21st August: Hawaii

Hawaii became the 50th US state in on this date in 1959. Here are 10 things you may not know about Hawaii.

1. It is unique among US states because: it is the only state not situated in North America; the only one completely surrounded by water, the only state which grows coffee, the only one to have royal palaces, the only state not to have a straight line in its state boundary, and it is the only state that is antipodal to inhabited land (Botswana).
2. Hawaii was a monarchy until 1893 when businessmen from America and Europe overthrew the monarchy. The last monarch was Queen Liliʻuokalani.
3. The first documented European to visit Hawaii was James Cook, who named the islands The Sandwich Islands, although he did note the native name as Owyhee.
4. Cook died in Hawaii, on his second visit there. He annoyed the native people by taking idols from their temples; the Hawaiians retaliated by stealing a ship's boat; Cook took the King of the Big Island hostage, holding him for ransom in order to get the boat back, but instead of returning the boat, the King's supporters fought back and killed Cook and four of his men.
5. Hawaii's flag has a British Union Flag in the top left corner.
6. The Hawaiian alphabet has just 13 letters, one of which is "okina", a glottal stop. About 2000 people speak Hawaiian as their native language.
7. Hawaii has the lowest percentage of white Americans of any state, and the largest proportion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the country (5.1 per cent).
8. It has the longest life expectancy of any US state (77.1 years for males, 82.5 for females).
9. Famous people born in Hawaii include Nicole Scherzinger, Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler and of course, President Barack Obama.
10. The oldest Roman Catholic Cathedral in the US to still be in continuous use, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, is situated in Honolulu.