Hawaii: Today in History 9/2

9-2-1838 Liliuokalani [Lydia Kamakaʻeha], last queen of Hawaii (1891-93), born in Honolulu, Oʻahu, Kingdom of Hawaii (d. 1917)

Liliuokalani, original name Lydia Kamakaeha, also called Lydia Liliuokalani Paki or Liliu Kamakaeha, (born September 2, 1838, Honolulu, Hawaii [U.S.]—died November 11, 1917, Honolulu), first and only reigning Hawaiian queen and the last Hawaiian sovereign to govern the islands, which were annexed by the United States in 1898.

Lydia Kamakaeha was of a high-ranking family. Her mother, Keohokalole, was an adviser of King Kamehameha III. Reared in the missionary tradition deemed appropriate for Hawaiian princesses, she received a thoroughly modern education, which was augmented by a tour of the Western world. After a time as a member of the court of Kamehameha IV, she was married in September 1862 to John Owen Dominis, son of a Boston sea captain and himself an official in the Hawaiian government. In 1874 her brother David Kalakaua was chosen king, and in 1877, on the death of a second brother, W.P. Leleiohoku, who was heir apparent, she was named heir presumptive. She was known from that time by her royal name, Liliuokalani.

Over the next 14 years she established herself firmly in that role. She served as regent during King Kalakaua’s world tour in 1881, and she was active in organizing schools for Hawaiian youth. During a world tour in 1887 she was received by U.S. Pres. Grover Cleveland and by Britain’s Queen Victoria. On the death of King Kalakaua in January 1891, Liliuokalani ascended the throne, becoming the first woman ever to occupy it.

Liliuokalani regretted the loss of power the monarchy had suffered under Kalakaua and tried to restore something of the traditional autocracy to the Hawaiian throne. She had earlier made her position clear by opposing the renewed Reciprocity Treaty of 1887, signed by Kalakaua, granting privileged commercial concessions to the United States and ceding to them the port of Pearl Harbor. This attitude forever alienated her from Hawaii’s haole—foreign businessmen—who, after her accession, tried to abrogate her authority.

9-2-1859 Gas lighting introduced to Hawaii (some say November 2, 1859)

Hawaii’s First Gas Light

Let there be light! Gas light, that is. On September 2, 1858, gas lighting would illuminate for the first time in Hawaii: “On Tuesday evening last Mr. E. Burgess opened his spacious billiard saloon at the Commercial Hotel, which was well attended, no doubt the novelty of the room being lit up with gas proved a great attraction. There are four burners, two over each Billiard Table, and they filled the large room with a most brilliant light.” Henry MacFarlane, the proprietor of the hotel, made this happen. Back in June 1858, he procured a gas apparatus from San Francisco and hoped that the nearby buildings will have lighting as well. A few months later, the Polynesian discussed the gas light’s benefits over previous lighting technology: “The preference of gas light over every other artificial light consists not only in its greater convenience, purity and brilliancy, but also in this, that its use greatly diminishes the risk of losses by fire and thus has a great influence on the insurance of buildings.” In 1859, under a charter by the state legislature, the Honolulu Gas Company built gas works and placed pipes in Honolulu’s streets and buildings. The gas company received much more encouragement than initially expected and continued to receive applications for lighting. On October 26, 1859, the gas company lit Honolulu for the first time:  “From the Bethel, the Polynesian office, the Advertiser Office, the principal hotels in town, the Odd Fellow’s Hall, and from numerous private dwellings, floods of brilliant light attested the success of the enterprise and the progress of the place. The lights at the corner of King and Bethel streets and at Nuuanu and Merchant streets were splendid, and we hope will suggest to the authorities and the next year’s legislature what the town can be, and what it should be, in regard to its streets during the dark nights.”