JH Academic Bowl Practice Test 2026 - Free Academic Bowl Practice Questions and Study Guide

James Cook is credited with the European discovery of the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. On his third Pacific voyage, the British captain commanded the ships Resolution and Discovery and became the first known European to reach and chart the archipelago. He arrived around January 1778, first anchoring at Waimea on Kauai and naming the group the Sandwich Islands in honor of the Earl of Sandwich. This moment marks the first recorded European contact with Hawaii, following centuries of Polynesian settlement. The other famous explorers listed were active in different regions and times, not in discovering Hawaii.