On this date in 1887, David Kalākaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, was forced to sign a new Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom that created a constitutional monarchy like that of the United Kingdom, stripping the King of most of his personal authority, empowering the legislature, and establishing a cabinet government. The document increased the property a citizen must own to be enfranchised and disenfranchised the large Asian population, limiting the franchise to wealthy native Hawaiians and European and American subjects. The King signed the new constitution after a meeting of 3,000 residents, including an armed militia, demanded he sign or be deposed. It became known as the "Bayonet Constitution." The document was drafted by Lorrin A. Thurston, a white Hawaiian plantation owner, with discreet U.S. support, for which the U.S. Congress much later apologized. The rebellion had been instigated by Thurston, Sanford B. Dole, a white Hawaiian lawyer, and Peter Cushman Jones, the American owner of the largest sugarcane plantation agency in Hawaii. The next years were unsettled, partly due to an economic crisis caused by the McKinley Tariff. In 1893, the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown by six non-native Hawaiian Kingdom subjects, five American nationals, one British national, and one German national. They declared the Provisional Government of Hawaii "to rule until annexation by the United States." By 1985, the Republic of Hawaii was dissolved and the Hawaiian Islands were annexed by the United States. In six days, I'll be riding the Giro Bello metric century starting in Santa Rosa, 65.5 miles and 2,715 feet of climbing. So I thought it'd be good to ride a metric century today. But I didn't want to risk getting wiped out by significant climbing, so I planned a route with nothing steep, and only 1,300 feet total. The whole ride felt good. Santa Monica and Beverly Boulevards are very pleasant to ride. The route through downtown L.A. was no fun, with the GPS going on the blink in the tall buildings. I stopped at a Subway to fill my empty first water bottle with ice. Then through industrial and warehouse areas, which was boring, but easy, since they were deserted on a Sunday. I was glad to join the Los Angeles Bikeway, which is ugly at first but eventually goes through interesting neighborhoods. Then the slog west through Carson was hard, as I was getting tired. I begin to stop more frequently, because my hands and feet hurt. The the beach path from Redondo Beach to Ballona Creek was OK, but a bit busy with beachgoers. I filled my second water bottle at a fountain I found along the beach. I'm glad to know a metric century is well within my ability, but the Giro Bello's climbing will make it a bit harder. I'm sure it'll be fine. Credit: https://w.wiki/Ef27