Timeline of Notable Events: From Captain Cook to Modern Tragedies
In 1778, Captain James Cook reached the Hawaiian Islands, naming them the "Sandwich Islands." President Thomas Jefferson requested funding for Western land exploration in 1803, leading to the Lewis and Clark expedition. The first aircraft landing on a ship occurred in 1911 when Eugene B. Ely landed on the USS Pennsylvania. Willie O'Ree became the first Black player in the NHL in 1958. Scientists identified the bacteria causing Legionnaires' disease in 1977.
In 1990, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug possession. The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed nationwide in 1993. Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from Michael Jackson in 1996. Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was indicted for corruption in 2013. Jason Van Dyke was sentenced to prison for the shooting of Laquan McDonald in 2019.
In 2025, a gasoline tanker explosion in Nigeria resulted in the deaths of at least 70 people.