King Kalākaua's world tour in 1881 made him the first monarch to circumnavigate the globe. His agenda was to negotiate contract labor for the Kingdom of Hawaii's sugar plantations, with hopes of saving the dwindling Native Hawaiian population by drawing immigration from Asia- Pacific nations. Rumors circulated that the King secretly intended to use the trip to sell the Hawaiian Islands to the highest bidder. He visited American legislators and had an audience with the Pope in Rome. He also met with European and Asian heads of state, and was influenced by their ornate ceremonies and displays of military power. In between negotiations, Kalākaua and his companions visited tourist sites and attended local Freemasonry lodge meetings. As a result of his visit with Thomas Edison on the return trip through New York, Iolani Palace later became the first building in Hawaii with electric lighting. Kalākaua's amiable personality generated goodwill around the world, and he succeeded in increasing Hawaii's labor force. The Japanese workers he attracted were commemorated a century later with a new statue of Kalākaua in Waikiki.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kal%C4%81kaua%27s_world_tour
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1520:
Citizens of Toledo, Castile, who were opposed to the rule of the foreign-born Charles V, rose up in revolt when the royal government attempted to unseat radical city councilors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Comuneros
1847:
New Zealand Wars: A minor Māori chief was accidentally shot by a junior British Army officer in the Petre settlement of New Zealand's North Island, triggering the Wanganui Campaign. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanganui_Campaign
1917:
World War I: A massive assault by several French army corps against the German-occupied Chemin des Dames ridge began south of Laon, France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_the_Aisne
1947:
American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch first described the post–World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States as a "cold war". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War
2007:
In one of the deadliest shooting incidents in United States history, a gunman killed 32 people and wounded over 20 more before committing suicide at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_shooting
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
hierophany: (religion) A physical manifestation of the holy or sacred, serving as a spiritual eidolon for emulation or worship. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hierophany
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Your God still walks in Eden, between the ancient trees, Where Youth and Love go wading through pools of primroses. And this is the sign we bring you, before the darkness fall, That Spring is risen, is risen again, That Life is risen, is risen again, That Love is risen, is risen again, and Love is Lord of all. --Alfred Noyes https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred_Noyes