[5] European ancestry, the majority are of Portuguese and British descent, with a small number of European immigrants of French, German, and Spanish descent.
British explorer James Cook was the first European to land in the islands of present-day Hawaii on January 20, 1778.
On a subsequent visit, he was killed in Kealakekua during his attempt to kidnap and hold the king of the Island of Hawai'i in exchange for a stolen longboat.
[6] An obelisk memorializing Cook's death can be seen from all points in Kealakekua Bay, on a plot of land deeded in perpetuity by the Kingdom of Hawaii to the United Kingdom.
[7] The arrival of European missionaries resulted in conversion of Hawaii to Christianity.