1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
Hawaii became the 50th US state on Aug. 21, 1959, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation of its admittance. He also also issued an order for an American flag featuring 50 stars arranged in staggered rows, which 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, followed by the sugar industry in the 1830s. American and European missionaries and planters later altered Hawaiian political, cultural, economic, and religious life, as well as introduced diseases that wiped out much of the native population. 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 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 US territory.
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