James Cook

• by  • Published: June 1, 2007

James Cook was an English navigator who lived in the 18th century. He was the first European to find the islands that comprise Hawaii. Born in 1728 in Yorkshire, England, Cook was initiated into the mariner’s life at an early age. His first commissioned voyage was to Tahiti. The cosmological observations Cook was instructed to make there would aid scientists in the calculation of the distance between the earth and sun. Following this mission, Cook set sail to discover the earth’s fabled “southern continent”, which voyage landed him in New Zealand. Cook didn’t find Hawaii until his final voyage, which began on July 12th, 1776. On January 18th, 1778, the crew aboard his ship the Resolution sighted it. Cook's first encounter with the inabitants of Hawaii was positive. But upon his return one year later, Cook and his men were not welcomed. Cook made plans to depart but a storm damaged his ship and he was forced to return to Hawaiian shore to repair it. Cook took a Hawaiian chief hostage in response to the theft of one of his boats, and en route to his ship was ambushed and killed by a team of natives. Cook is famed for his health consciousness aboard his ships, and even reputed to have discovered a cure for scurvy. He is also remembered for disproving the existence of the Northwest Passage, the mythologized “southern continent”, and his use of precise navigational tools like the chronometer.

sources: http://www.mariner.org/educationalad/ageofex/cook.php