1.
Honolulu
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Honolulu is the capital and largest city of the U. S. state of Hawaii. It is an part of and the county seat of the City and County of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The city is the gateway to Hawaii and a major portal into the United States. The city is also a hub for international business, military defense, as well as famously being host to a diverse variety of east-west and Pacific culture, cuisine. Honolulu is the most remote city of its size in the world and is both the westernmost and the southernmost major U. S. city. For statistical purposes, the U. S. Census Bureau recognizes the area commonly referred to as City of Honolulu as a census county division. Honolulu is a financial center of the islands and of the Pacific Ocean. The population of the city of Honolulu was 337,256 as of the 2010 census, while the Honolulu CCD was 390,738, Honolulu means sheltered harbor or calm port. The old name is said to be Kou, a district encompassing the area from Nuuanu Avenue to Alakea Street. The city has been the capital of the Hawaiian Islands since 1845, as of 2015, Honolulu was ranked high on world livability rankings, and was also ranked as the 2nd safest city in the U. S. It is also the most populated Oceanian city outside Australasia and ranks second to Auckland as the most populous city in Polynesia, evidence of the first settlement of Honolulu by the original Polynesian migrants to the archipelago comes from oral histories and artifacts. These indicate that there was a settlement where Honolulu now stands in the 11th century, however, after Kamehameha I conquered Oʻahu in the Battle of Nuʻuanu at Nuʻuanu Pali, he moved his royal court from the Island of Hawaiʻi to Waikīkī in 1804. His court relocated in 1809 to what is now downtown Honolulu, the capital was moved back to Kailua-Kona in 1812. In 1794, Captain William Brown of Great Britain was the first foreigner to sail into what is now Honolulu Harbor, more foreign ships followed, making the port of Honolulu a focal point for merchant ships traveling between North America and Asia. In 1845, Kamehameha III moved the permanent capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom from Lahaina on Maui to Honolulu and he and the kings that followed him transformed Honolulu into a modern capital, erecting buildings such as St. Andrews Cathedral, ʻIolani Palace, and Aliʻiōlani Hale. At the same time, Honolulu became the center of commerce in the islands, an economic and tourism boom following statehood brought rapid economic growth to Honolulu and Hawaiʻi. Modern air travel brings, as of 2007,7.6 million visitors annually to the islands, today, Honolulu is a modern city with numerous high-rise buildings, and Waikīkī is the center of the tourism industry in Hawaiʻi, with thousands of hotel rooms. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 68.4 square miles
2.
Hawaii
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Hawaii is the 50th and most recent state to have joined the United States of America, having received statehood on August 21,1959. Hawaii is the only U. S. state located in Oceania and it is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean. Hawaii is the only U. S. state not located in the Americas, the state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian archipelago, which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles. At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight main islands are—in order from northwest to southeast, Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi. The last is the largest island in the group, it is called the Big Island or Hawaiʻi Island to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania, Hawaii has over a million permanent residents, along with many visitors and U. S. military personnel. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaii is the 8th-smallest and the 11th-least populous, but the 13th-most densely populated of the fifty U. S. states. It is the state with an Asian plurality. The states coastline is about 750 miles long, the fourth longest in the U. S. after the coastlines of Alaska, Florida, the state of Hawaii derives its name from the name of its largest island, Hawaiʻi. A common Hawaiian explanation of the name of Hawaiʻi is that was named for Hawaiʻiloa and he is said to have discovered the islands when they were first settled. The Hawaiian language word Hawaiʻi is very similar to Proto-Polynesian *Sawaiki, cognates of Hawaiʻi are found in other Polynesian languages, including Māori, Rarotongan and Samoan. According to linguists Pukui and Elbert, lsewhere in Polynesia, Hawaiʻi or a cognate is the name of the underworld or of the home, but in Hawaii. A somewhat divisive political issue arose in 1978 when the Constitution of the State of Hawaii added Hawaiian as an official state language. The title of the constitution is The Constitution of the State of Hawaii. Article XV, Section 1 of the Constitution uses The State of Hawaii, diacritics were not used because the document, drafted in 1949, predates the use of the okina and the kahakō in modern Hawaiian orthography. The exact spelling of the name in the Hawaiian language is Hawaiʻi. In the Hawaii Admission Act that granted Hawaiian statehood, the government recognized Hawaii as the official state name. Official government publications, department and office titles, and the Seal of Hawaii use the spelling with no symbols for glottal stops or vowel length
3.
Downtown Honolulu
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Both modern and historic buildings and complexes, many of the latter declared National Historic Landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places, are located in the area, 21°18′12″N 157°51′26″W. Downtown Honolulu can be subdivided into four neighborhoods, each with its own central focus and these areas are the Capitol District, the Central Business District, Chinatown, and the Waterfront. The Capitol District, or Civic Center, contains most of the federal, state, and city buildings and is centered on the Hawaiʻi State Capitol, ʻIolani Palace. It is roughly bounded by Richards Street on the west, Ward Avenue on the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the north, significant buildings in this area include, Old Advertiser Building Aliʻiōlani Hale Bishop Estate Building Frank F. This area contains most of the buildings of Hawaiʻi-based companies. Central to this area is the open-air Oʻahu Market, the area around Nuʻuanu Avenue has become an Arts District, thanks to the renovation of the Hawaiʻi Theatre. S. Recently, cruise ships between the Hawaiian Islands now dock at Honolulu Harbor, the United States Postal Service operates the Downtown Honolulu Post Office at 335 Merchant Street. Downtown Honolulu travel guide from Wikivoyage
4.
Oahu
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Oʻahu or Oahu /oʊˈɑːhu/, known as The Gathering Place, is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to about two-thirds of the population of the U. S. state of Hawaii, the state capital, Honolulu, is on Oʻahus southeast coast. Along with the rest of the Hawaiian Islands, Oahu is one of the largest and northernmost islands of Polynesia, in the greatest dimension, this volcanic island is 44 miles long and 30 miles across. The length of the shoreline is 227 miles, the island is the result of two separate shield volcanoes, the Waiʻanae and Koʻolau Ranges, with a broad valley or saddle between them. The highest point is Kaʻala in the Waiʻanae Range, rising to 4,003 feet above sea level, the island was home to the Kunia Regional SIGINT Operations Center from 1941 to 2012, it is now home to the National Security Agencys Hawaii Cryptologic Center. The island is home to 953,207 people in 2010, Oʻahu has for a long time been known as the Gathering Place. The term Oʻahu has no confirmed meaning in Hawaiian, other than that of the place itself, ancient Hawaiian tradition attributes the names origin in the legend of Hawaiʻiloa, the Polynesian navigator credited with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates that he named the island after a son, residents of Oʻahu refer to themselves as locals, no matter their ancestry. The city of Honolulu—largest city, state capital, and main deepwater marine port for the State of Hawaiʻi—is located here. As a jurisdictional unit, the island of Oʻahu is in the Honolulu County, although as a place name. Well-known features found on Oʻahu include Waikīkī, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, Kāneʻohe Bay, Kailua Bay, being roughly diamond-shaped, surrounded by ocean and divided by mountain ranges, directions on Oʻahu are not generally described with the compass directions found throughout the world. Locals instead use directions originally using Honolulu as the central point, to go ewa means traveling toward the western tip of the island, Diamond Head is toward the eastern tip, mauka is inland and makai toward the sea. Oʻahu is also known for having the longest rain shower in history, kaneohe Ranch, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi reported 247 straight days with rain from August 27,1993 to April 30,1994. The island has many one of them being rainbow state. This is because rainbows are a sight in Hawaiʻi due to the frequent rain showers. The average temperature in Oʻahu is around 70 to 85 degrees, the weather during the winter is cooler, but still warm with the average temperature of 68-78 degrees. The windward side is known for some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, lanikai Beach on the windward coast of Oʻahu has been consistently ranked among the best beaches in the world. The 300-year-old Kingdom of Oʻahu was once ruled by the most ancient aliʻi in all of the Hawaiian Islands, the first great king of Oʻahu was Mailikukahi, the lawmaker, who was followed by many generation of monarchs
5.
Honolulu County, Hawaii
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Honolulu County is a consolidated city–county located in the U. S. state of Hawaii. The consolidated city-county was established in the city adopted in 1907. As a municipal corporation and jurisdiction it manages aspects of government traditionally exercised by municipalities and counties in the rest of the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 953,207, because of Hawaiis municipal structure, the United States Census Bureau divides Honolulu County into several census-designated places for statistical purposes. The current mayor of Honolulu County is Kirk Caldwell, who reclaimed the job from the person who defeated him in a 2010 special election, Peter Carlisle, the county motto is Haʻaheo No ʻO Honolulu. Approximately 70% of the population lives in Honolulu County. Only Nevada has a percentage of its population living in its most populous county. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 2,128 square miles. However, the majority of area is the Pacific Ocean that surrounds the islands. For 2013, the county has an operating budget of US$2.16 billion. The government of Honolulu County is simplified and streamlined and coalesces at three major divisions of municipal power, the mayor of Honolulu is the principal executor of administrative authority. The mayor is elected on a basis to a four-year term. The Honolulu City Council is the legislative body. Its elected members are responsible for drafting and passing laws, as well as proposing budgets for various departments, unlike other cities in the United States, the council is absolutely independent of the mayor, who does not make any appearances during any of the council sessions. The nine council members represent one of nine districts, and are elected on a non-partisan basis to staggered four-year terms. The Prosecuting Attorney of Honolulu is independently elected of the two major divisions of municipal power, and is charged with prosecuting criminal offenses committed within the county. The office is not charged with providing legal counsel to the mayor or City Council, the prosecuting attorney is elected on a non-partisan basis to a four-year term. The Honolulu County is divided into 36 neighborhood boards, the office of neighborhood board member is an advisory position for public policy and civil investment
6.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
7.
Mayor of Honolulu
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An office established in 1900 and modified in 1907, the mayor of Honolulu is elected by universal suffrage of residents of Honolulu to no more than two four-year terms. The mayor of Honolulu is one of two officers elected countywide, the other is the prosecuting attorney. The Mayor of Honolulu is the successor of the Royal Governors of Oʻahu of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the mayor of Honolulu conducts official business from Honolulu Hale, the historic city hall building of Honolulu constructed in 1928 in classical Spanish villa architectural styles. The building is located at the northeast corner of King and Punchbowl Streets in the Hawaii Capital Historic District near downtown Honolulu, other administrative officers under the mayor of Honolulu work from separate municipal buildings on the larger civic campus of which Honolulu Hale is a part. From the courtyard of Honolulu Hale, the mayor of Honolulu is mandated by the City and County charters to make an annual State of the City address, in this speech, the mayor of Honolulu outlines the administrative and legislative agenda for the year. It is also a summation of the budget to be implemented compared to the budget of the previous year, the mayor of Honolulu also organizes the major public services managed by the mayor’s office. He or she oversees dozens of departments, including, Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Honolulu Fire Department, Honolulu Police Department, unlike most United States mayors, the mayor of Honolulu does not oversee any schools, a jurisdiction of the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education. Assisting the mayor of Honolulu in overseeing these departments and other policy issues is the Managing Director of Honolulu. His or her most important role is to serve as acting mayor in absence or resignation, Honolulu is the site of several international governmental and non-governmental organizations and summits, as well as the site of high-profile multinational military exercises called RIMPAC. RIMPAC is conducted by the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Command whose headquarters is in Honolulu’s Salt Lake subdivision, the mayor of Honolulu serves as concurrent chairman of several multinational mayoral bodies and convenes special sessions of international summits regularly. As a Hawaiian tradition, the wife of the mayor of Honolulu is honored with the title of First Lady of Honolulu. Honolulu deemed it necessary to bestow the title to reflect her role in relation to her husband’s extensive international responsibilities. The title is not codified in law but is an honorific. D. G. Anderson Duke Bainum Kirk Caldwell, Acting Mayor of Honolulu, July–October 2010 Charles Djou Ben Lee Patsy Mink City & County of Honolulu Agencies and Departments Timeline of Honolulu
8.
Neal Blaisdell
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Neal Shaw Blaisdell served as Mayor of Honolulu from 1955 to 1969 as a member of the Hawaii Republican Party. As chief executive of City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, Blaisdell oversaw one of the largest construction booms in city and county history, Blaisdell was born in Honolulu and had European and Hawaiian ancestry. His father was William Wallace Blaisdell II, and mother was Maliaka Malie Alaneao Merseberg, a maternal great-grandfather was John Adams Cummins. A paternal great-grandfather John Blaisdell came from Maine to the Hawaiian Islands in 1849, known as Rusty, Blaisdell played basketball, football, and baseball at Saint Louis School. He attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania where he was quarterback of the football team. He received Bucknells Alumni Award for Meritorious Achievement in 1968, although Blaisdell also played both basketball and baseball, he was inducted into the Bucknell Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988 under the category of football. He was also a golfer who started his day with push ups, Blaisdell returned to Honolulu to become a teacher, high school coach and athletic director. He was elected as representative of the 4th district to the legislature of the Territory of Hawaii in 1945, in 1950 he ran for Mayor of Honolulu, but withdrew after suffering from tuberculosis. Blaisdell ran against Frank Fasi and was elected mayor in 1954, as mayor, Blaisdell saw the construction of the John H. After Blaisdells death, his successor Fasi renamed the complex in his honor and it is now known as the Neal S. Blaisdell Center. From 1965 to 1966, Blaisdell was president of the United States Conference of Mayors, Blaisdell married Lucy Thurston on October 23,1926. Daughter Velma Blaisdell Clark married James Kalaeone Clark Jim Clark and was a teacher for the Hawaii State Department of Education, daughter Marilyn Blaisdell Ane married another football coach and taught at Punahou School for 28 years. Blaisdell suffered a stroke while doing work and died November 6,1975. He was buried at Oahu Cemetery, a park of 25.9 acres located on the shore of Pearl Harbor at 21°23′11″N 157°57′17″W was named for him. Neal Blaisdell at Find a Grave
9.
Waikiki Shell
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The Waikiki Shell is a venue for outdoor concerts and other large gatherings in Waikiki area of Honolulu, Hawaii. Built in 1956, the Waikiki Shell seats 2,400 persons and it is under the management of the Neal S. Blaisdell Center. It bears a resemblance to the Hollywood Bowl. The venue is located in Kapiolani Park in Waikiki, between the dense high-rises of the neighborhood and the dormant tuff cone volcano, Diamond Head, Waikiki Shell Web Site List of contemporary amphitheatres
10.
Elvis Presley
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Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is referred to as the King of Rock and Roll. Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis and his music career began there in 1954, when he recorded a song with producer Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was a popularizer of rockabilly. RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, Presleys first RCA single, Heartbreak Hotel, was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. He was regarded as the figure of rock and roll after a series of successful network television appearances. In November 1956, Presley made his debut in Love Me Tender. In 1958, he was drafted into military service, in 1973, Presley featured in the first globally broadcast concert via satellite, Aloha from Hawaii. Several years of drug abuse severely damaged his health. Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century and he won three Grammys, also receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. Presley was born on January 8,1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Love and Vernon Elvis Presley, Jesse Garon Presley, his identical twin brother, was delivered stillborn 35 minutes before his own birth. Thus, as a child, Presley became close to both parents and formed an especially close bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God, where he found his musical inspiration. Although he was in conflict with the Pentecostal church in his later years, rev. Rex Humbard officiated at his funeral, as Presley had been an admirer of Humbards ministry. Presleys ancestry was primarily a Western European mix, including Scots-Irish, Scottish, German, gladyss great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was possibly a Cherokee Native American. Gladys was regarded by relatives and friends as the dominant member of the small family, Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, evincing little ambition. The family often relied on help from neighbors and government food assistance, the Presleys survived the F5 tornado in the 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of kiting a check written by the landowner, Orville S. Bean and he was jailed for eight months, and Gladys and Elvis moved in with relatives
