navy base is authorized by Congress.
 
1891    PICTURE
The reign of Queen Liliuokalani starts.
The new queen swears to hold up the Constitution.
    
1892   PICTURE
Macadamia nut trees are first planted.

1893   PICTURE
Queen Liliuokalani, despite her pledge,  tries to promulgate a new Constitution, which would 
restore almost all power to the Monarchy. General unrest follows and the Committee of Safety
forms a Provisional Government. Queen Liliuokalani surrenders the kingdom to the United States 
under protest.

1894   PICTURE
Declaration of the Republic of Hawai'i
    
1895   PICTURE
Queen Liliuokalani is forced to abdicate her throne, after an unsuccessful return attempt.

1899   PICTURE
Princess Kaiulani the heir apparent to the throne dies.

1900   PICTURE
Hawai'i is annexed and becomes a United States territory.

1900   PICTURE
 The Great Chinatown fire leaves more than 7000 people homeless in Honolulu.

1903   PICTURE
First telegraph cable is laid between Hawai'i and the mainland.

1922   PICTURE
  Prince Jonah Kalanianaole Kuhio dies. He was the last powerful member of the royal Hawaiian family.

1923 PICTURE
Official "flower of the Territory" is proclaimed.
 
1927   PICTURE
First non-stop air flight from the mainland to Honolulu. 

1929   PICTURE
Inter-Island Airways (today's Hawaiian Airlines) takes off.

1934   PICTURE
 President Franklin Deleno Roosevelt arrives July 26 on the cruiser Houston. He is the first 
United States president to visit Hawai'i.

1935   PICTURE
Webley Edwards starts his famous "Hawai'i Calls" broadcasts to the mainland, which lasts till 1975.

1935   PICTURE
Pan American Airways "China Clipper" inaugurates air mail service to Hawai'i and the Pacific. 

1941   PICTURE
December 7th, Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. The U.S. enters World War II. Martial law is imposed 
in Hawai'i and stays in effect till October 24th, 1944.

1941  PICTURE
Niiahu is occupied by the Japanese, the only U.S. land ever conquered by a foreign country.

1946   PICTURE
A killer "tsunami" (tidal wave) hits Hilo and the Hamakua Coast on the island of Hawai'i (Big Island).
 
1948   PICTURE
 Miss Yun Tau Zane wins the first Miss Hawai'i crown.
 
1953   PICTURE
Waikiki Beach sees its first bikinis.
 
1959   PICTURE
Hawai'i becomes the 50th state.

1959   PICTURE
 The first jet arrives, the age of mass tourism begins. The fate of passenger shipping is sealed.  

1963   PICTURE
The first Merrie Monarch Festival is held in Hilo.
 
1969   PICTURE
Jack ("Book 'em Danno") Lord begins "Hawai'i Five-O" television series. 

1974   PICTURE
The first Asian-American governor (George Ariyoshi) is elected.
 
1976   PICTURE
"Hokule'a" a Hawaiian double-hulled canoe, reenacts Polynesian discovery voyage of Hawai'i.
 
1980   PICTURE
Tom Selleck begins "Magnum P.I." television series.

1982   PICTURE
Hurricane Iwa strikes the island of O'ahu.
 
1983   PICTURE
Kilauea volcano erupts on the Big Island which lasts till today. 

1983   PICTURE
The Concorde jet lands in Honolulu.

1984   PICTURE
Mauna Loa erupts, two volcanoes are active simultaneously. The lava threatens Hilo.

1984 PICTURE
A popular vote elects the "official state fish" for five years.

1986   PICTURE
Ellison Onizuka, Hawai'i's first astronaut dies in the Challenger accident.
 
1987   PICTURE
John Waihee, the first governor of Hawaiian descent is elected.

1988   PICTURE
An Aloha inter island plane goes convertible, but almost everyone survives. 
 
1991   PICTURE
Miss Hawai'i, Carolyn Sapp, becomes the state's first Miss America.

1992   PICTURE
Hurricane Iniki ravages the island of Kauai and the western shores of the island of O'ahu.

1993   PICTURE
"Onipa'a" ceremonies are held on the 100th year anniversary of the overthrow of the monarchy.
 
1994   PICTURE
Ben Cayetano becomes the first governor of Philippine descent.

1994   PICTURE
The U.S. Navy returns Kaho'olawe island to Hawai'i, which it had used as gunnery target range 
since 1941.
 
1995   PICTURE
The last sugar plantation on the Big Island (island of Hawai'i) closes.
 
Near Future
You land at Honolulu International Airport :-). 

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