Hawaii History

Among the ancient Polynesians, Hawaiians and anthropologists believe the original inhabitants of these islands

came from the Marquesas and Tahiti, starting as early as 1,500 years ago. There is also oral tradition of early

interaction with Samoa, as well as Hawaii being an origin of some of the early Maori emigrants

to Aotearoa (New Zealand).

British Capt. James Cook is credited with being the first European to discover Hawaii in 1787, although some

oral traditions and scholars hold that the Spaniards — who first crossed the Pacific Ocean in 1522, and regularly

crossed from Peru to The Philippines by the late 1500s — also made inadvertent landfall in Hawaii, but never

correctly mapped their accomplishment. When Cook arrived, he was well received and some Hawaiians thought he

might even be an incarnation of their god Lono, whose sign was white kapa or tapa cloth like the sails of

Captain Cook's ship. Of course, Captain Cook is also well known for having been killed several months later by

Hawaiians at Kealakekua Bay in Kona while trying to retrieve a long boat.

After Cook, the stream of Europeans quickly grew, even including Russians for a short period. In addition to

appreciating the beauty of the islands, they participated in whaling and the sandalwood trade. The first

Christian missionaries arrived in 1820 and the people quickly converted: The year before, King Kamehameha II

and Queen Kaahumanu had abolished the age-old kapu or taboo system based on the ancient Hawaiian religion.

In 1850 the Sandwich Islands kingdom made it possible for foreigners toown private property in Hawaii, which along

with increasing international trade with America, gave rise to the sugar industry. The rapid depletion of the

Hawaiian population due to illnesses eventually led the sugar plantation owners to import contract laborers from

China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Russia, Scandinavia, Portugal and the Azores, Europe and Puerto Rico,

among other places: The descendants of those who stayed give Hawaii its cosmopolitan population today.

In 1893 a revolution largely led by influential non-Hawaiian businessmendeposed the last reigning

Hawaiian monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani. In 1900 the United States of America annexed Hawaii, reportedly for the

purpose of gaining the Pearl Harbor anchorage: We were known as the Territory of Hawaii until an overwhelming

majority of the population voted for statehood in the 1950s: Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959.

Today, Hawaii with its ancient Polynesian heritage and overlays of Asian and other cultures is

one of the most unique parts of America.

History of Hawaii - Timeline of Hawaiian History

300-700 - Polynesian settlers arrive from the Marquesas. (some estimates earlier)

1627 - Spanish sailors visit Hawaii, describe volcanic eruption in ship's log.

1758 - Paiea, later known as Kamehameha the Great, the lonely one, born in Kohala on the Island of Hawaii.

1778 - European 'discovery' of Hawaii by English Captain James Cook, who names them the Sandwich Islands.

1779 - Captain Cook killed in dispute with Hawaiians at Kealakekua, Island of Hawaii.

1782 - Kamehameha inherits power in the northern part of the Island of Hawaii and later begins conquest of the other Hawaiian Islands.

1791 - Kamehameha controls the entire island of Hawaii.

1794 - Hawaii is placed under the protectorate of Great Britain by Vancouver.

1795 - Kamehameha defeats the army of the King of Oahu at the battle of Nu`uanu.

He now controls Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Oahu. Only Kauai and Niihau are beyond his grasp.

1796 - Kamehameha's fleet readying to attack Kauai is turned back by weather.

1797 - Kamehameha puts down a revolt on the Island of Hawaii in a battle near Hilo.

1804 - Another planned invasion of Kauai is postponed because of a plague.

1810 - First theatrical performance staged in Hawaii.

1810 - Kamehameha unifies all the Hawaiian Islands into one kingdom through a treaty with the King of Kauai.

1813 - Don Francisco de Paula y Marin, a Spanish advisor to King Kamehameha, introduces

coffee and pineapple to Hawaii. 

1815 - Russian soldiers fail attempt to build a fort in Hawaii.

1816 - Volcano House opens for tourists on the Island of Hawaii, $1 per person for lodging.

1819 - King Kamehameha dies, Prince Liholiho ascends the throne as Kamehameha II (1819-1824).  See: Monarchs.

1819 - Kamehameha II abandons kapu (taboo) system, including the prohibition on men eating with women.

1820 - First Protestant missionaries arrive from New England.  See: Lahaina Historic Tour.

1824 - Kamehameha II dies in London.

1825 - Kauikeaouli ascends to the throne as Kamehameha III. See: Monarchs.

1826 - James Honnewell establishes C. Brewer & Co. Ltd. trade and service organization.

1826 - U.S. enters into treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation with the Kingdom of Hawaii.

1829 - H.N. Greenwell plants first coffee in Kona on the Island of Hawaii.  S

1834 - Honolulu Police Department is founded by King Kamehameha III.

1835 - First successful sugar plantation started in Koloa on Kauai. 

1836 - Organization of the Royal Hawaiian Band.   History of Royal Hawaiian Band

1838 - Ground is broken for the building of the Kawaiahao Church.

1839 - France enters into treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation with the Kingdom of Hawaii.

1839 - Kamehameha III promulgates the Declaration of Rights and the Edict of Toleration (freedom of religion).

1840 - Kamehameha III promulgates the first Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

1842 - First House of Representatives is called to order.

1842 - First class begins at Punahou, the new private school.

1843 - Lord George Paulet seizes Hawaii in the name of England for 5 months. Admiral Thomas is dispatched to the

islands to return the throne to Kamehameha III, who 'coins  the phrase'

Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono., which remains Hawaii's motto.

1843 - Great Britain and France agree to consider the Sandwich Islands an independent State and further

that neither will take possession of the islands.

1846 - France and Great Britain enter into treaties of friendship, commerce and navigation with the Kingdom of Hawaii.

1846 - Construction of Washington Place (now governor's residence) is completed.

1848 - Kamehameha III divides land between the King, the alii (nobility), and the maka`ainana (commoners). This Mahele

(division) allowed private land ownership for the first time. See: Constitutional History.

1849 - French admiral Legoarant de Tromelin fails in attempted invasion.

1850 - United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii ratify a treat of friendship, commerce and navigation.

1850 - Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society publishes their first journal.

1852 - First steam-propelled ship used in inter-island service

1852 - First Chinese contract workers arrive.  See: Immigration Timeline.

1852 - Kamehameha III promulgates a new Constitution.  See: Constitutional History.

1853 - Smallpox epidemic takes the lives of over 5,000 Hawaiians.

1854 - Kamehameha III dies, and Alexander Liholiho takes the throne as Kamehameha IV.  See: Monarchs.

1858 - C. R. Bishop and W. A. Aldrich begin Bishop Bank, now First Hawaiian Bank.

1859 - Honolulu Gas Company is established.

1860 - The Queen's Hospital's cornerstone laid.

1863 - Elizabeth Sinclair purchases Niihau island from King Kamehameha IV for $10,000.

1863 - Kamehameha IV dies, Prince Lot Kapuaiwa ascends the throne as Kamehameha V.  See: Monarchs.

1864 - Kamehameha V promulgates a new Constitution. See: Constitutional History.

1866 - Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) sails into Honolulu Harbor.  See: Mark Twain's Hawaii.

1868 - First Japanese contract workers arrive in Hawaii.  See: Immigration Timeline.

1872 - Kamehameha V dies.

1873 - William C. Lunalilo elected King. See: Monarchs.

1874 - King Lunalilo dies, David Kalakaua becomes King. See: Monarchs.

1874 - Supreme Court of Hawaii moves into Ali`iolani Hale (where it remains today).

1875 - Victoria Ka`iulani Kalaninuiahilapalapa Kawêkiui Lunalilo (Crown Princess) born in Honolulu. 

1875 - First official regatta held on King Kalakaua's birthday.

1875 - United States and Kingdom of Hawaii enter into Reciprocity Treaty that allowed sugar and

other products into the U.S. without customs duties.

1877 - King Kalakaua dedicates Kapiolani Park as a focal point of outdoor recreation, including what is

now the Honolulu Zoo.

1878 - Lydia Kamaka`eha (later Queen Liliuokalani) writes "Aloha Oe."

1878 - First telephone is in operation, two years after Alexander Graham Bell's patent.

1878 - First Portuguese arrive from the Azores.  See: Immigration Timeline.

1879 - First locomotive on Maui.

1881 - William H. Purvis introduces macadamia nuts to Hawaii. History of Macadamia Nuts

&  History of Hawaii Agriculture

1882 - The King and Queen move into Iolani Palace.

1882 - Planter's Labor and Supply Company founded (renamed the Hawaii Sugar Planter's Association in 1895).

1883 - Kamehameha Statue is unveiled in Honolulu.

1883 - Mutual Telephone Company founded in Hawaii (later Hawaiian Telephone, GTE Hawaiian Tel., and Verizon).

1883 - Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last direct descendant of Kamehameha I, executes her will which contains a

trust to erect maintain a school for boys and girls to be called Kamehameha Schools.

1884 - Bernice Pauahi Bishop dies, Bishop Estate created.

1884 - United States and Kingdom of Hawaii extend the 1875 Reciprocity Treaty for seven years in return

for the U.S. getting the exclusive right to use Pearl Harbor as a naval base.

1885 - First polo match is played in Hawaii at Kohala on the Big Island.

1885 - First large group of Japanese contract laborers arrives.  See: Immigration Timeline.

1886 - Electricity arrives as five arc lamps are strung around Iolani Palace.

1886 - Great Chinatown Fire; losses exceeded $1,455,000.

1887 - Kamehameha School for Boys opens.

1887 - King David Kalakaua promulgates the 'bayonet' Constitution.  See: Constitutional History.

1889 - Father Damien dies at Kalaupapa Leper Colony on Molokai.

1889 - Bishop Museum building completed.

1889 - Robert Louis Stevenson, famous author, arrives in Hawaii.  See: Kaiulani.

1889 - Revolt against 'bayonet' Constitution put down.

1889 - First artesian well drilled in Ewa plain, allows commercial sugar and pineapple planting.

1891 - King Kalakaua dies in San Francisco. Lydia Kamaka`eha becomes Queen Lili`uokalani.  See: Monarchs.

1893 - Hawaiian Monarchy overthrown by government ministers, planters and businessmen with the assistance of the U.S.

Consul. U.S. Marines and sailors sent ashore to maintain order and protect Americans.  See: Overthrow.

1893 - Sanford B. Dole and his provisional government request annexation of the Hawaii by the United States.

1893 - President Grover Cleveland withdraws the treaty of annexation from Senate consideration saying "a feeble but

friendly state [was] robbed of its independence and its sovereignty by a misuse of the

name and power of the United States."

1894 - July 4th, Republic of Hawaii established with Sanford B. Dole as President.

1894 - Kamehameha School for Girls opens.

1895 - Revolt against Republic of Hawaii put down, Queen Lili`uokalani forced to formally abdicate the throne.

1895 - Planter's Labor and Supply Company renamed the Hawaii Sugar Planter's Association, starts research station.

1896 - Moana Hotel ("Grand Old Lady" of Waikiki/now the Sheraton Moana Surfrider) started.

1897 - William McKinley becomes President of the United States.

1898 - Spanish-American War, U.S. liberates Cuba and acquires Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.

1898 - Congress passes the Newlands Resolution which annexes Hawaii as a territory. Sanford B. Dole appointed first

Territorial Governor.  See: Annexation.

1900 - Congress passes an Organic Act for Hawaii which establishes the framework of the territorial government.

1900 - One pound of sugar costs 7 cents.

1900 - Great Chinatown fire, 7,000 made homeless.

1900 - First workers arrive from Puerto Rico and Okinawa.  See: Immigration Timeline.

1901 - James "Jim" Drummond Dole plants his first pineapples near Wahiawa and

founds the Hawaiian Pineapple Company.

1901 - Honolulu Rapid Transit inaugural run of electric streetcars.

1902 - First Korean workers arrive.  See: Immigration Timeline.

1903 - Joint Tourism Committee is created to promote the Territory to the world (now the Hawaii

Visitors and Convention Bureau).

1905 - First workers from the Philippines arrive.  See: Immigration Timeline.

1906 - California and Hawaiian Sugar Company (C&H) founded.

1907 - University of Hawaii at Manoa founded as a land grant college called the

College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.

1907 - Dole opens a new pineapple cannery in Iwilei.

1905 - Only 80 automobiles are registered on the island of Oahu.

1909 - Japanese workers strike sugar plantations.

1910 - First airplane flight in Hawaii.

1912 - Duke Kahanamoku participates at the Olympics in Stockholm.

1912 - Hawaiian Pineapple Packers' Association research station established

(later called the Pineapple Research Institute).

1912 - "The Outdoor Circle" founded to keep Hawaii clean, green and beautiful.

1916 - The brothel "Iwilei Stockade" is shut down.

1917 - Charlie Chaplin visits Hawaii and speaks at the Honolulu Ad Club's luncheon.

1920 - Edward, Prince of Wales, visits the Islands.

1920 - Hawaii National Park on the islands of Hawaii (now Volcanoes National Park) and

Maui (now Haleakala) established by an Act of Congress.

1921 - Congress passes the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act introduced by Delegate J

onah Kuhio Kalaniana`ole (R-Haw.).

1922 - Honolulu Museum of Art is chartered.

1923 - Hawaiian Dredging Co. begins dredging of the Ala Wai Canal.

1924 - Work begins on Aloha Tower.

1924 - Labor riots at Hanapepe, Kauai. 16 workers and 4 police killed.

1927 - "The Outdoor Circle", founded in 1912, gets Honolulu to prohibit outdoor billboard advertising.

1927 - Inaugural Lei Day.

1927 - The Royal Hawaiian Hotel opens for business.

1927 - First nonstop flight to Hawaii from the mainland. 

1929 - First inter-island flight by an amphibious aircraft.

1934 - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt makes his first visit to Hawaii.

1935 - Pan American Airways begins 'China Clipper' service using seaplanes on a route from

California to Hawaii, the Philippines and Hong Kong.

1935 - First 2,270-mile trans-Pacific flight from San Francisco to Hawaii takes 21 1/2 hours.

1935 - 5-year-old Shirley Temple visits Hawaii.

1935 - "Hawaii Calls" radio program enters the hearts and living rooms of America.

1941 - Empire of Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, the U.S. enters the Second World War.

1941 - A lone Japanese pilot crash lands on Niihau and is killed after he shoots a Hawaiian.

1941 - First land-based inter-island flights.

1945 - United Nations founded. Hawaii listed as a non-self governing territory.

1946 - Great tsunami hits Hilo, killing over 100 people and causing $25 million in damage.

1946 - "Great Sugar Strike" - 33 plantations struck by 28,000 ILWU workers.

1947 - Newly unionized pineapple workers conduct their first strike.

1949 - Territorial legislature passes an act providing for a constitutional convention to draft a State Constitution and to

petition Congress for admission to Statehood.

1950 - Referendum at general election adopts State Constitution.

1952 - First television station broadcast in Hawaii.

1956 - Financing is settled and Ala Moana Shopping Center opens.

1958 - 90-day ILWU sugar strike results in the closures of sugar mills at Kohala, Kahuku, Kilauea, and Ewa Beach.

1959 - Congress passes the Hawaii Admission Act to admit Hawaii as a State.

1959 - Voters of Hawaii approve statehood. Hawaii becomes a State.

1959 - First jet airplane service to Hawaii.

1966 - First live television broadcast from the mainland. Michigan State v. Notre Dame.

1968 - ILWU pineapple workers strike for 61 days.

1969 - Television series 'Hawaii Five-Oh' with Jack Lord begins.

1974 - About 9,000 ILWU sugar workers strike for 39 days and about 6,000 ILWU pineapple workers on

Oahu, Maui and Lanai strike for 21 days.

1976 - Hokule`a, a Hawaiian double-hull sailing canoe recreates the Polynesian voyages of discovery and settlement.

1978 - Hawaii Constitution establishes the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to administer funds a

nd programs for native Hawaiians.

1980 - Television series 'Magnum PI' with Tom Sellick begins.

1991 - Miss Hawaii, Carolyn Sapp, becomes the first Miss America from Hawaii.

1992 - Dole Fresh Produce shuts down Iwilei cannery.

1992 - Hurricane Iniki hits Kauai.

1993 - Congress passes the 'Apology Resolution' which "apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf

of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on

January 17, 1893 with the participation of agents and citizens of the United States, and the deprivation

of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination."

1995 - Last sugar plantation on the Island of Hawaii closes.

2000 - U.S. Supreme Court decides Rice v. Cayetano, which declares restricting voting in

Office of Hawaiian Affairs elections to native Hawaiians violates the 15th Amendment.