Why is Honolulu the Capital of Hawaii?

Interestingly enough, no one knows exactly when Honolulu, the capital of the U.S. state of Hawaii, was founded.

Today this city is a giant metropolis filled to the brim with citizens from all over the world, a booming tourist economy, world famous beaches, restaurants, and high rise condominiums. So how did this come to be?

Before Honolulu coined its’ name, meaning “sheltered harbor”, the harbor was referred to by many natives as Kulolia. Until the first foreigner came sailing in from Europe. Captain William Brown, of the ship Butterworth, was deemed to be the first Englishman to arrive on Hawaiian soil in 1794. He initially named the beautiful harbors of Honolulu, Fair Haven, but through a series of name changes for the tropical haven, the title Honolulu was the only one that stuck.

It wasn’t until King Kamehameha the III, Hawaiian royalty and King from 1825 to 1854, decided to make Honolulu the capital city of “Kingdom of Hawaii” or “Republic of Hawaii” that the name change came into action. King Kamehameha was the longest ruling King during the Hawaiian Kingdom’s monarchic history, ruling for 29 years. In 1959 when Hawaii was adopted as the 50th U.S. state, Honolulu become the official capital of the Hawaiian Islands.

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