Hawaii Becomes the 50th State-August 21, 1959! Aloha and Happy Anniversary, Hawaii!
On August 21, 1959 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the proclamation that made the Hawaiian Islands the 50th state of the Union. It wasn`t until July 4th, 1960, however, before the official flag with 50 stars was 
publicly unveiled. I`ve been studying up on Hawaii`s history and culture this morning, and am making a little headway, as far as soaking in its fascinating traditions.
It`s not all surfing, pineapples and slack key guitar playing, my friend, but a good amount of that can be factored into your research. There`s a good bit of sugar plantation activity (starting in the 1830s) that you will have to brood over also. And as far as initial Western contact goes, you need to peruse the explorations of the English Captain James Cook in 1778 and 1779.
Captain Cook called them the Sandwich Islands, in honor of his sponsor, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich. And don`t forget to read up on Queen Lili Uokalani, who was the last of the monarchy for Hawaii. Lili wrote the most famous song for the Polynesian Islands, Aloha `Oe. I`ve been listening to some slack key guitar by Leonard Kwan today.
I`m grooving to two of the most soothing tunes of Leonard Kwan (1931-2000), Ke`ala`s Mele and Slack Key Serenade. I need to mellow out this morning and these slack key songs are helping a lot. I`ve never been to Hawaii before in my entire life, but boy will I be ready to go when that time comes. Let`s see here, that pic of Honolulu looks enticing! *(sources-Wikipedia and The History Channel)
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Thank God for Hawai’i! It is the place to go to recharge and renew your soul!