James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 in a small village of Yorkshire. In 1755, Cook enlisted in the Royal Navy, serving in North America.
In 1769 the British government sent an expedition to observe the phenomenon of the planet Venus passing in front of the Sun. Another motive was to search for the fabled southern continent. Cook was chosen as commander of the ship Endeavour.
Endeavour arrived in Tahiti and observed the transit of Venus. Then Endeavour went on to New Zealand, and saw Australia's eastern coast.
In 1772 Cook set out on a 2nd voyage to look for the southern continent. His two ships sailed close to the Antarctic coast but were forced to turn back by the cold.
During Cook's 3rd voyage he explored the island of Hawaii. Relations with the islanders went bad after the theft of a ship's boat. On 14 February Cook tried to take the local leader hostage. Cook was stabbed and killed.