Profession: Explorer
Biography: James Cook was a British explorer, navigator, and cartographer who achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands. In three voyages, Cook sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe, mapping lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in greater detail and scale than any of his predecessors.
Cook's first voyage took place from 1768-1771, during which he observed and recorded the transit of Venus across the Sun, and explored and charted New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, claiming the latter for Britain. His second voyage, from 1772-1775, was to search for the southern continent Terra Australis. Although he did not discover it, Cook dismissed the existence of such a place and instead discovered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
On his final voyage, Cook again set sail for the Pacific, this time to seek a Northwest Passage across the continent of North America. While exploring Hawaii in 1779, Cook was killed in a skirmish with local islanders. Cook's expeditions had a profound impact on world history, opening the South Pacific to widespread European exploration and the eventual conquest and colonization of the Pacific by Europeans.
Born: November 7, 1728
Birthplace: Marton, Yorkshire, England
Star Sign: Scorpio
Died: February 14, 1779 (aged 50)
Cause of Death: Killed in a fight with Hawaiians
Articles and Photos
Last Adventure of Captain Cook
Explorer James Cook was the first European to set foot on Hawaii, where he was thought to be a god. But he would never leave the island alive.
February 14, 1779
How Australia Was Born
Captain Arthur Phillip commanded a fleet of British ships carrying convicts to New South Wales on this day, effectively founding the British colony of Australia.
May 13, 1787
Historical Events
- 1755-06-17 Future explorer James Cook joins the Royal Navy as an able-bodied seaman at Wapping, East London
- 1760-05-01 Publication of James Cook's first significant mapping effort, "A New Chart of the River St Laurence, from the Island of Anticosti To the Falls of Richelieu." Later critical to British defeat of the French at Quebec City.
- 1767-11-12 Meeting of the Royal Society appoints James Cook as head of an expedition to the Pacific Ocean to observe the transit of Venus on Tahiti in 1769 (will be Cook's 1st voyage aboard HMS Endeavour)
- 1768-08-25 Captain James Cook departs from Plymouth, England, bound for the Pacific Ocean on his first voyage aboard the Endeavour
- 1769-04-13 British ship Endeavour captained by James Cook, arrives in Matavia Bay, Tahiti, with botanist Joseph Banks on board
- 1769-10-08 Captain James Cook lands in New Zealand for the first time, near present-day Gisborne at Poverty Bay on the East Coast of the North Island. A misunderstanding, possibly over a ceremonial challenge causes the English to shoot and kill Ngāti Oneone leader, Te Maro.
- 1770-04-19 British explorer Captain James Cook first sights Australia. Writes in his log book that “what we have as yet seen of this land appears rather low, and not very hilly, the face of the Country green and Woody, but the Sea shore is all a white Sand.”
- 1770-04-28 British Captain James Cook, aboard HMS Endeavour, first lands in Australia at Botany Bay
- 1770-06-10 British explorer Captain James Cook is the first European to discover the Great Barrier Reef off Australia - by running aground on its coral causing the ship to leak (ship later beached and repaired)
- 1770-08-22 British explorer James Cook's claims the east coast of Australia for the British crown and names it New South Wales
- 1771-07-12 HMS Endeavour captained by James Cook, with Joseph Banks aboard, returns from its first voyage to the Pacific after two years
- 1772-07-13 Captain James Cook begins his second voyage to the South Seas aboard HMS Resolution to search for Terra Australis (Southern continent)
- 1772-10-30 Captain James Cook arrives with ship HMS Resolution in Cape Town, South Africa
- 1773-01-17 Captain James Cook becomes the first to cross Antarctic Circle (66° 33' S)
- 1773-12-18 A skirmish at Grass Cove in Queen Charlotte Sound results in the deaths of two Māori and nine members of James Cook's expedition, New Zealand
- 1774-01-30 Captain James Cook reaches a record 71°10' south, 1820km from the South Pole
- 1774-07-17 Captain James Cook arrives in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu)
- 1775-07-30 Captain James Cook with HMS Resolution safely returns to England at the end of his second voyage
- 1776-07-12 Captain James Cook departs Plymouth, England helming HMS Resolution, beginning his 3rd and final trip to the Pacific
- 1776-10-17 Captain James Cook arrives in Cape Town with Resolution on his third trip to the Pacific Ocean
- 1777-01-26 Captain James Cook stops in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) with Resolution, for supplies, on his 3rd trip to Pacific Ocean
- 1777-02-12 Captain James Cook arrives at Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand, aboard HMS Resolution, on his 3rd trip to the Pacific
- 1777-12-08 Captain James Cook leaves the Society Islands
- 1777-12-24 James Cook is first European to visit Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island
- 1778-01-18 Captain James Cook stumbles over the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands)
- 1778-03-07 Captain James Cook 1st sights Oregon coast at Yaquina Bay
- 1778-03-15 Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island discovered by Captain James Cook
- 1778-03-22 Captain James Cook sights Cape Flattery, now in Washington state
- 1778-08-09 Captain James Cook reaches Cape Prince of Wales, Bering Straits
- 1778-10-03 Captain James Cook anchors at Alaska
- 1778-11-26 British explorer Captain James Cook is the first European to visit Maui in the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii)
- 1779-01-17 Captain James Cook's last notation in Discovery's ship's log
Personal Life
- 1762-12-21 British explorer Captain James Cook marries Elizabeth Batts
References
Famous Explorers
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