Bishop Museum
Founded in 1889 in memory of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, with the world’s largest collection of Hawaiian and Pacific treasures.
Discover Hawaii · History
History ofHawaii.
From voyaging canoes to the 50th state.
c. 1000·1778·1810·1893·1959
A thousand years. One island chain.
Hawaii's story starts long before the resorts and the surf breaks. It begins with voyagers who crossed thousands of miles of open Pacific by reading the stars, the swells and the flight of birds, and who built a world of chiefs, farmers, fishers and navigators on the most isolated islands on Earth.
Then came Captain Cook, a kingdom recognised by the great powers, an overthrow, annexation, war and statehood. Every beach, valley and town you visit has a chapter in it.
2,400Miles of open ocean between Tahiti and Hawaii, crossed by canoe
8Monarchs ruled the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, 1795–1893
50thState, admitted in 1959
The timeline
Hawaii, Era by Era
A thousand years in nine moments: the turning points that shaped the islands you will visit.
- c. 1000
The voyagers arrive
Polynesian navigators sailing double-hulled canoes reach the islands from the south, without charts or instruments. Most researchers now date the settlement to roughly a thousand years ago.
- 1200–1700
The world of the aliʻi
Ruling chiefs govern each island under the kapu system of sacred law. Land is divided into ahupuaʻa that run from mountain to sea, and great heiau temples and stone-walled fishponds are built.
- 1778
Captain Cook lands
James Cook's ships anchor off Waimea, Kauaʻi, in January 1778, the first recorded European contact. A year later Cook is killed in a clash at Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island.
- 1795–1810
Kamehameha unites the islands
Kamehameha wins the Battle of Nuʻuanu on Oʻahu in 1795. In 1810 Kauaʻi joins without a fight, and the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi rules the whole chain.
- 1819–1820
The kapu falls, the missionaries arrive
After Kamehameha's death the old kapu system is abolished. Months later the first American missionaries land, followed by whalers, traders and sugar planters.
- 1893
The overthrow
On 17 January 1893 a group of businessmen backed by US Marines deposes Queen Liliʻuokalani. Hawaii is annexed by the United States in 1898.
- 1941
Pearl Harbor
On the morning of 7 December 1941 Japanese aircraft attack the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into the Second World War.
- 1959
The 50th state
Hawaii is admitted as the fiftieth US state on 21 August 1959. Jet travel arrives the same year, and tourism soon becomes the islands' main industry.
- 1976
The Hawaiian Renaissance
The voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa sails to Tahiti using only traditional navigation, part of a revival of Hawaiian language, hula and culture that continues today.
History stories
Stories from Hawaiian History
Deep dives into the people, places and turning points of Hawaii's past. New stories are on the way.
The Voyagers Who Found Hawaii
How Polynesian navigators crossed the open Pacific by stars, swells and birds.
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Kamehameha the Great
The warrior chief who united the islands into one kingdom.
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Captain Cook in Hawaii
The first recorded European contact, and how it ended at Kealakekua Bay.
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Queen Liliʻuokalani and 1893
The last monarch of Hawaiʻi and the overthrow of the kingdom.
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Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941
The morning that brought the United States into the Second World War.
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Hōkūleʻa and the Hawaiian Renaissance
The canoe voyage that helped bring back a language, a culture and a way of navigating.
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Hawaii History Timeline: Key Dates from Settlement to Today
A thousand years of Hawaiian history in key dates, from Polynesian voyagers and Kamehameha to the overthrow, Pearl Harbor and statehood.
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Ancient Hawaii Daily Life: Chiefs, Kapu, Taro and Fishponds
Chiefs and commoners, sacred law, taro terraces and stone fishponds: what everyday life was like in Hawaiʻi before Captain Cook arrived.
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The History of Hula: From Sacred Dance to Merrie Monarch
From sacred chant to the Merrie Monarch stage: how hula survived bans, tourism and language loss to become the heartbeat of Hawaiian culture.
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History of Surfing in Hawaii: From Heʻe Nalu to Duke
From chiefs on wooden olo boards to Duke Kahanamoku: how Hawaiians kept heʻe nalu alive and gave surfing to the world.
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End of the Kapu System and the Missionaries in Hawaii
In 1819 a king ate with women and an ancient religious order fell. Months later the first missionaries landed. How Hawaiʻi changed in twenty years.
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Sandalwood, Whaling and the Māhele: Hawaii's Kingdom Transformed
Sandalwood for Canton, 600 whaleships in a year, deadly epidemics and the 1848 land division: how the Hawaiian Kingdom was remade in a generation.
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King Kalākaua, the Merrie Monarch: Reign, World Tour and Legacy
He dined with President Grant, circled the globe and revived hula, then signed the Bayonet Constitution. The reign of Hawaiʻi's Merrie Monarch.
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ʻIolani Palace History: The Story of Hawaii's Royal Palace
Electric light before the White House, a queen held prisoner upstairs and a decades-long restoration: the story of Honolulu's royal palace.
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Hawaii Sugar Plantation History: From Kōloa to the Last Harvest
From the first mill at Kōloa to the last cane haul on Maui: the migrations, camps, strikes and language that sugar gave Hawaiʻi.
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Hawaii Pineapple History: James Dole, Lānaʻi and the Canneries
How a young New Englander made Hawaiʻi the world's pineapple capital, bought Lānaʻi for one crop, and what you can still see today.
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Hawaii Annexation 1898: The Petitions, the Vote and the Flag
A republic for the few, 21,269 signatures against it and a wartime vote in Washington: how Hawaiʻi was annexed in 1898.
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Hawaii Statehood 1959: How Hawaiʻi Became the 50th State
From Prince Kūhiō's first bill in 1919 to the 94% vote of 1959 and the jet-age boom: how Hawaiʻi became the 50th state, and why it is still debated.
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History of Waikiki: From Royal Retreat to Resort Icon
Taro wetlands, a royal coconut grove, the Moana of 1901, the Ala Wai Canal and the beach boys: how Waikīkī became the Pacific's most famous beach.
Read the story →Historic Sites in Hawaii: The Best Places to Visit by Island
Palaces, temples, a place of refuge and Pearl Harbor: the best historic sites in Hawaiʻi island by island, with booking rules checked October 2026.
Read the story →Hawaiʻi in colour
The 1950s to the 1970s
Boat days, the first jets, aloha shirts and a Waikīkī skyline going up: the post-war decades in colour photographs and period adverts.
Hawaii Tourism's Golden Age: From Boat Days to the Jet Age
Matson liners, Pan Am clippers, the Visitors Bureau and the first jets: how 1950s and 60s Hawaiʻi became the world's favourite holiday.
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Waikiki in the 1960s and 1970s: Towers, Surf and Crowds
Glass elevators, Hawaii Five-O, beach boys and red lifeguard towers: Waikīkī in its loudest, busiest decades.
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Aloha Airlines History and Hawaii's Inter-Island Flights
From a war-surplus DC-3 to Viscounts, Funbird 737s and Flight 243: the rise and sudden fall of Hawaiʻi's beloved Aloha Airlines.
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Vintage Hawaii Travel Posters and Ads: How Paradise Was Sold
Matson menus, Pan Am ads and Visitors Bureau posters: how Hawaiʻi was sold to the world, who criticised it and how to collect it.
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Tiki Culture and Hawaii Hotels: Coco Palms to Waikiki
Don the Beachcomber, the Mai Tai, thatched cottages and Elvis at Coco Palms: how the tiki craze shaped Hawaiʻi's hotels.
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Hawaii in the 1950s: Everyday Life in the Last Territorial Decade
Plantation towns, union victories, Hawaii Calls on the radio and Sunday drives below Koko Head: everyday life in Hawaiʻi's last territorial decade.
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Aloha Shirt History: From Kimono Silk to Aloha Friday
From kimono cloth in 1930s Honolulu to Elvis, Aloha Friday and the office: the story of the aloha shirt, plus how to choose a good one.
Read the story →Boat Days in Hawaii: Matson Liners, Aloha Tower and Lurline
White liners, coin divers, streamers and the Royal Hawaiian Band: the story of Honolulu's Boat Days, from the Malolo to the last Lurline sailing in 1970.
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Hawaii in the 1970s: Elvis, Five-O, Pipeline and a Reawakening
Elvis by satellite, Hawaii Five-O, the first Pipeline Masters and Merrie Monarch hula: the decade that made modern Hawaiʻi, and questioned it.
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The history guide · Out now
The History
of Hawaii
Inside the hidden history of the archipelago
Born from a volcanic hotspot in the middle of the Pacific, found by Polynesian voyagers who navigated by stars, swells and birds, and ruled by chiefs and kings long before it became the 50th state. The story behind every place you will visit.
How the islands formedThe hotspot, the volcanoes and why the chain grows to the southeast
Polynesian voyagersWayfinding, the first arrivals and the revival of Hōkūleʻa
Ancient kingdomsChiefs, the kapu system and Kamehameha's unification
Sacred traditionsHeiau, hula, ʻāina and the Hawaiian renaissance
Instant PDF & EPUB download · 218 pages · Apple Pay, card or PayPal
Visit the past
Where history lives
Three places to step into Hawaii’s story on Oʻahu.
ʻIolani Palace
The only royal palace on American soil, built by King Kalākaua in 1882 and later the prison of Queen Liliʻuokalani.
Pearl Harbor National Memorial
The USS Arizona Memorial rests above the sunken battleship and the 1,177 crew lost on 7 December 1941.