HAWAII

On February 14, 1779, Captain James Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay on Hawaii island in a skirmish with Hawaiians (he is the British sea captain who is credited with discovering the Hawaiian Islands a year earlier).

English and Hawaiian are the official languages of Hawaii.

Hawaii is the most isolated population center on Earth: It’s about 2,400 miles from the Mainland U.S., the closest landmass. Because of that, it has its own time zone, Hawaii Standard Time, and does not observe daylight saving time.

Hawaii’s state flower is the yellow hibiscus.

State bird: nene.

State fish: humuhumunukunukuapuaa.

The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, founded in downtown Honolulu in 1843, is the oldest Catholic Church in continuous use in the country.

Sea cliffs on East Molokai’s northern coast rise 3,315 feet above the ocean, earning distinction as the highest on Earth.

Established in 1831, Lahainaluna High School on Maui is the oldest school west of the Rocky Mountains.

Maunakea reigns as the tallest mountain in the world, more than 33,000 feet high when measured from its submarine base.