Catching a wave is nothing new for Hawaiians. The first recorded account of surfing — penned around 1779 by a crew member aboard one of British explorer Captain James Cook's ships — included two entire pages about local people climbing on boards in the water to wait for "the greatest Swell that sets on shore, & altogether push forward with their Arms to keep on its top." By that time, the sport was already a centuries-old, integral part of Hawaiian culture: chiefs proved their mettle by showing off their wave-riding skills and new surfboards were christened with chants at special ceremonies. Some Hawaiian place names are even derived from ancient surfing legends.
When you talk about minorities in Hawaii, you're talking about everyone. Unlike most states, no racial or ethnic group constitutes a majority in the Aloha State. White residents make up just a quarter of the population — the lowest proportion in the country. (Which is 66% white overall, according to Census figures.) Nearly 40% of Hawaiians are classified as "Asian," with another 9% native Hawaiian. Gov. Linda Lingle calls Hawaii a place where "racial and ethnic lines are often blurred or deemed irrelevant." Sounds like a logical birthplace for the first President to break the color line.
It's a good thing the diverse people of Hawaii have managed to live together peacefully — it's not easy to leave. The state is called the most isolated population center in the world — some 2,390 miles from the U.S. and nearly 4,000 miles from Japan. While its remoteness can make Hawaii an ordeal to visit (flights from Los Angeles take five and a half hours), it's a boon for scientists. Hawaii is home to one of the largest clusters of telescopes and observatories in the world, taking advantage of the area's low levels of air and light pollution. Last month the summit of Mauna Kea, on Hawaii's big island, was chosen as the site for the world's largest telescope — expected to be completed in 2018 with a price tag of more than $1 billion.
Hawaii is so far removed from the rest of the U.S. that it has its own time zone. Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time doesn't observe Daylight Savings, running two hours behind Pacific Standard Time and five hours behind Eastern Standard Time. That means that February's Super Bowl XLIII, played in Tampa Bay, Fla., kicked off shortly after 1 p.m Honolulu time. Guess it was wings and nachos for brunch.
How many states have their own language? Hawaiian is an ancient Polynesian tongue that manages to get by with only 12 letters (the five vowels plus h, k, l, m, n, p and w). The language that brought us such words as ukelele and wiki of Wikipedia fame was banned for more than a century and came close to disappearing before a movement took hold in the 1970s to preserve it. Now one of the state's official languages, it's spoken by thousands and provides the state's official motto: "Ua mau ke ea o ka aina I ka pono," which means "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness." (That was supposedly the response of Hawaii's king to the end of a five-month British occupation in 1843). Its latest sign of strength: Google introduced a Hawaiian version earlier this month.
Hawaii may be surrounded by thousands of miles of ocean, but that doesn't mean you won't find "interstate" highways, just like on the mainland. It may sound like typical government doublespeak, but from Uncle Sam's perspective all it really means is the freeways — four in total, beginning with the letter H — are part of the federal highway system and receive federal money.
From east to west, Hawaii is the widest U.S. state, measuring 1,500 miles from the island of Niihau to the island of Hawaii. At only 6,423 square miles of land area, though, it still can't mess with Texas: it would take approximately 40 Hawaiis to match the total size of the Lone Star State. California is about 24 times as large as Hawaii; even New York is about 7 times as large. The Aloha State still beats Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island, however. So there.
President Obama as a child riding a tricycle in a family snapshot taken in Hawaii during the 1960s
President Barack Obama may be the Hawaiian of the moment, but he's not the island's only famous native. His home city of Honolulu was also the birthplace of actresses Nicole Kidman (who soon moved Down Under with her Australian parents) and Bette Midler — not to mention AOL co-founder Steve Case and golf phenom Michelle Wie. Singer-songwriter Jack Johnson grew up not far away, in North Shore, Oahu.
Americans traditionally haven't had much use for royalty (There was that whole revolution, after all). But Hawaii is home to a royal palace— America's only home to ever serve as an official monarch's residence. The 'Iolani Palace in Honolulu was built by King Kalakaua in 1882 and served as the seat of power for him and his sister, Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last monarch. The Greek-revival palace fell into neglect after the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, but it's now a museum and tourist destination.
There's an upside to having two of the world's most active volcanoes within your borders: excellent soil. Hawaii, the only U.S. state to grow coffee — which made its way to the island from Brazil via British warship around 1825 — boasts ideal java-farming conditions. In addition to porous volcanic soil, Hawaii's assets include an amenable mixture of rain and sun, no risk of frost and a moderate slope for draining the roots. The end product is so delicious that Hawaii's Kona coffee, according to Forbes.com, ranks as one of the world's top 10 most expensive at up to $34 a pound.
President Obama as a child riding a tricycle in a family snapshot taken in Hawaii during the 1960s.
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