Cook, James

1728 – He was born this year.

1745 - He left home to be apprenticed in a grocery/haberdashery in the fishing village of Staithes.

1755 - He was offered command of this vessel, but within the month, he volunteered for service in the British Royal Navy.

1757 - He was quickly promoted to Master's Mate.

1759 – He participated in the siege of Quebec City before the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.

1760 - His surveying skills were put to good use.

1766 - The Royal Society hired him to travel to the Pacific Ocean to observe and record the transit of Venus across the Sun.

1768 - He sailed from England this year.

1769 - He managed to reach New Zealand.

1773 - His expedition circumnavigated the globe at very high southern latitude, becoming one of the first to cross the Antarctic Circle.

1774 - He landed at the Friendly Islands, Easter Island, Norfolk Island, New Caledonia and Vanuatu

1778 - His statue stands in Waimea, Kauai commemorating his first contact with the Hawaiian Islands at the town's harbour.

1779 – He died this year in Hawaii in a fracas with Hawaiians during his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific.