James Cook

Profession: Explorer

Nationality:

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