James Cook Timeline of Events

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James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

Timeline of Events

1768

8.25.1768

James Cook begins his first voyage.

8.26.1768

Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board HMS Endeavour.

1770

4.29.1770

James Cook arrives at and names Botany Bay, Australia.

6.10.1770

Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef.

8.21.1770

James Cook formally claims eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.

8.22.1770

James Cook's expedition lands on the east coast of Australia.

1773

1.17.1773

Captain James Cook and his crew become the first Europeans to sail below the Antarctic Circle.

1776

7.11.1776

Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.

1777

12.24.1777

Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.

1778

1.18.1778

James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands".

10.3.1778

British Captain James Cook anchors in Alaska.

11.26.1778

In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.

1779

2.14.1779

James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.

1780

8.22.1780

James Cook's ship ''HMS Resolution'' returns to England (Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage).