Polynesians first settled the Hawaiian Islands after 500AD, and lived in relative peace for around 500 years until the arrival of the Tahitians with their own customs and society, who took over in around 1000AD.
Captain James Cook arrived in 1778 and named the Hawaiian archipelago the Sandwich Islands, for his patron, the Earl of Sandwich. At first, heralded as the god of fertility and peace, Lono, fate led to Cook's unfortunate end, stabbed to death at Kealakekau Bay on the Big Island.
Kamehameha the Great unified islands and established the Hawaiian monarchy, which ruled up until 1900. Due to trade, more ships found their way to Hawaii and a foreign presence began to establish itself on the islands.
Hawaii's tourism industry probably dates back to the 1820s, when whaling ships began calling on Hawaiian ports in search of loose women, and booze, and over the next 50 years or so, Hawaii was the centre of the Pacific whaling industry, although when Christian missionaries arrived, the more depraved excesses of the whalers were curtailed.
Hawaii became a territory of the USA in 1900 with the overthrow of the monarchy, and the islands' importance to the USA grew when the US Navy established a huge military base at Pearl Harbour.
The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941, and precipitated America's entry into World War 2. Following the end of the war, on 21st August 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state of the USA.
Since then, buoyed by tourists from America in particular, the industry has exploded in the islands, with many resorts, golf courses and shopping malls springing up, although to balance this, and keep a tight rein on development, and keep the islands charm intact, several state parks, and marine reserves have been established.
