When was James Cook born?

James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 in Marton.

Nathaniel Dance-Holland · Public domain

Suggest a better photo · Report

James Cook

जेम्स कुक

British explorer, cartographer and naval officer (1728–1779)

नेपालीमा पढ्नुहोस् · हिंदी में पढ़ें

नेपाली · English · हिंदीRead in your language
CitedEvery fact sourced
Ad-freeNo ads, no tracking

Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer who led three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans between 1768 and 1779. He completed the first recorded circumnavigation of the main islands of New Zealand, and led the first recorded visit by Europeans to the east coast of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands.

Quick facts

Born: 27 October 1728 wd
Place of birth: Marton wd
Died: 14 February 1779 wd
Place of death: Kealakekua Bay wd
Citizenship: Kingdom of Great Britain wd
Occupation: explorer, cartographer, naval officer, seafarer, botanist, discoverer wd
Spouse: Elizabeth Cook wd

Awards wd

Fellow of the Royal Society
Copley Medal (1776)
Person of National Historic Significance

About

Cook joined the British merchant navy as a teenager before enlisting in the Royal Navy in 1755. He first saw combat during the Seven Years' War, when he fought in the Siege of Louisbourg. Later in the war he surveyed and mapped much of the entrance to the St. Lawrence River during the Siege of Quebec. In the 1760s he mapped the coastline of Newfoundland and made important astronomical observations which brought him to the attention of the Admiralty and the Royal Society. This acclaim came at a pivotal moment in British overseas exploration, and it led to his commission in 1768 as commander of HMS Endeavour for the first of his three voyages.

During these voyages, Cook sailed tens of thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas, mapping coastlines, islands, and features across the globe in greater detail than previously charted – including Easter Island, Alaska and South Georgia Island. He made contact with numerous indigenous peoples and claimed several territories for the Kingdom of Great Britain. Renowned for exceptional seamanship and courage in times of danger, he was patient, persistent, sober, and competent, but sometimes hot-tempered. His contributions to the prevention of scurvy, a disease common among sailors, led the Royal Society to award him the Copley Gold Medal.

In 1779, during his second visit to Hawaii, Cook was killed when a dispute with Native Hawaiians turned violent. His voyages left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge that…

Questions

When was James Cook born?: James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 in Marton.

Sources

Last updated 31 October 2026 · facts checked 6 November 2026

Cite this page

"James Cook". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/james-cook. Retrieved 7 November 2026.

Machine-readable versions: JSON · Markdown

Text from the Wikipedia article James Cook, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Captainjamescookportrait.jpg — Nathaniel Dance-Holland, Public domain.

Is this you, or do you work in this person's office? Claim this profile