Captain James Cook

James Cook was only seventeen years old and like many young men, he was filled with longing - longing for adventure, for something bigger and better than life in this dreary, predictable little town he'd grown up in. James Cook was working in a general merchandise store that sold mostly groceries and clothing. All day he measured out raisins and ribbon, folded fabrics, and swept floors. Every day he saw the same people who wanted the same things - the housewives who needed candles; the farmers looking for boots; the schoolchildren who wanted rock candy. Nothing ever changed - except the sailors. Sometimes the sailors came in before they set sail, gathering what they needed to tide them over for a long sea voyage. Sometimes they came in after the voyage, filled with stories about what they'd seen in faraway exotic lands, and their daring adventures on the high seas. The ships and the sailors were what filled James with his greatest longing.

Finally, one day the restless teenager came up with a plan. Because he was bound by contract to the storeowner for several years, he couldn't simply quit his job. So instead he began a quarrel with the owner, a silly quarrel about something he really didn't in the least care about. But it worked. The owner fired him. Cook leapt over the counter, and out the door where he let out a triumphant yell. He knew just what he was going to do. He was going to the nearest seaport and sign up on the first ship that would take him. He was going to see the world!

James Cook did see the world - eventually he would see more of the world than any man before him. In the next forty years he would became famous as the man who: sailed around the world twice; charted and named the islands of the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii; explored Australia and New Zealand; sailed farther south than anyone else had; and searched the entire west coast of North America for a passage to the Atlantic. Most importantly, James Cook redefined the very role of the explorer - how he should conduct himself and what his highest motives and goals could be. He was the first to transform sea voyages into scientific expeditions and in a sense he was the first "gentleman" explorer. No one who knew James Cook as a child could ever have predicted what lay ahead for him.

•  Where Was James Cook Born?