Happy King Kamehameha Day

June 11 of course is King Kamehameha Day celebrating the founder of the Kingdom of Hawaii. It will be a shame if the traditional parade, festival and hula dancing must be scaled back because of the virus crisis.

Which makes us think of the time when a successor, King Kalakaua, and Thomas Edison met on September 25, 1881 in New York, while the King was on a world tour. Edison so impressed the King about electric lighting and the potential for electricity generally that Hawaii actually became a world leader in electrifying.