How well do you know Hawai'i?

Day 635

Hawai'i was admitted to the U.S. union as the 50th state on this date in 1959. With their kind permission, the three highest-scoring commenters taking the quiz will be identified and will bask in the admiration of fellow readers.  

1. Jack Lord so enjoyed starring in "Hawaii Five-O" (1968-80) that the erstwhile Broadway and Hollywood star spent the rest of his life in the Aloha State. What later TV detective series, which ran from 1980 to 1988, also popularized the state with mainland audiences?

2. What did FDR describe to Congress on Dec. 8, 1941 as "a day of infamy"?

3. Born in Honolulu, this singer, actress and comedian launched a group that preserves natural wildlife sites in her adopted New York City.

4. While born in Honolulu, Nicole Kidman actually is of what nationality?

5. Among Honolulu-born Barack Obama's fellow alumni at the city's Punahou prep school are Steve Case (class of '76) and Pierre Omidyar ('84), erstwhile CEOs of what two Fortune 500 companies?

6. Hawai'i is the most multicultural U.S. state, where whites make up only half, one-third or one-quarter of the population?

7. Hawai'i is the only U.S. state to grow almonds, coffee or cocoa beans?

8. Hawai'i native Daniel Inouye, decorated World War II hero, is among the longest-serving members of what U.S. elected body?

9. America's only home ever to serve as official residence to a monarch is the Iolani Palace. Now a popular tourist site, where is it located? 

10. The first written account of this recreational sport was recorded in the diary of a sailor in Captain James Cook's fleet in 1779, a year after Cook discovered the island chain.

The Iolani Palace, restored in the 1970s, was built in 1879 and home to the last Hawai'ian monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani, who succeeded to the throne in 1891.

Related

* NYT: Renowned travel Paul Theroux, longtime Hawai'i resident, on Hawai'i at 50th anniversary of statehood.

For the purposes of this blog, the inception of the Great Recession in the U.S., the epicentre of the crisis, is taken as the start date for the global slump. The U.S. has been in recession since December 2007. 

 

Comments

[Johnnyk]

1. Magnum P.I.
2. Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor
3. Bette Midler
4. Ozzie
5. Steve Case=AOL Pierre Omidyar=eBay
6. one-third
7. cocoa beans
8. U.S. Senate
9. beats me
10. surfing