Hawaii: Today in History 12/19 (lots of Hawaiian history today w/pictures)
12-19-1842 US recognizes independence of Hawaii
The Hawaiian delegation, while in the United States of America, secured the assurance of U.S. President Tyler on December 19, 1842 of its recognition of Hawaiian independence, and then proceeded to meet Sir George Simpson in Europe and secure formal recognition by Great Britain and France. On March 17, 1843, King Louis-Phillipe of France recognizes Hawaiian independence at the urging of King Leopold of Belgium, and on April 1, 1843, Lord Aberdeen on behalf of Her Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria, assured the Hawaiian delegation that “Her Majesty’s Government was willing and had determined to recognize the independence of the Sandwich Islands under their present sovereign.”
12-19-1889 Bishop Museum founded in Hawaii
The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaiʻi State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu. Founded in 1889, it is the largest museum in Hawai’i and has the world’s largest collection of Polynesian cultural artifacts and natural history specimens. Besides the comprehensive exhibits of Hawaiiana, the museum’s total holding of natural history specimens exceeds 24 million,[2] of which the entomological collection alone represents more than 13.5 million specimens (making it the third-largest insect collection in the United States). The museum is accessible on public transit
12-19-1831 Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Hawaiian philanthropist (d. 1884)
Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop (December 19, 1831 – October 16, 1884), born Bernice Pauahi Pākī, was an aliʻi (noble) of the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Hawaii and a well known philanthropist. At her death, her estate was the largest private landownership in the Hawaiian Islands, comprising approximately 9% of Hawaii’s total area. The revenues from these lands are used to operate the Kamehameha Schools, which were established in 1887 according to Pauahi’s will. Pauahi was married to businessman and philanthropist Charles Reed Bishop.
12-19-2010 Guitar legend Carlos Santana (63) weds rock drummer Cindy Blackman (51) in Maui, Hawaii
Carlos Santana and his new bride, drummer Cindy Blackman, didn’t let a little rain ruin their wedding day.
“The weather was kind of iffy, so we said, ‘Let’s just do it inside,’ ” the guitar legend Santana, 63, tells PEOPLE of their Dec. 19 nuptials at the Ritz-Carlton on Maui. “Because no matter where we did it, the sun was shining.”
“Rain represents mercy,” adds Blackman, 51. “It couldn’t have been more beautiful.”
In fact, the couple fully embraced the weather: “My favorite part of the ceremony was when we washed our hands in a bowl of rainwater,” says Blackman, adding that the gesture was suggested by Santana’s son (from his first marriage), Salvador.
“We absolved ourselves of all things past and all things future except the two of us. It felt so clearing to do that,” she says.
Santana and Blackman, a jazz and rock drummer often recognized for her work with Lenny Kravitz, were feted by 180 guests, including comedian George Lopez and musician pals Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, who performed at the reception.
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“That took the wedding to a whole other level of the word supreme,” says the groom.
Blackman, who wore a custom-made silk dress from the Zurich boutique Zoro for the ceremony, says she and Santana, who proposed during a concert last July, also released doves “to release our purity and love into the cosmos.”
After honeymooning in Hawaii over the holidays, the guitarist is already back to work – he kicks off his new residency at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas on Wednesday – but is basking in the glow of married life.
“Cindy is a match with everything that I am, from fire of passion to vulnerability,” he says. “Everything tastes better when you share it with your soul mate.”
