Lei Day 2011
May 1, 2011 7:43 am MAUI TODAY, Maui Yesterdays Tweet |
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HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Lei: Garland, wreath; necklace of flowers, leaves, etc. PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Soklet: Chocolate HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “Do not shy away from one who is attracted to you.” HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “Our worst enemies here are not the ignorant and simple, however cruel; our worst enemies are the intelligent and corrupt.” (G. Greene)
May 1st, 1928: May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii.
In Hawaii, May 1st is celebrated as Lei Day, rather than May Day, as the rest of the world does. This Festival of the Lei was first held on May 1, 1928, when a pair of local artists in Honolulu encouraged everyone to wear a lei. Festivities were held downtown with hula, music, lei making demonstrations, and exhibits and contests.
In 1929, Lei Day was made an official holiday in the Territory of Hawaii, a tradition that continues to the present. Lei Day, May 1st, remains a state holiday in Hawaii with festivities and celebrations all centered around the Hawaiian lei.Hawaiian leis are known the world over as the symbol of aloha. The custom of Hawaiians wearing flower garlands was first recorded by a member of Captain Cook’s crew in 1779. Today, wearing Hawaii flower leis is more prevalent than ever, among both locals and visitors.The lei custom was initially introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by early Polynesian voyagers who migrated to, and settled in the islands. Leis were worn by these original Hawaiians to beautify themselves and distinguish themselves from others. The original Hawaiians excelled in the creation of permanent leis constructed of feathers, ivory, beads, and even teeth. Often, these leis were an emblem of the ali’i, or ruling class.
HAWAII EVENTS ON THIS DAY — May 1st
- 1882: On Monday, May 1, The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, which had been a weekly paper, begins daily publication.
- 1902: A committee is formed to begin work “for the representation of Hawaii at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which is to be held at St. Louis either in 1903 or 1904.”
- 1908: The Outrigger Canoe club formally organizes, with the purpose of keeping alive the Hawaiian sports of surfboarding and native canoeing.
- 1914: The Pacific Commercial Advertiser reports that the following week’s departure of the American sailing ship John Ena from Pearl Harbor will mark the end of sailing vessels as sugar carriers to the Mainland. T
- 1922: The post office completes its move into the newly finished federal building in Honolulu.
- 1928: May 1 is designated Lei Day in Hawaii.
- 1943: Gov. Stainback signs Act 100 providing for a 2 percent withholding tax on compensation and dividends starting July 1, 1943.
- 1949: Some 2,000 Hawaii dock workers strike for higher pay The strike lasts for almost six months.
- 1976: Hokule’a sets sail at 2:27 p.m. on its epic first voyage to Tahiti. The double-hulled canoe was built by the Polynesian Voyaging Society to demonstrate navigation techniques of ancient Pacific islanders. More >
WORLD EVENTS ON THIS DAY — May 1st
- 1006: Supernova observed by Chinese & Egyptians in constellation Lupus
- 1707: England, Wales & Scotland form UK of Great Britain
- 1840: First adhesive postage stamps (“Penny Blacks” from England) issued
- 1841: First emigrant wagon train carrying 47 people leaves Independence, Missouri for California
- 1869: A colt is reported killed by a meteorite near New Concord, Ohio
- 1873: First U.S. postal card issued
- 1941: “Citizen Kane,” directed & starring Orson Welles, premieres in NYC
- 1948: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established
- 1961: Fidel Castro announces that there will be no more elections in Cuba
- 1961: The first U.S. airplane is hijacked to Cuba
- 1967: Priscilla & Elvis Presley wed
- 1981: Billie Jean King admits to a lesbian affair with Marilyn Barnett
- 2001: Thomas Blanton Jr. becomes the second ex-Ku Klux Klansman to be convicted in the 1963 bombing of a church in Birmingham Alabama that claimed the lives of four African American girls
- 2003: “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” — President George W. Bush lands in a jet on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast and, in a speech to the nation, declared victory in Iraq
- 2007: In only his second veto, President George W. Bush rejected legislation to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq in a showdown with Congress over whether the war should end or escalate
BORN ON THIS DAY — May 1st
- 1493: Phillippus Paracelsus, physician/alchemist
- 1672: Joseph Addison, essayist
- 1916: Glenn Ford, actor
- 1927: Harry Belefonte, Calypso singer
- 1939: Judy Collins, singer
- 1944: Rita Coolidge, singer
- 1954: Ray Parker Jr, rock musician
- 1971: Roy Rosello, singer
- 1967: Tim McGraw, country singer
- 1968: D’Arcy, rock musician
- 1969: Wes Anderson, film director
- 1972: Cory Morrow, country singer
DIED ON THIS DAY — May 1st
- 1118 – Edith of Scotland, first wife of Henry I of England (b. c.1080)
- 1731 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German composer (b. 1677)
- 1873 – David Livingstone, Scottish missionary (b. 1813)
- 1913 – John Barclay Armstrong, Texas Ranger and U.S. Marshal (b. 1850)
- 1945 – Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda (suicide with his wife Magda Goebbels) (b.
- 1897)
- 1963 – Lope K. Santos, Filipino writer, Father of the Philippine National Language and Grammar
- (b. 1879)
- 1965 – Spike Jones, American band leader, musician, and comedian (b. 1911)
- 1998 – Eldridge Cleaver, American activist (b. 1935)
- 2000 – Steve Reeves, American actor (b. 1926)
