October 3, 1778--Captain James Cook / Anchors at Samganunuda / Alaska

[Nightmoss]

I'm a day late with my "Daily Informative Thread", but the life and discoveries of Captain James Cook certainly go beyond one day out of the calendar year.

James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 in the village of Marton in Yorkshire and baptised on 3 November in the local church of St. Cuthbert, where his name can be seen in the church register. In 1745, when he was 16, Cook moved 20 miles (32 km) to the fishing village of Staithes, to be apprenticed as a shop boy to grocer and haberdasher William Sanderson. Historians have speculated that this is where Cook first felt the lure of the sea while gazing out of the shop window.

After 18 months, not proving suitable for shop work, Cook traveled to the nearby port town of Whitby to be introduced to friends of Sanderson's, John and Henry Walker. The Walkers were prominent local ship-owners and Quakers, and were in the coal trade. Their house is now the Captain Cook Memorial Museum. Cook was taken on as a merchant navy apprentice in their small fleet of vessels, plying coal along the English coast. His first assignment was aboard the collier Freelove, and he spent several years on this and various other coasters, sailing between the Tyne and London. As part of his apprenticeship, Cook applied himself to the study of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, navigation and astronomy—all skills he would need one day to command his own ship.

His three-year apprenticeship completed, Cook began working on trading ships in the Baltic Sea. After passing his examinations in 1752, he soon progressed through the merchant navy ranks, starting with his promotion in that year to mate aboard the collier brig Friendship. In 1755, within a month of being offered command of this vessel, he volunteered for service in the Royal Navy, when Britain was re-arming for what was to become the Seven Years' War. Despite the need to start back at the bottom of the naval hierarchy, Cook realised his career would advance more quickly in military service and entered the Navy at Wapping on 17 June 1755.

Information above is taken from Wikipedia, but there is so much more to read and see online and in libraries and museums throughout the world. Go here for a brief history of his Royal Navy career and his voyages of exploration and discovery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cook

Captain Cook Society: http://www.captaincooksociety.com/home

Captain Cook Monument: http://ns1763.ca/hfxrm/cookjmon.html

Cook's Journals: http://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/the-journals
October 1st Journal Entry: http://www.captaincooksociety.com/ho...-december-1778

Captain Cook Memorial Museum Whitby: http://www.cookmuseumwhitby.co.uk/

Countries with links to Cook: http://www.cookmuseumwhitby.co.uk/ca...-links-to-cook

Captain James Cook, The Man Behind the Legend:


Links to the other interesting and short YouTube videos, 1-4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VpuB0R1C-8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdftMdtO32o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2mNSGskxdQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHo11p96zks

There was also a Captain James Cook mini series in 1987. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129669/


Enjoy!

[Naharaht]

Thank you for this, Jim. Captain Cook was a truly great, seaman, surveyor and explorer.

[Lucky Jack]

He made a real great job in exploring the pacific and was a exceptionally giftet navigator and skilled in producing authentic maps.
A real hero of science. (Thanks to him to take Georg Forster in his second journey).