Cook Discovers Hawaiian Islands

Date: January 18, 1778 • Location: Maui County, United States

James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands".

Captain James Cook was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer who led three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans between 1768 and 1779. He completed the first recorded circumnavigation of the main islands of New Zealand, and led the first recorded visit by Europeans to the east coast of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands.