TIL that Hawaii was a sovereign self-governing kingdom all the way up until 1893, totally unassociated with the U.S., until a coup d'état that year by 13 businessmen and 162 U.S. troops, with the openly stated goal of annexing the islands. (They succeeded.)
nvlchawaii.orgSubmitted by DramaGuy23 t3_1281rqj in todayilearned