Moments in Time

* 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, 1919, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the sale of alcohol, is ratified and becomes the law. It failed to prevent the distribution of alcoholic beverages, however, and led to the rise of organized crime in America.

* On Jan. 15, 1936, Edsel Ford, the son of auto industry pioneer Henry Ford, forms a philanthropic organization called the Ford Foundation with a donation of $25,000. The foundation was established in part as a legal way for the Ford family to avoid inheritance taxes.

* On Jan. 17, 1953, a prototype Chevrolet Corvette sports car makes its debut at General Motors’ Motorama auto show. The Corvette was named for a fast type of naval warship.

* On Jan. 19, 1977, President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri, one of the “Tokyo Rose” Japanese women who broadcast Axis propaganda over the radio to Allied troops during World War II. Toguri was a U.S. citizen who was trapped in Japan when war broke out.