AAPI Heritage Month & Lei Day May 1, 2022

AAPI Heritage Month & Lei Day

May 1 means different things in different parts of the world, but here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it means Lei Day, a statewide celebration of Hawaiian culture and the spirit of "aloha," that intangible sense of warmth, belonging, and connection that emanates from this isolated chain of volcanic islands. Lei Day was first celebrated in 1927 and made an official holiday in 1929. It also happens to fall on the first day of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which honors Americans of Asian, Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian heritage. May is the month the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the US in 1843, and the month the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 by, mostly, Chinese immigrants.

© Alvis Upitis/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

May 1, 2018The Sky Over Nine Columns in Venice, Italy
May 1, 2019Purple flowers and Golden Week
May 1, 2020It s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
May 1, 2021It s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May 1, 2023Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May 1, 2024Lei Day
May 1, 2025Lei Day in Hawaii

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jan 27, 2025Zoroaster Temple, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Nov 18, 2020An aviation celebration
Oct 29, 2018In search of a ‘great’ pumpkin
Mar 1, 2022Women s History Month
Apr 25, 2025World Penguin Day
Nov 16, 2020A temple, preserved
Aug 29, 2020Big wheels on a big mountain
May 18, 2019A ‘city’ within Valencia
Feb 17, 2022Flamenco dancers
Jan 22, 2025Ad-Deir, Petra, Jordan
Jul 27, 2019Longer days mean warmer sand
Dec 18, 2020A towering view of the Pale Mountains
Aug 27, 2024Young black caiman, Tambopata National Reserve, Peru
Jan 8, 2022American bison
Nov 9, 2023Birch trees, Drammen, Norway
Jul 24, 2022Amelia Earhart
Dec 29, 2025St. Gregory Church in Ani Ruins, Kars, Türkiye
Aug 19, 2025Solar Impulse 2 in Honolulu
Apr 17, 2024Black bear cub emerging into spring
Nov 14, 2021First Cliff Walk
Dec 22, 2020A holiday beacon of light
Sep 6, 2023Rethymno, Crete, Greece
Mar 12, 2019The otherworldly red river
Jun 12, 2024Big Bend National Park anniversary
Apr 26, 2025Redwood National and State Parks, California
Feb 28, 2023Atrani, Amalfi Coast, Italy
Jan 17, 2024Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany
Sep 4, 2024Dusky eagle-owls, Pakistan
Feb 7, 2019A wonder in winter
Jun 1, 2018In Apia Harbor for Samoan Independence Day