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.
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.
Coming soonKamehameha the Great
The warrior chief who united the islands into one kingdom.
Coming soonCaptain Cook in Hawaii
The first recorded European contact, and how it ended at Kealakekua Bay.
Coming soonQueen Liliʻuokalani and 1893
The last monarch of Hawaiʻi and the overthrow of the kingdom.
Coming soonPearl Harbor, 7 December 1941
The morning that brought the United States into the Second World War.
Coming soon
Hōkūleʻa and the Hawaiian Renaissance
The canoe voyage that helped bring back a language, a culture and a way of navigating.
Coming soon
The history guide · Coming 2027
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.