Captain James Cook was a British navigator and explorer who commanded three major voyages, charting and naming many islands of the Pacific.

Born in 1728, he spent several years as a seaman in the North Sea vessels, and joind the Royal Navy in 1755. During his first ten years, he surveyed the area around the St Lawrence River, Quebec. In his ship the Endeavour, he was the first European to visit Hawaii.

On his first major voyage, he circumnavigated New Zealand, and charted parts of Australia before establishing a colony there. On his second voyage, from 1772-1775, he sailed round Antarctica discovering several Pacific Island groups.

On his third voyage, he went on to explore the Pacific coast of North America, looking for a passage from the Pacific through to the Atlantic. After unsuccessfully searching for this passage, he was forced to turn back and was killed by Hawiian natives on his return voyage, in 1779.