James Cook
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Captain James Cook was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer who led three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans between 1768 and 1779. He completed the first re
Portrait of James Cook c. 1775
This drawing of a Māori warrior by Endeavour artist Sydney Parkinson was published in his posthumous book about the first voyage.
Cook's first landing in Australia, at Botany Bay, was opposed by the Gweagal people.
HMS Resolution and Adventure retrieved ice to melt for drinking water. Watercolour by expedition artist William Hodges, 1773.
Death of James Cook
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On 14 February 1779 British explorer Captain James Cook was killed as he attempted to kidnap Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the ruling chief of the island of Hawaii, and hold him hostage for the return of a cutter whi
James Cook
…of scurvy, a disease common among sailors, led the Royal Society to award him the Copley Gold Medal. In 1779, during his second visit to Hawaii, Cook was killed when a dispute with Native Hawaiians turned violent. His voyages left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge that influenced his successors…
Death of Captain Cook (detail) by John Cleveley the Younger
Kalaniʻōpuʻu bringing presents to Cook, by John Webber, artist aboard Cook's ship
Kaʻawaloa in 1779 by John Webber
Death of Captain Cook by John Cleveley the Younger, Aquatint by Francis Jukes