A King and an Inventor: The Story of How Hawaii Went Electric Before Most of the World

Guest: Allison Marsh, PhD, Associate Professor of History, University of South Carolina Inventors are always looking for the “next big thing” in technology. These days, that could be artificial intelligence or 3D printing. In the late 1800s, the most exciting technology was electricity itself. Here in America, it didn’t catch on as quickly as you might think, but thanks to a series of events, involving a curious king, a trip to Paris, and a meeting with Thomas Edison—the islands of Hawaii got electricity before most of the world. To put this in perspective, the White House in Washington, DC wasn’t electrified until 1891. By that time, over 800 homes in Honolulu and the King’s palace had electric lights. How did a tiny island Kingdom in the middle of the Pacific get on the cutting edge of this revolution?