Birthday of Queen Lili'uokalani

Last sovereign of Kingdom of Hawai'i. Lili'uokalani succeeded her brother on the throne in 1891, she fought to restore Native Hawaiian sovereignty after white landowners had forced him at gunpoint to cede political power in what came to be known as the Bayonet Constitution. After she was deposed in a coup, for five years, she petitioned President Grover Cleveland and Congress for reinstatement. After a failed rebellion aimed at restoring the monarchy, Lili'uokalani was arrested, and sentenced to five years of hard prison labor. She was pardoned in 1896; the U.S. officially annexed Hawaii as a territory two years later.