Many people in history wanted to explore the unknown.
James Cook was one of
them. Captain James Cook was born in Yorkshine, on 27th October, 1728. He was an
English explorer, navigator and cartographer. After being promoted to captain in the
Royal Navy, Cook made three voyages to the Pacific, became the first European to set
foot on the east coast of Australia; He was also the first European to discover the
Hawaiian Islands and the first recorded person to go around New Zealand.
In 1736, his family moved to the Airey Holme farm in Great Ayton, where his
father worked for Thomas Skottowe, enrolled him in the local school. In 1741, after
five years of schooling, he began working with his father, when his father was
nominated to be a farm manager. After he served in the British merchant fleet as a
teenager, he joined the Royal Navy in 1755. He gained the attention of the British
Admiralty and the British Royal Council at a decisive time both. in his personal career
and British discovery of new lands, and James Cook became commanding officer of the
HM Bark Endeavor and the first of his three voyages to the Pacific ocean.
Cook began his first journey from Plymouth, England, in August 1768 to Tahiti,
the largest island in the French Polynesian archipelago in the South Pacific. The mission
to observe the path of Venus through the Sun was also achieved and he then went further
towards New Zealand. He circled the island before becoming the first European to reach
the east coast of Australia in 1770. Australian aborigines resisted the expedition.
Nevertheless, the ship's powerful firepower prevailed so he landed in Botany Bay,
claimed the land for England, and named it New South Wales. After many other
expeditions, Cook and his crew gloriously returned to their homeland after nearly 3
years. A year later, Cook embarked on another voyage, this time with the two ships
Resolution and Adventure, to explore more of Australia. In January 1773, he passed
through the Antarctic, where extreme temperatures were so cold that they were forced
to turn around. However, they were able to return to New Zealand and Tahiti as well as
explore Easter Island and Tonga only to confirm that in fact no supercontinent existed
in the south. In February, 1778, while Cook was making his third and final trip, he
returned to North America to search of mysterious places. Because the voyage had
many difficult conditions, they arrived Hawaii to arrange for something. However, at
Kaelakekua Bay, after the conflict with Hawaii aboriginal. He was "buried" at sea, and
the crew returned home to confirm that there was no North West Corridor and to
announce the death of one of England's greatest sailors and explorers.
Today, when it says to James Cook, people always remember him with historic
voyages. They have contributed to the UK’s influence in all aspects. James Cook's
whole life has been devoted to trips to discover new lands. Beside that, to commemorate
his merits, people have placed a monument with the shape of a globe showing the lands
he traveled through and explored. James Cook is a prominent navigator not only
because of the number of voyages, the number of lands discovered by him, but also
because of his scientific working style, courage and contributions to the development
of the industry. marine science, geography of the UK in particular and the world in
general.
