First settled by Polynesians sailing from other Pacific islands between C.E. 300 and 600, Hawaii was visited in 1778 by British Captain James Cook, who called the group the Sandwich Islands.
Hawaii was a native kingdom throughout most of the 19th century, when the expansion of the vital sugar industry (pineapple came after 1898) meant increasing U.S. business and political involvement. In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani was deposed and a year later the Republic of Hawaii was established with Sanford B. Dole as president. Then, following its annexation in 1898, Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1900.
The Japanese attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, was directly responsible for U.S. entry into World War II.
Hawaii, 2,397 miles west-southwest of San Francisco, is a 1,523-mile chain of islets and eight main islands—Hawaii, Kahoolawe, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, other than Midway, are administratively part of Hawaii.

1758-1819: Hawaiian unifier and king; born on Kohala, District of Hawaii, then known as the Sandwich Islands. Following the death of the chief of Hawaii, his uncle Kalaniopu'u (1782), Kamehameha conquered the island. after other victories on Maui, Oahu, Kauai, and the other islands, he formed the Kingdom of Hawaii by 1810. He stimulated Hawaiian trade but kept intact the customs and the religion of his people. Hawaii placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol.