On This Day January 18

On January 18, 1778, Captain James Cook became the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he named the "Sandwich Islands," in honor of his sponsor, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. Cook recorded in Tahiti the traditional Polynesian sport of surfing. In 1778 when he arrived in Hawaii the natives took him to Lono, the god of surfing on his giant canoe.

Kaʻawaloa in 1779 by John Webber, artist aboard Cook's ship

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