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- 1728-1779. English naval explorer. After
- surveying the St Lawrence 1759, he made three
- voyages: 1769-71 to Tahiti, New Zealand, and
- Australia; 1772-75 to the South Pacific; and
- 1776-79 to the South and North Pacific,
- attempting to find the Northwest Passage and
- charting the Siberian coast. He was killed in
- Hawaii. In 1768 Cook was given command of an
- expedition to the South Pacific to witness
- Venus eclipsing the sun. He sailed in the
- Endeavour with Joseph Banks and other
- scientists, reaching Tahiti Apr 1769. He then
- sailed around New Zealand and made a detailed
- survey of the E coast of Australia, naming
- New South Wales and Botany Bay. He returned
- to England 12 June 1771. Now a commander,
- Cook set out 1772 with the Resolution and
- Adventure to search for the Southern
- Continent. The location of Easter Island was
- determined, and the Marquesas and Tonga
- Islands plotted. He also went to New
- Caledonia and Norfolk Island. Cook returned
- 25 July 1775, having sailed 60,000 mi in
- three years. On 25 June 1776, he began his
- third and last voyage with the Resolution and
- Discovery. On the way to New Zealand, he
- visited several of the Cook or Hervey Islands
- and revisited the Hawaiian or Sandwich
- Islands.
-