  So in this brief entry, I thought I'd share some interesting geographical and historical facts about Hawaii, the first stop of our conference.
You might be surprised to learn that the Hawaiian islands are a chain of underwater volcanoes, where the volcano tips stick out of the water. Here's an illustration of the island Kauai, so you can see how 95% of it is underwater. Next is a picture of the whole volcano chain. If you look closely, you can see how the tips of certain underwater volcanoes stick out of the water, forming the islands.
And one more overview... As for some basic history, Hawaii is a chain of South Pacific Islands that was originally discovered and inhabited by Polynesian explorers. Although no one knows exactly when these explorers got here, most estimates are around 500 AD. In a second wave of exploration, the Tahitians (people of Tahiti) stumbled upon Hawaii and brought their royal hierarchy with them. As a result, for the next several hundred years, Hawaii's islands were ruled by Kings. Captain Cook - the great explorer of the British Navy - showed up in Hawaii in 1778. Although he was later killed (and possibly even eaten) on the islands in 1779, Cook intiated the relationship between Hawaii and the West.
In 1835, sugar plantations started springing up all over Hawaii and by the end of the 19th century, US business men had overtaken much of Hawaii's land. Hawaii established its first constitution in 1840 and by 1848 feudalism was abolished. Beginning in 1850, foreign labors were hired from Asia and Europe - in particular China, Japan, the Phillipines and Portugal - to work on the booming sugar industry. These foreign laborers contributed to the islands' fabulous ethnic diversity. In 1875, the US and Hawaii signed a Treaty of Reciprocity, but only 15 years later, the US annexed Hawaii depite dissent from Hawaiian residents.
In the early 20th century, Hawaii became a giant producer of pineapples, and today it supplies 1/3 of production around the world. On December 7th, 1941, Pearl Harbor was fatefully attacked by the Imperial Army of Japan. The attack resulted in 2,500 American deaths and gave Japan a strategic edge in the war. The US declared war on Japan the next day. In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th US State. 
