Fun Hawaii Facts

Here is my collection of Fun Hawaii Facts and amusing Trivia. Knowing facts like this always made me remember places I visited and I this will does it for you too. I will update it when I find something new, so keep checking back.

IOLANI PALACE:

The Iolani Palace installed electric lights in 1887, which was 4 years prior to the White House and 19 years before the Buckingham Palace.

THE HUMUHUMUNUKUNUKUAPUA'A:

Even though the Hawaiian State Legislative never made this fish the official state fish, it is widely recognized as such here in Hawaii. It is for sure the state fish with the longest name and it names supposedly means "fish when brought out of water snorts like a pig."

DIAMOND HEAD:

Diamond Head, Oahu's most famous landmark has a very distinctive shape, which is named after the backfin of the yellowfin tuna. It is called "Le'ahi" in the Hawaiian language, which means literally the "brow of the 'ahi" (yellowfin tuna)

BATTLESHIP MISSOURI:

The Mighty Mo (Battleship Missouri) is 5 feet longer and 18 feet wider than the British Olympic class passenger liner Titanic.

It took 175 tons of blueprint paper for her design and the 16 inch guns fired projectiles the weight of a Volkswagen bug.

HONOLULU ZOO:

The Honolulu Zoo is unique in that it is the only zoo in the United States originating from a King's grant of royal lands to the people.

HAWAII ALPHABET:

The Hawaiian alphabet consists of only twelve letters. The five vowels are A,E, I, O,U. And the seven consonants are H,K,L,M,N,P,W.

COFFEE:

Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows coffee.

PINEAPPLES:

More than one-third of the world's commercial supply of pineapples used to from Hawaii. Due to the low prices of Asian pineapples, the production will probably be stopped in 2008.

SIZE:

From east to west, Hawaii is the widest state in the United States.

MOUNTAINS:

The Hawaiian Islands mountain range tops are the biggest in the world.

VOLCANO:

Hawaii is the only U.S. state whose land area is increasing (from volcanic eruptions).

MONARCHY:

Hawaii celebrates Kamehameha Day on June 11th, the only US holiday to honor a monarch.

HAWAIIAN FLAG:

It is the only flag in the United States that actually features another country's flag - the Great Britain's Union Jack!

NIIHAU

Niihau, a tiny island off of Kauai, is privately owned by the Robinson family, whose ancestors purchased it from King Kamehameha IV over 100 years ago. It can only be visited by invitation from one of the owners or one of the native Hawaiians who inhabit the island.

ARIZONA MEMORIAL:

In memory of the attacks in Pearl Harbor, which resembled the Navy's single biggest loss of sailors, funds to construct the Arizona Memorial was going slow until the famous Elvis Presley's benefit concert at the Pearl Harbor Bloch Arena, which drove up the donations.