Cook Killed - Train Wrecks
February 14, 2008 > Maui Yesterdays No Comments |
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Valentine’s Day
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Ka’a'ahi: Railroad PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Tren: Railway HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “Silent is the mouth of the inhospitable.” WEB SURF SPOT OF THE WEEK — Project Gutenberg WEB VIDEO OF THE WEEK — Squirrel ala Huckabee PODCAST OF THE WEEK — TWiT.TV UPCOMING EVENTS — Feb. 22: Maui Democratic Party Caucus
February 14th, 1884: In what is believed to be the first ever train wreck in Hawaii, the Kahului, Wailuku & Hamakua Poko Railroad has a disaster. The railroad was established in 1879, the first carrier rail line in Hawaii. Five years later, on this date, seven of nine cars uncouple when the engine stops on a grade near Wailuku (on what is now Ka’ahumanu Ave. going uphill to Wailuku).The engineer turned to see the seven cars begin to roll down the hill. He desperately reversed the engine and began backwards, pursuing the runaway cars down the incline. Unfortunately, the cars, which were probably going at about 50 miles per hour by the time they reached the bottom, plowed into an oncoming locomotive, killing three passengers, and injuring another three. Two passengers, brave and bold, jumped off the train just before it collided, and saved themselves.February 14th,1779: Captain James Cook is killed by Hawaiians during his third visit to Hawaii. On February 14 at Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island, some Hawaiians took one of Cook’s small boats. Cook attempted to take hostage the Chief of Hawaii, Kalaniopu’u. The Hawaiians prevented this, and Cook’s men had to retreat to the beach. As Cook turned his back to help launch the boats, he was struck on the head by the villagers and then stabbed to death as he fell on his face in the surf. The Hawaiians dragged his body away. Four of the marines with Cook were also killed and two wounded in the confrontation.
HISTORICAL EVENTS ON THIS DAY — February 14th
- 1883: New Jersey legalizes labor unions (America’s first state labor union legislation)
- 1912: Arizona becomes America’s 48th state
- 1920: The League of Women Voters is founded (in Chicago)
- 1940: The first porpoise born in captivity arrives at Marineland in Florida
- 1951: Sugar Ray Robinson defeats Jake LaMotta & takes the middleweight title
- 1963: The U.S. launches the communications satellite Syncom 1
- 1971: President Richard Nixon installs a secret taping system in the White House (which later brings his downfall in the Watergate scandals)
- 1989: In a fatwa, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini calls on Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of “The Satanic Verses,” a novel condemned as blasphemous
- 1989: Union Carbide is ordered to pay $470 million to the government of India in a court-ordered settlement of the gas leak disaster in Bhopal India
- 1997: Astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery begin a series of EVA’s to overhaul the Hubble Space Telescope
BORN ON THIS DAY — February 14th
- 1766: Thomas Malthus, population expert
- 1847: Anna Howard Shaw,suffragette
- 1869: Charles Wilson, physicist
- 1894: Jack Benny, comedian
- 1902: Ray (“Crash”) Corrigan, cowboy (
- 1913: Jimmy Hoffa, Teamsters leader who disappeared in 1975
- 1913: Mel Allen, sportscaster
- 1931: Vic Morrow, actor
- 1942: Michjael Bloomberg, NYC mayor
- 1944: Carl Bernstein, investigative reporter
- 1945: Gregory Hines, actor/dancer
- 1946: Tim Buckley, rocker
- 1948: Teller, comedian/magician (Penn and Teller)
- 1960: Ken Wahl, actor
- 1960: Meg (Margaret) Tilly, actress
- 1972: Mayne One, rocker (Young Nation)
- 1985: Jacob Parker, actor
