Captain Cook sets sail on his final voyage - On this day in history

On this day in history, 1776: Captain James Cook set sail from Plymouth on the Resolution (his favourite ship) on his third and final voyage. (Originally she had been named HMS Drake, but out of consideration to Spanish feelings her name was changed to the Resolution). By October 1776 he had reached Cape Town, arriving in Van Dieman’s Land (present-day Tasmania) in January 1777, and New Zealand that February. Over the next two years he travelled the Pacific, before relations soured leading to his death at the hands of Hawaiians in early 1779.

Pictured: Read a life of traditional hero Captain James Cook in the awesome free online library of digitised books at Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/captainjamescook01kits.