James Cook, a man born with no privileges and to no expectation, died renowned as one of the greatest of the world's maritime explorers, a brilliant navigator and leader of expeditions. He discovered and mapped the coasts of New Zealand, Australia, Antartica and many Pacific islands, and accidentally discovered the way of preventing scurvy.
James Cook was born Oct. 27, 1728, Marton-in-Cleveland in Yorkshire, the son of a Scottish farm labourer who by dint of application and intelligence rose to become foreman of a farm. Impressed by the intelligence of the son, his father's employer paid for James's education in the village school until he was 12, and he then worked on the farm before being apprenticed to a general store in Whitby, a nearby port on the Yorkshire coast. There, at the age
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Citation: Percy, Carol. "Captain James Cook". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 August 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5116, accessed 25 November 2024.]
