Timeline in Hawaiian History...1850 - 1874 AD

1850 – The Privy Council approves the first park in the Islands; it is named Thomas Square in honor of British Admiral Richard Thomas, who ended the five-month rule of Lord Paulet in 1843, restoring Hawaiian rule.
• The legislature authorizes a contract labor system to recruit foreign workers for Hawai‘i's plantations.
• The first shipment of ice arrives in Hawai‘i from Boston via San Francisco.
• The first permanent Mormon missionaries to Hawai‘i arrive.

1851 – The Honolulu Fire Department is established.
• February 1 – Kamehameha III signs a secret agreement that places the islands under the protection of the United States.

1852 – The first Chinese contract laborers arrive from aboard the Thetis.
• Kamehameha III proclaims a new constitution, replacing the original 1840 version.

1853 – A smallpox epidemic lasts eight months and takes 5,000–6,000 lives.

1854 – December 15 – Kamehameha III, 41, dies after reigning for almost 30 years, and is succeeded by Alexander Liholiho, Kamebameha IV.

1855 – June 13 –Abner Pākī, 47, prominent chief and father of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, dies.
• More contract laborers from Asia arrive to work on sugar plantations. A form of broken conversational Hawaiian called ‘ōlelo pa‘i‘ai which is now known as Pidgin is spoken on the plantations. This broken Hawaiian actually had begun as a means of communication with European sailors even before the missionaries arrived. Children of the Asian plantation immigrants learn to speak fluent Hawaiian from their indigenous peers. The Hawaiian Kingdom encourages intermarriage of contract laborers and their children with Hawaiians as a means to stem the rapid depopulation of Hawai‘i due to introduced diseases. ʻŌlelo pa‘i‘ai use increases toward the turn of the century as immigration grows to include many Portuguese, Japanese, and others. It also adopts more English terms as the English speaking minority exert increased political influence.

1856 – King Kamehameha IV marries Emma Rooke at Kawaiaha‘o Church.
• The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, first a weekly then a daily paper, begins publication.

1857 – William Little Lee, former chief justice of Hawai‘i, dies on May 28.
• A marine telegraph, a semaphore system erected at Diamond Head, sends signals to the downtown post office for the first time when a ship is sighted.
• Laura Kanaholo Konia, a granddaughter of Kamehameha I, wife of Abner Pākī dies July 2 at age fifty. Her heir is her daughter, Bernice Pauahi.

1858 – May 20 - Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli, son of King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma.

1859 – On January 23, Mauna Loa erupts with a lava fountain reported as high as 500 feet.
• Gas lighting is introduced to Honolulu.

1860 – The cornerstone of Queen's Hospital is laid.
• The steamer Kilauea makes its first regular interisland run July 18.

1861 – Honolulu’s first opera is performed by a local group at the Royal Hawaiian Theatre.
• Walter Murray Gibson arrives; He plays a leading role in politics under King Kalākaua.
• The weekly newspaper Ka Hoku O Ka Pakipika (Star of the Pacific), debuts; it is the first Hawaiian-language newspaper published by native Hawaiians.

1863 – November 30 – Alexander Liholiho (Kamehameha IV), dies of asthma at age 29 and is succeeded by his older brother Lot Kamehameha who becomes Kamehameha V.
• Hale'ole publishes the first Hawaiian novel - Ke Ka‘ao ‘O Lā‘ieikawai (The Legend of Lā‘ieikawai).

1864 – Kamehameha V decrees a new constitution that is meant to strengthen his rule.

1865 – Lorrin Andrews (1795–1868), a missionary who opened Lahainaluna, the first post-secondary school for Hawaiians and prepares several works on the literature and antiquities of the Hawaiians and publishes the first Hawaiian/English Dictionary, which is based in part on an earlier manuscript monolingual Hawaiian dictionary by Lahainaluna aluminus Kamakau.

1866 – The first leprosy patients are taken to Moloka‘i’s Kalaupapa peninsula.
• Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) arrives as a correspondent for a California newspaper.
• May 29 - Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, 28, a granddaughter of Kamehameha, dies after a lengthy illness.
• July 25 - Grace Kama‘iku‘i Rooke, 57, daughter of John Young and Ka‘o‘ana‘eha and adoptive mother of Emma Na‘ea, dies.
• The first daily newspaper, the Hawaiian Herald, begins publication.

1867 – The cornerstone of the Anglican cathedral, St. Andrew’s, is laid in Honolulu.

1868 – Mauna Loa erupts, causing severe tsunamis that destroy villages in Ka‘u, killing many.
• The first Japanese contract laborers arrive.
• November 24 – Kekūanaō‘a, 77, dies. He was the father of Princess Ruth Ke‘elikōlani, King Kamehameha IV, King Kamehameha V, and Princess Victoria Kamāmalu.

1870 – May 2 – John Papa I‘i, 69, dies. He was a chiefly Hawaiian intellectual, holding many positions of importance.
• September 20 – Queen Kalama, 53, widow of Kamehameha III dies. She is a descendant of the Moana family, which served the ali‘i nui of Hawai‘i Island from the time of Kalani‘ōpu‘u.
• Ice cream is sold commercially in Hawai‘i for the first time.

1871 – March 26 – Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole Pi‘ikoi is born at Kōloa, Kaua‘i. Elected in 1902, he served 20 years as Hawai‘i delegate to the U.S. Congress.
• A holiday in the memory of Kamehameha I is proclaimed June 11 by his grandson, Kamehameha V.

1872 – The cornerstone of Ali‘iolani Hale is laid.
• Henry Berger arrives from Germany to conduct the Royal Hawaiian Band; he holds this post for 43 years.
• An electric telegraph is in operation in downtown Honolulu.
• December 11 – Kamehameha V, 42, dies on his birthday.

1873 – William Lunalilo is elected king by the legislature after sweeping a popular vote.
• Father Damien is sent to Kalaupapa on Moloka‘i to work with the leprosy patients.

1874 – King Lunalilo, 40, dies of tuberculosis He reigned for only one year and 25 days.

• David Kalākaua is elected king by the legislature during a period of major economic growth. After the election, rioting takes place at the courthouse, led by disappointed supporters of the dowager Queen Emma. King Kalākaua and his party depart for San Francisco for a goodwill tour of the United States. (Hawaiian Historical Society, 2010) Kalākaua expands Hawai'i's international connections through a trip around the world, the first for any head of state. He also initiates a Hawaiian cultural revival that focuses on Hawaiian literature, dance, and music, all dependent on the Hawaiian language and strongly supported by the Hawaiian language press and schools. A new constitution forced on Kalākaua by gunboat diplomacy results in lower class Hawaiians and all non-European immigrants loosing the right to vote. Elected officials then act to further weaken the Hawaiian medium schools through attacks on the budgets of the public Hawaiian medium schools, including the salaries of their teachers. (‘Aha Punana Leo, 2006)
• A reciprocity treaty is signed, allowing sugar and other products to enter the United States without customs duties.
• October 16 – Princess Victoria Ka‘iulani, daughter of A.S. Cleghorn and Princess Miriam Likelike is born.