English Captain James Cook, traveling aboard the 100-foot flagship HMS Resolution and its 90-foot companion HMS Discovery. sights O‘ahu on January 18, 1778, becoming the first Europeans to encounter and set foot on the Hawaiian Islands when they land two days later at Waimea on Kaua‘i.
After a short stay Capitan Cook went on to explore the west coast of North America, to continue his search for the Northwest Passage. A year later, he returned to Hawaii where he was killed by the Hawaiian natives at Kealakekua Bay on February 14, 1779 after he attempted to kidnap Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the ruling chief (aliʻi nui) of the island and hold him in exchange for the return of a small stolen cutter. A fatal error that led to his death. Cook's arrival in Hawaii eventually led to large migrations of Europeans and Americans to the islands resulting a century later in 1893, in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii by pro-American elements. More
