James Cook was born on October 27, 1728, in Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, England.

He was the son of a farmer of Scottish descent. As a young teenager, Cook was apprenticed to a seafaring family. There was a boat harbour near the shop where he worked and he spent many hours watching the tall ships and learning much about ships and the sea.

As he watched the restless waves and smelled the salty sea he longed to sail beyond the horizons to lands far away and perhaps not yet discovered.In 1755, he joined Great Britain's Royal Navy and soon proved himself an expert navigator.

Just after making officer rank, Lieutenant Cook was chosen by the Royal Society of London to undertake a scientific journey to Tahiti to observe and document the planet Venus as it passed between the earth and the sun. These observations would help scientists calculate the distance of the earth from the sun.

On August 25, [1768], Cook departed England aboard the Endeavor with 94 crewmen and scientists. He was carrying secret orders from the Royal Navy to be opened upon completion of his scientific mission.

Before the epic voyage of Captain Cook, the British Admiralty routinely signed on twice the number of sailors needed for the voyage, expecting half to die en route. Those expectations were all too often realized.

Cook helped change that. He pioneered clean decks, drier quarters, warmer clothes and a better diet.

Cook was determined to keep his crew healthy. He insisted his men eat onions and pickled cabbage every day, and made sure that the ship kept fresh fruit and vegetables on board.

The men hated the stuff, longing for the familiar diet of salt beef and hard tack ( weevils and all ), but Cook told his men, eat this or else... and the convincer was a lashing. Tough cookie, Cook but at the end of his important trip, he was able to write, "For the first time in recorded history of a long sea voyage not one man was lost from scurvy "

Not only the diet was unusual. Cleanliness was as rare as Godliness on the other ships. Decks were customarily painted red, better not to show blood and dirt, but Cook insisted on constant scouring. The hold on these ships invariably stank.

He ordered his men to bathe every day, to clean their clothing, and to air out their bedding. He did not know the scientific reasons behind these measures, but he knew they worked to prevent scurvy and other diseases in his crew.

After finishing his scientific work, Cook left Tahiti on the 9th of August 1769 to begin the long journey to find Terras Australis. Before he landed in Australia, Cook discovered New Zealand and became very friendly with the Maoris.

On the 19th of April 1770 Cook sighted the East Coast of Australia which was then named New Holland. They landed in a beautiful wide bay now called Botany Bay.

On the beach Captain Cook's crew saw Aboriginals lighting fires to cook their food. When he landed he tried to make friends but the Aboriginals were frightened of Cook and his men so they shook their spears and shouted angrily.

Some sailors went fishing in the bay which had hundreds of different fish. They caught so many fish, they called the bay Stingray Bay, which they later named Botany Bay because of all the beautiful plants that had been found.

Cook returned home in February 1771 and was greeted as a hero. He led two more voyages of discovery to the Pacific Ocean but on the 14th of February 1779 was killed in a quarrel with natives in Hawaii.

Captain Cook kept a journal every day , the charts and maps he made were used by thousands of seamen who sailed the seas after him.

He had great courage to travel the seas looking for unknown land, he will always be an inspiration to all of us.