Born on October 27, 1728, in Marton,Yorkshire, England, James Cook was a

British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy who, in
1770, discovered and charted New Zealand and the Great Barrier Reef of
Australia .
As a teenager, Cook did farming work alongside his father until, at the age of 18,
he was offered an apprenticeship by a Quaker shipowner in a small seaside village
near Whitby, England
The experience proved to be fortuitous for the future naval officer and explorer,
bringing him in contact with both the ocean and ships along the port.
Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the
Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with
the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first
recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.
Cook joined the British merchant navy as a teenager and joined the Royal Navy in
1755. He saw action in the Seven Years' War, and subsequently surveyed and
mapped much of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River during the siege of
Quebec.
His first big adventure began with an expedition to Tahiti where he watched the
conjunction of Venus and the Sun, an event of great importance to astronomers of
the time, spent in 1769.
Cook was then headed by New Zealand, it was actually the first European achieved
a complete mapping of New Zealand, all he was the one who identified the eastern
coast of Australia.
Dissatisfied with his achievements during the first expedition, James Cook in 1772
starts a second trip, in order to map the shores of the Atlantic, during which
identify several islands unknown to European geographers and reach almost to
Antarctica.
Just one year after the return of 1775, Cook organizes the third expedition, during
which discovers Hawaii and establishes the first European contact with Maori
natives. Initially considered a god by the natives, the Englishman enter into a

conflict with them after trying to recover a stolen boat, taking hostage more
Hawaiian leaders.

In three voyages Cook sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of
the globe. He mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in
greater detail and on a scale not previously achieved. As he progressed on his
voyages of discovery he surveyed and named features, and recorded islands and
coastlines on European maps for the first time. He displayed a combination of
seamanship, superior surveying and cartographic skills, physical courage and an
ability to lead men in adverse conditions.
During all his voyages, James Cook successfully fought scurvy (a deadly disease
caused by vitamin deficiency) by feeding his crew a diet that included watercress,
sauerkraut and orange extract.
Cook was killed in Hawaii in a fight with Hawaiians during his third exploratory
voyage in the Pacific on February 14, 1779.
He left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge which was to influence
his successors well into the 20th century and numerous memorials worldwide have
been dedicated to him.
Today, Cook's voyages are credited with helping to guide generations of explorers,
as well as with providing the first accurate map of the Pacific, and many believe
that he did more to fill the map of the world than any other explorer in history.