HOW WE GOT HERE AND
SOME INTERESTING TIDBITS ALONG THE WAY800,000 years ago: The state's youngest island is born.
300-750 A.D.: Archaeological finds put South Point as one of Hawaii's first
Polynesian settlements.
480 A.D.: Mookini Heiau built in Kohala, was later the birthplace of King Kamehameha the Great in 1758.
1775: As a teen, Kamehameha overturns the
4,500-poound Naha Stone in Hilo prophesying he would rule all of Hawaii.
1779: Capt. James Cook is killed in Kealakekua Bay by Hawaiian warriors.
1791
: In Kawaihae, Kamehameha dedicates the state's largest heiau (temple), Puukohola, to his war god.
1801: Hualalai erupts above Kona creating land now used for the Keahole-Kona
International Airport.
1812-19: Kamehameha returns to the Big Island and lives in Kailua at Anuena Heiau until his death.
1820: Missionaries arrive on Brig Thaddeus
in Kailua bay.
1828: Coffee comes to Kona; by 1989, 6,383 acres planted.
1837: The state's first Christian churchis constructed of crushed coral and lava rock, Mokuaikaua
in Kailua.
1838: Hulihee Palace is built in Kailua and hosts vacationing royalty until 1914.
1850s: John Palmer Parker and Hawaiian princess wife amass land to form Parker Ranch
that today sprawls 225,000 acres and is two-thirds the size of the island of Oahu.
1866: Mark Twain plants a monkeypod tree in Waiohinu; 1957 storm toppled it but sapplings sprout and tree
still stands.
1877: Volcano House built as a "13-pillow establishment" (hotel).
1880: The original Kamehameha statue is built, lost at sea, then recovered and later erected in
Kapaau.
1881: State's first macdamia nut tree is planted in Honokaa.
1890: The Wilder Steamship Co. advertises excursions to the volcano from Honolulu for $50 that includes
horse and guide.
1906: An engineering marvel, the Kohala Ditch opens, sending 20 million gallons of water to sugar plantations.
1912-32: Numerous structures of
architectural interest are built in downtown Hilo: Ancient Order of Foresters, Palace Theater, S.H. Kress and S. Hata Buildings.
1916: Hawaii Volcanoes National park is established
through the perserverance of citizen Prince Kuhio.
1930: Inter-island airways first brings visitors to Kona landing seaplanes in Kealakekua Bay. Tourists were transported to shore by
outrigger canoes and then taxied by jitney to Kailua's Kona Inn.
1942: Mauna Loa erupts and flow heads to Hilo during wartime blackout; miliary diverts lava with bombs.
1943-45
: Some 55,000 marines trained at Camp Tarawa in Waimea for fighting in WWII's Pacific theater.
1946: A 56-foot tsunami hits the east side of the island rolling over a school, causing 159
deaths and $26 million in damage.
1950-52: Three earthquakes measuring 6.0 to 6.9 are centered in Kona and cause substantial damage.
1959: Kona is put on the map as the
sportfishing capital with the first Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT).
1960: A 34.5 foot tsunami hits the island's east side causing 61 deaths and $23 million in damage.
1963: The Merrie Monarch Hula Festival is founded in Hilo to perpetuate Hawaiian culture.
1974: Utilizing sun, cold and warm sea water, the Natural Energy Lab is established at
Keahole-Kona.
1975: A 7.2 earthquake centered from Kilauea generates 48-foot tsunami that kills two people.
1981: The Ironman Triathlon moves from Oahu to Kona.
1989
: Lava from Kilauea destroys community of Kalapana, Kaimu Black Sand Beach and visitor station at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
1990: The Senior Skins Game of golf moves to the Mauna
Lani Resort on the Kohala Coast.
1991: The Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center opens at Kona Airport honoring the island son who was killed in the 1986 Challenger tragedy.
1993
: The W.M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea, the most powerful optical telescope on the planet, takes a picture of the farthest known galaxy that's 72 trillion billion miles away.
1997:
The Senior PGA TOURs MasterCard Champtionship is played at Hualalai, the first golf faclity to be designated a PGA Tour resort. Designer Jack Nicklaus plays inaugural round.
