Written by the editors at Bamfacts -Dec 28th, 2016
James Cook was born on October 27, 1728, in Marton, a village in Yorkshire, England.
In 1741, James Cook started working for his father (who was a farming manager) as a farmer. His education was paid for by his father's employer.
When Cook reached the age of 17 in 1745, he took an apprenticeship at a shop next to the sea. During his free time, he used to look out of the window at the sea. It is believed that these moments led to Cook's passion for sea travel.
After an 18 months working at the shop, Cook was offered an apprenticeship as a navy merchant by the Quaker ship-owner John Walker in 1746.
He studied astronomy, geometry, navigation and algebra, which was offered to him as part of the apprenticeship. These were the necessary skills that ship captains needed to be able to navigate across the seas.
While in his apprenticeship, he was part of the crew aboard the cargo ship (collier) Freelove.
In 1749, he completed his three year apprenticeship, and worked on various colliers, slowly moving up the ranks.
Cook realized that his career as a ship's commander could progress much faster if he joined the Royal Navy, so on 17 June 1755, he joined as a volunteer. The same year, Great Britain was preparing for the Seven Years' War.
In the Seven Years' War, Cook was took the position as master's mate aboard the HMS Eagle, and contributed to the sinking of an French enemy ship, and a capture of another.
In 1757, he passed his master's test, which allowed him to command a ship of the King's fleet.
James Cook participated in the Conquest of Canada (part of the Seven Years' War), during which he was able to demonstrate his skills in mapping and cartography. He most notably accurately mapped the coast of Newfoundland during the 1760s, which was an incredible achievement, as it had been never done so well before.
These accurate mappings gave the British a significant navigational advantage, and thus he gained the attention of the Admiralty (the British administration responsible for the naval ships and expeditions of the Royal Navy).
First Voyage (1768-1771)
At the age of 39, Cook was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, the minimum required rank to command an exploration ship.
He was assigned to lead a scientific expedition. The goal of the expedition was to observe the transit of Venus (the rare event when Earth, Venus, and the Sun are aligned in their orbit), however, the Admiralty also gave him an unofficial task - to explore the mysterious Terra Australis Incognita - a rumored unexplored huge landmass somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere.
In 1768, Cook's crew set sail aboard the HM Bark Endeavor.
After observing and documenting the transit of Venus, Cook's crew crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, and arrived at New Zealand becoming the first Europeans to do so in 128 years. He accurately mapped the coast of New Zealand, only to prove that it wasn't Terra Australis Incognita, as it was too small.
In April 1770, Cook arrived at the east Australian coast, becoming the first person from another continent to make it to and realize their discovery of the continent of Australia (throughout the centuries, cargo and trading ships accidentally arrived at the Australian coast, but never realized that they had discovered a new continent).
He and his crew made peaceful contact between Australian Aborigines (natives) and Europeans, and claimed the entire eastern coast in the name of England. Cook mapped the north and east side of Australia, proving that there was no great landmass in the Pacific.
After the Endeavor set sail from the Australian coast, it suffered damages caused by sailing through the Great Barrier Reef, hence Cook and his crew returned to Australia, where they stayed for seven weeks while repairing the ship.
Fun-fact: Cook accidentally became the first recorded European to discover the Great Barrier Reef. He also became the first recorded European to survive sailing through the Great Barrier Reef.
In 1771 Cook returned from his voyage, and was praised by the scientific community in England.
Second Voyage (1772-1775)
After returning from his first voyage, Cook was promoted to position of commander.
Even though James Cook had discovered Australia, he had not discovered Terra Australis (Incognita) . It was believed that there was an entire unexplored continent, much bigger, and further south of Australia. Therefore, Cook was given a second task to fulfill: to sail as far past Australia as possible and document all discoveries made.
On July 13, 1772, the ship Resolution set sail under Cook's command, and a companion ship, the HMS Adventure under that of Tobias Furneaux, with the primary goal to find Terra Australis.
The ships reached the Antarctic Circle in January 1773, after a resupply at the Cape of Good Hope.
In February 1773, the two ships involuntarily separated due to the fog at the Antarctic Circle. Tobias and his crew made his way to a meeting point, which he and Cook had previously agreed upon, at New Zealand, while Cook continued the exploring. A few days later, Cook decided to head to New Zealand after all, and arrived a few days after Furneaux in May 1773.
The ships then continued exploring the Pacific, parting ways yet another time (although that didn't contribute significantly enough to any discoveries that Cook's crew. Essentially, the two ships arrived to and left many islands/island groups as part of the exploring)
During the rest of the voyage, Cook and Furneaux discovered and visited multiple islands and island groups, (such as the Easter Islands, Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and the friendly Islands - a Wikipedia reference is listed in the bibliography. It includes a more detailed list of all discoveries made, and a map of the voyage.), but most importantly confirmed Terra Australis to be a myth after all.
Cook returned to England in July 1775 to a glorious welcoming home and national fame. He was able to prove Terra Australis is a myth and mapped completely new areas of the world. The expedition was a success.
After his return, Cook was promoted captain, and given retirement, which he accepted under the condition that he would be considered for any future voyages.
Fun-fact: James Cook proudly gloated with not losing a single man to scurvy (a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C). This was an incredible achievement, considering that the cause of scurvy was unknown at the time. Cook forced his entire crew to eat citrus fruits, and equally divided all of the food on board.
Third voyage (1776-1780)
The primary goal of the expedition was to locate the Northwest Passage (a sea passage making a connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, located on the northern coast of North America). The secondary goal was to return a Tahitian (called Omai), which he picked up during his second voyage, to Tahiti.
In 1776, the HMS Resolution set sail under Cook's command, while a companion ship, the HMS Discovery under the command of Charles Clerke.
Cook started sailing north into the Pacific Ocean, after dropping off Omai at Tahiti, to complete the primary objective of the expedition.
In January 1778, Cook discovered the isles of Hawaii, making the first contact between Hawaiians and Europeans. The Hawaiian natives were very interested in the shiny metal objects that Cock's crew had to offer, and thus friendly relations were established. The Hawaiians happened to be going through a religious period (Makahiki) worshiping the Hawaiian god of harvest and peace (Lono) at that time of the year, which acted as a parameter of their kindness towards the Europeans.
Cook never realized that the peaceful behavior of the Hawaiians was derived from any religious means, and therefore assumed that that was the Hawaiians' natural behavior.
After resupplying at Hawaii, Cook traveled north along the western North American coast in hopes of reaching the Northwest Passage. He managed to pass through the Bering Strait, but never found the Northwest Passage, due to ice blocks becoming too great obstacles along the way.
Remembering the hospitality of the Hawaiians, Cook decided to return to Hawaii, in desperate need of supplies. The Hawaiians coincidentally happened to be going through the same religious ritual, and when Cook's crew arrived at Hawaii Island (the biggest Hawaiian island) in January 1779, the Hawaiians accepted were pleased to accept him again.
On February 4, 1779, the crews set sail from Hawaii, however, despite extensive repairs on the Resolution, heavy winds broke her masts, forcing the crews to return to Hawaii for further repairs.
However, upon their arrival, the Hawaiians did not welcome them as they had done before. This could be either because Cook's crew had started to deplete Hawaii's supplies (animals, fruits, etc.) and had not been incredibly respectful towards the Hawaiians on their second visit, or, because the Hawaiians had begun to worship the Hawaiian god of war (according to the Hawaiian religion, the god of peace rules of half of the year, while the god war during the other half).
The Hawaiians stole a tool from Cook's crew, which made Cook very angry. After failing to get their tool back, the Hawaiians stole a rescue boat from the Discovery the next day. Since such had happened many times on other islands, Cook's crew typically took a native as hostage until the stolen items were returned.
On February 14, 1779, Cook ordered the formal kidnapping of the Hawaiian King Kalaniʻōpuʻu (he had no intention of hurting him). He and a few of his men went ashore to complete the task, however, the Hawaiians realized what was happening, and quickly ran to their king. Soon the thousands of Hawaiians had outnumbered Cook's little group.
From here, records show that the fight was started by Cook hitting a Hawaiian chief with his sword, or that his crew fired shots at the Hawaiians with their muskets, killing at least one Hawaiian. Either way, what happened exactly will remain a mystery, but what's known for sure, is that the hundreds of Hawaiians easily overpowered the group of sailors, who didn't have enough time to reload their muskets (18th-century guns had a much more extensive process of reloading).
This threat forced Cook and his crew to retreat. As he was attempting to return to his boat, he was hit in the head with a club, and then stabbed to death (sources indicate that this is what most likely happened, but it still isn't clear if that's the case).
As well as Captain James Cook, four other sailors were killed. Some sailors managed to escape.
The rest of the crew observed what the natives did to Cook's body through a spyglass aboard the Resolution. Interestingly, the Hawaiians still had a respect for Cook, and took his body apart as part of a ritual done for the corpses of a Hawaiian chief or king. They eventually returned some of the well preserved body parts back to the crew after a request was sent.
On February 17, 1779, the ships left Hawaii under Charles Clerke's command.
This time, the ships sailed across the eastern Russian border, again in attempt to find the Northwest Passage and complete the expedition.
Shortly after passing through the Bering Strait, Clerke, like Cook, failed to find the Northwest Passage.
Unfortunately, Clerke was suffering from tuberculosis and died on August 22, 1779. Lieutenant John Gore continued the expedition (he made sure that the crews navigated safely back to England).
In 1780, the Resolution and Discovery reached England.
Cook's maps were so accurate, that some were used well into the 20th century.
The Northwest Passage does exist, but no fixed route has been deemed same enough. Instead, ships pass through the Panama Canal.
Another fun-fact: NASA thought Captain James Cook was so incredibly awesome, that they named a space shuttle after his ship (Endeavor).