James Cook died on 14 February 1779 in Kealakekua Bay, aged 50. A British naval officer, navigator and cartographer, Cook rose from a humble background in Yorkshire to command three voyages of exploration in the Pacific. On the first, in the ship Endeavour, he observed the transit of Venus at Tahiti, charted the coasts of New Zealand and mapped the east coast of Australia in 1770. His later voyages crossed the Antarctic Circle and explored the Pacific from Tonga to the coast of North America, and he was the first European to reach the Hawaiian Islands. He was killed in a clash with islanders at Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii. His detailed charts were used for generations.
Before and after
- 3 August 1778Construction of La Scala
- 11 November 1778Cherry Valley massacre
- 6 December 1778Birth of Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac
- 17 December 1778Birth of Humphry Davy
- 14 February 1779Death of James Cook
- from 18 June 1779 to 3 October 1779Sullivan Expedition
- from 24 June 1779 to 7 February 1783Great Siege of Gibraltar
- 20 August 1779Birth of Jöns Jacob Berzelius
- from 1780 to 1784Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
More in Exploration & discovery
- 1787First Fleet
- from 14 May 1804 to 23 September 1806Lewis and Clark Expedition
- from 19 May 1845 to 1 January 1848Franklin's lost expedition
- from 1901 to 1904Discovery Expedition (1901-1904)
- from 1 June 1910 to 14 June 1913Terra Nova Expedition
- from 3 June 1910 to 30 January 1912Amundsen's South Pole expedition
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.