Cook Discovers Hawaii: First Europeans Reach Islands
Captain James Cook's two ships, the Resolution and Discovery, anchored off the coast of Kauai on January 18, 1778, during his third Pacific voyage seeking the Northwest Passage. The Hawaiians initially believed Cook might be a manifestation of the god Lono, whose festival season coincided with the arrival. Cook named the archipelago the Sandwich Islands after his patron, the Earl of Sandwich, and traded iron nails for fresh provisions. He returned eleven months later, but the visit ended in disaster when a dispute over a stolen boat escalated into violence. Cook was killed on the beach at Kealakekua Bay on February 14, 1779. His discovery opened Hawaii to European and American contact that would devastate the indigenous population through disease, reducing it from roughly 300,000 to fewer than 40,000 within a century.
January 18, 1778
248 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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