Hawaii Timeline of Events

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Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia...

Timeline of Events

1778

1.18.1778

James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands".

1780

8.22.1780

James Cook's ship ''HMS Resolution'' returns to England (Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage).

1874

3.18.1874

Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.

1885

2.9.1885

The first Japanese government-approved immigrants arrive in Hawaii.

1887

7.6.1887

David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced at gunpoint, at the hands of the Americans, to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights.

1891

1.29.1891

Liliuokalani is proclaimed Queen of Hawaii, its last monarch.

1898

7.7.1898

U.S. President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.

1900

4.30.1900

Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.

6.14.1900

Hawaii becomes a United States territory.

1901

2.20.1901

The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.

1924

9.9.1924

Hanapepe Massacre occurs on Kauai, Hawaii.

1935

1.11.1935

Amelia Earhart is the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

1957

3.9.1957

A magnitude 8.3 earthquake in the Andreanof Islands, Alaska triggers a Pacific-wide tsunami causing extensive damage to Hawaii and Oahu.

1959

7.29.1959

First United States Congress elections in Hawaii as a state of the Union.

8.21.1959

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union. Hawaii's admission is currently commemorated by Hawaii Admission Day

1960

7.4.1960

Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Act).

1969

1.14.1969

An explosion aboard the USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 27 people.

1980

10.29.1980

Mark David Chapman, John Lennon's murderer, leaves for New York from his home in Hawaii.

1992

9.11.1992

Hurricane Iniki, one of the most damaging hurricanes in United States history, devastates Hawaii.

2006

10.16.2006

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rocks Hawaii, causing property damage, injuries, landslides, power outages, and the closure of Honolulu International Airport. See 2006 Hawaii Earthquake.

2009

2.5.2009

The United States Navy guided missile cruiser USS Port Royal runs aground off Oahu, Hawaii, damaging the ship as well as a coral reef.