The 1881 world tour of King Kalākaua (pictured) 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. He visited American legislators, had an audience with Pope Leo XIII in Rome, and met with European and Asian heads of state. In between negotiations, Kalākaua and his companions visited tourist sites and attended local Masonic lodge meetings. As a result of his visit with Thomas Edison, Iolani Palace became the first building in Hawaii with electric lighting. The King's amiable personality generated worldwide goodwill, and he succeeded in increasing Hawaii's labor force with Japanese workers. Their arrival was commemorated a century later with a new statue of Kalākaua in Waikiki.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kal%C4%81kaua%27s_1881_world_tour

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1881:

The Jeannette expedition to reach the North Pole from the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait came to an end when the USS Jeannette was finally crushed and sank after having been trapped in ice for almost two years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jeannette_%281878%29

1935:

In one of the biggest upsets in championship boxing, the underdog James J. Braddock defeated Max Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_J._Braddock

1952:

Soviet aircraft shot down a Swedish military plane carrying out signals-intelligence gathering operations, followed three days later by the shootdown of a second plane searching for the first one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_affair

1983:

Pioneer 10 passed the orbit of Neptune, becoming the first man-made object to leave the proximity of the major planets of the Solar System. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_10

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

scathe: 1. (archaic or Scotland) To harm or injure (someone or something) physically. 2. (specifically, obsolete) To cause monetary loss to (someone). 3. (by extension, chiefly literary and poetic) To harm, injure, or destroy (someone or something) by fire, lightning, or some other heat source; to blast; to scorch; to wither. 4. (figuratively) To severely hurt (someone's feelings, soul, etc., or something intangible) through acts, words spoken, etc. 5. (countable, uncountable) Damage, harm, hurt, injury. 6. (countable) Someone who, or something which, causes harm; an injurer. 7. (countable, Scotland, law, obsolete) An injury or loss for which compensation is sought in a lawsuit; damage; also, expenses incurred by a claimant; costs. 8. (uncountable) Something to be mourned or regretted. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scathe

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Words are always getting conventionalized to some secondary meaning. It is one of the works of poetry to take the truants in custody and bring them back to their right senses.   --William Butler Yeats https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Butler_Yeats