250 Years Ago, Captain Cook Embarked On First Of Three Voyages

On this day 250 years ago, Captain James Cook was about to leave the island of Tahiti in search of a lost continent known as Terra Australis.

Cook had been sent to the region by the British admiralty, first to observe the transit of Venus and then to find the storied continent. This was the first of Cook’s three voyages, which all lasted for years.

When all was said and done, Cook ended up dead on a beach in Hawaii, but he lives in memory as one of the greatest explorers in human history, particularly for his map drawings.

In terms of explorers of the world, “he's not far off the top in terms of what he achieved and how much he completed the map of the world considering what was available to him in the late 18th century,” says Cliff Thornton, who is a member of the Captain Cook Society.

“I remember there was a French explorer who was gonna go out and somebody said, 'Well, what are you going to do?' And he said, 'I don't know. Cook's done it all. There's nothing left for me to find. I don't think,' ” Thornton tells Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson. “So you got the map of the Pacific, which many people said, 'We don't need to build a memorial to him. That serves as a as Cook's memorial.' ”