(A.D. 100-300) Polynesians from the Marquesas & Tahitian Islands migrate to Hawaii.

(1778) The first European to visit Hawaii, British Captain James Cook, lands near the
Waimea river on Kauai on January 19th.

(1789) Captain Cook is killed on the Big Island.

(1800’s) Visitors introduce tuberculosis, smallpox, syphilis, gonorrhea, measles, influenza,
cholera, etc. Over 800,000 Hawaiians perish or about 98% of the native population.

(1810) King Kamehameha I unifies the islands with help from a schooner armed with
cannons. Before that time, each of the large islands had been a separate kingdom.

(1815) The Russians build two forts on Kauai but fail in taking over the island.

(1816) State flag commissioned by King Kamehameha I

(1835) First sugarcane plantation established.

(1887) “Bayonet Constitution” enforced, stripping King Kalakaua of his sovereignty, and
Native Hawaiians of their land rights.

(1893) Queen Liliuokalani, the last Hawaiian monarch, is overthrown by the U.S.

(1900) Hawaii becomes U.S. Territory. The hula and the Hawaiian language are banned.

(1903) First Hawaiian pineapple is packed and shipped. That industry, like tourism,
dramatically changes the economy of the Islands.

(1941) Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. 2,390 Americans die. 1,177 of those casualties
were aboard the USS Arizona. The US enters WWII. A lone Japanese pilot crash
lands on Niihau, claims the island for Japan but is killed after he shoots a Hawaiian.

(1946) The most destructive Pacific-wide tsunami hits Hawaii. Generated by a
large earthquake 8.7 (Mw) near Unimak in the Aleutian chain of islands in Alaska,
the death toll is in the hundreds, and over $25 million in damages.

(1950) The eruption of Mauna Loa (on the Big Island) is considered huge.

(1959) Hawaii becomes the 50th state on August 21.

(1960) Chilean earthquake of magnitude of 8.6 generates large tsumani that devastates
Hilo on the Big Island.

(1982) Hurricane Iwa destroys parts of Kauai and Oahu, $312 million in damages.

(1990) Kilauea erupts, destroying Kalapana.

(1992) Hurricane Iniki hits Kauai, four killed, over $2 billion in damages.

(2006) Major flooding in March on Kauai, Dam breach kills 8.