James Cook

James Cook (1728–1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and cartographer who led three voyages into the Pacific and Southern Oceans. A farm labourer's son from Yorkshire, he joined the Royal Navy in 1755; his Newfoundland surveys drew the Admiralty's attention. In 1768 his Endeavour sailed to observe the transit of Venus at Tahiti, then under sealed orders sought the southern continent, circumnavigating New Zealand and charting Australia's east coast.

His second voyage (1772–1775) took him three times across the Antarctic Circle without finding it. His third voyage (1776–1779), seeking a Northwest Passage, reached Hawaii, North America's northwest coast and the Bering Strait. His scurvy prevention earned the Royal Society's Copley Medal.

Back at Kealakekua Bay in the Resolution in February 1779 to repair a foremast, Cook tried to take the king hostage after a cutter was stolen, and fell with four marines on 14 February.