James Cook, oil painting by John Webber; in the National Portrait Gallery, London. [Credit: Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London]
(born Oct. 27, 1728, Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, Eng.—died Feb. 14, 1779, Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii) British sailor and explorer. He joined the Royal Navy (1755) and in 1763–67 surveyed the St.
Lawrence River and the coast of Newfoundland. In 1768 he was appointed commander of the first scientific expedition to the Pacific. Sailing on the HMS Endeavour, he found and charted all of New Zealand and explored the eastern coast of Australia. That voyage (1768–71) produced a wealth of scientifically collected material and was also notable for Cook's successful prevention of scurvy among crew members. Promoted to commander, he was sent with two ships to make the first circumnavigation and penetration into the Antarctic. On that expedition (1772–75), which ranks as one of the greatest of all sailing-ship voyages, he successfully completed the first west-east circumnavigation in high latitudes. On a third voyage (1776–79) in search of a Northwest Passage around Canada and Alaska, he was killed by Polynesian natives on Hawaii.
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