The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

* On Jan. 18, 1778, English explorer Captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover the Hawaiian Islands when he sails past the island of Oahu. Two days later, he landed at Waimea on the island of Kauai and named the island chain the Sandwich Islands, in honor of the earl of Sandwich.

* On Jan. 21, 1855, John Moses Browning, sometimes called the “father of modern firearms,” is born in Ogden, Utah. When he was 24 years old, Browning received his first patent, for a rifle that Winchester manufactured as its Single Shot Model 1885. The rifle is still made today.

* On Jan. 16, 19...