August 21, 2023 – Hawaii

I’m back from my vacation in Vermont, but today we talked about a different state – Hawaii! That’s because Hawaii became our 50th state on this day in 1959.
Though there are 8 main Hawaiian islands, Hawaii is made up of 137 volcanic islands. It’s the only U.S. state that is an archipelago, and the only state that’s outside of North America. It’s around 2,400 miles from the mainland U.S., making it Earth’s most isolated population center. It has its own time zone, Hawaii Standard Time, and doesn’t observe daylight saving time.
The islands were settled by the Polynesians between 1000 and 1200 CE and was home to many independent chiefdoms. British explorer James Cook was the first known non-Polynesian to arrive there. European and American explorers, traders, and whalers arrived soon after. They brought diseases like tuberculosis, smallpox, and measles, which decimated the once-isolated Indigenous community there. In 1810, Hawaii became an internationally recognized unified kingdom. It stayed independent until the monarchy was overthrown by American and European businessmen in 1893. Hawaii was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941, contributing he America’s decisive entry into WWII.
Hawaii is a major agricultural exporter – it’s the only U.S. state that grows and exports coffee beans, cacao, and vanilla beans. Its relative isolation results in one of the highest costs of living in the U.S., though it’s still lower than New York City and San Francisco. Residents of Hawaii have the longest life expectancy of any U.S. state at 80.7 years. And you have to wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that they also eat the most Spam per capita in the U.S. Apparently, Hawaiians developed a taste for Spam after U.S. troops brought it with them after the 1941 Pearl Harbor bombing. Today, they consume around 7 million cans per year! Learn more here.