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Siege of Quebec -

James Cook had already spent nine years at sea with the British Merchant Navy when he joined the Royal Navy in 1755. He served during the Seven Years' War, fought between Great Britain and France, and was involved in the Siege of Quebec (in modern-day Canada).

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Mapping Newfoundland -

During the siege, Cook produced a chart that allowed the British to sail beyond Quebec along the St. Lawrence River, thus strengthening their positions. He subsequently mapped the coast of Newfoundland with astonishing accuracy.

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King's Surveyor -

As a result of his knowledge of geography and geometry, and superior skills as a cartographer, Cook was appointed King's Surveyor, a post that led to his commission in 1768 as commander of HMS Endeavour for the first of three Pacific voyages.

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First voyage -

In August 1768, Endeavor departed England on a scientific voyage to the Pacific Ocean.

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Transit of Venus across the Sun -

The official purpose of the voyage was to track the 1769 transit of Venus across the Sun. But the Admiralty had also given Cook a top secret order—to search the south Pacific for signs of the assumed existence of the southern continent of Terra Australis Incognita.

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Mapping New Zealand -

The Endeavor reached New Zealand in late 1769 and Cook mapped the complete coastline, again to a high degree of accuracy.

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Meeting the Māori -

In 1770, the vessel anchored near the eastern bank of the Tūranganui River close to New Zealand's present-day Gisborne. Cook joined a shore expedition that was met by Māori warriors.

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Fatal "misunderstanding" -

James Cook was the first European to communicate with the Māori. But the meeting was anything but auspicious. Te Maro, a senior man of the Ngāti Oneone group, was shot dead while leading a ceremonial challenge to the British sailors. Several more Māori met a similar fate in what Cook later explained in his diaries was a "misunderstanding."

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Reaching Australia -

After sailing around New Zealand, expertly charting the coast and proving that it was not part of a great southern continent, Cook voyaged west. On April 19, 1770, he reached the southeastern coast of Australia near today's Point Hicks.

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Landfall at Botany Bay -

On April 29, Cook made landfall on the continent at a place called Botany Bay. Here he encountered the first recorded direct observation of Aboriginal Australians.

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Joseph Banks (1743–1820) -

Botany Bay was named for the ship's botanists, Daniel Solander and, in particular, Joseph Banks (pictured). Banks was to take home with him no less than 30,000 unique plant specimens.

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Grounded -

Later in June after heading north, a near disaster occurred when Endeavor ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef. Repairs were carried out on a beach near a river Cook subsequently named Endeavor River.

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Triumphant return -

Endeavor finally returned to England on July 12, 1771. The voyage was a triumph with 4,500 miles (over 7,240 km) of coast charted during the expedition. Cook was given a hero's welcome.

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Treasure trove of knowledge -

The botanical treasures collected during the voyage included 500 fish specimens, including never-seen-before boxfish and frogfish. Ship's artist Sydney Parkinson captured creatures totally new to science, including the first recorded European image of a kangaroo.

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Second voyage -

The 1768–1771 voyage was one of the most remarkable seafaring adventures ever undertaken. No surprise, then, that in 1772 Cook was commissioned to lead another scientific expedition on behalf of the Royal Society: the national academy of sciences still believed that a massive southern continent was there to be claimed.

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HMS Resolution and HMS Adventure -

Cook, now promoted to commander, took charge of HMS Resolution on the second voyage, while Tobias Furneaux commanded its companion ship, HMS Adventure.

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First to cross the Antarctic Circle -

In his quest for the elusive southern continent, Cook's expedition became the first to cross the Antarctic Circle, on January 17, 1773.

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Back to Tahiti -

Cook very nearly encountered the mainland of Antarctica, but changed course to Tahiti to resupply Resolution and Adventure.

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First west–east circumnavigation of the Earth -

After departing Tahiti, the two vessels became separated in fog and lost touch with each other. Adventure eventually returned to New Zealand, while Resolution successfully completed the first west–east circumnavigation of the globe.

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Charting the islands -

Throughout 1774, Cook accurately charted Easter Island, the Marquesas Islands, and the Friendly Isles, among others.

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Naming and possession of territory -

During a final sweep across the South Atlantic from Cape Horn, he also surveyed, mapped, and took possession for Britain South Georgia and named Clerke Rocks and the South Sandwich Islands.

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Homeward bound -

In November 1774, Cook set a course for home, having once and for all dispelled the popular myth of Terra Australis.

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Promotion -

For his achievements thus far, Cook was promoted to captain. His pioneering use of a marine chronometer, which enabled the calculation of longitudinal positions with much greater accuracy, plus careful crew management, specifically the design of a diet that prevented scurvy, elevated Cook to near legendary status. But there was one secret of the Pacific yet to be discovered.

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Third voyage -

In the summer of 1776, Captain James Cook headed back out to sea on HMS Resolution. Accompanying him on this third voyage was HMS Discovery, commanded by Charles Clerke. Tahiti was their first port of call.

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In search of the northwest passage -

But the real reason behind the Admiralty commissioning a third voyage was to enable Cook to search for the northwest passage and a sea lane between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

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Mapping the North American coast -

Cook explored the west coast of North America before mapping the coastline all the way to the Bering Strait, on the way identifying what came to be known as Cook Inlet in Alaska. However, impenetrable pack ice forced both vessels south for the winter.

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Arrival in Hawaii -

Cook ended up in Hawaii. By now he was not a happy man. Sudden anger and depression had overtaken his usually affable and reasonable manner, likely brought on by a variety of illnesses, including tuberculosis.

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Nearing the end -

Cook was initially greeted as a god by the islanders. But he soon demonstrated violence and cruelty towards them.

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Death of James Cook -

Relations were further strained after Cook's men reported a number of alleged thefts of equipment. Enraged, Cook stormed ashore to confront the islanders. In the ensuing melee, he was struck on the head and then stabbed, killed on the shore of Kealakekua Bay on Valentine's Day 1779.

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Cook's legacy -

James Cook's legacy is complex. He mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in greater detail and on a scale not previously charted by Western explorers.

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Controversial figure -

But he's also viewed as a figure of imperialism. In some parts of the world he's been referred to as "Captain Crook," and in Canada and Australia statues of the famous British explorer, cartographer, and naval officer have been toppled.

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The price of ambition -

In one of his journals, Cook wrote: "Ambition leads me not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go."

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The advance of science -

That ambition led to massive advancements in geography, geometry, astronomy, biology, and medicine. But it also cost Captain James Cook his life.

Pictured is a replica of Endeavour at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney. 

Sources: (Royal Museums Greenwich) (CBS News) (The Guardian) (Britannica) 

See also: Expeditions that changed the course of history

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