Thursday, December 07, 2006

Hawaii & Pearl Harbor: basic background


Hawaii map
Originally uploaded by glenasena.
On Sun, Dec 7, 1941, the US lost some 15 ships and over 2000 sailors when a Japanese air attack hit the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor.

For the previous 10 years the Japanese had been building an empire in East Asia. They had taken over Indonesia, Indochina, including Vietnam, and part of China. The military government of Japan had convinced the emperor that buildling an empire was appropriate.

There were numerous indications that the Japanese might attack the US in the Pacific.

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Infoplease.com says, " First settled by Polynesians sailing from other Pacific islands between A.D. 300 and 600, Hawaii was visited in 1778 by British captain James Cook, who called the group the Sandwich Islands.

Hawaii was a native kingdom throughout most of the 19th century, when the expansion of the sugar industry (pineapple came after 1898) meant increasing U.S. business and political involvement. In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani was deposed, and a year later the Republic of Hawaii was established with Sanford B. Dole as president. Following annexation (1898), Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1900."

Hawaiian map identifications -
1. Pearl Harbor
2. Honolulu
3. Oahu Island
4. Maui Island
5. Hawaii Island
6. Mauna Loa & Mauna Kea Mtns.

Population about 1.2 M.


Says Wikipedia.org, "Hawaii may be an especially healthy place to live. Hawaiians born in the year 2000 can expect to live 79.8 years (77.1 years if male, 82.5 if female), longer than the residents of any other state.[12] Mississippi came in 50th, living 73.6 years (70.4 male and 76.7 female), but the District of Columbia was dead last, living 72.6 years (68.5 male and 76.1 female)."