[14u2c]

>Didn't the US just annex Hawaii as an official state a few years ago?

I suppose if you consider 1898 a few years ago.

[roflulz]

it became a state in 1959 with everything finally crushed out of it - before that it was still a quasi territory with more independence

[14u2c]

I knew I'd get this. Yes, true, but 1898 was the date of "annexation"[0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newlands_Resolution