Australia: New South Wales – Captain Cook Discovers Botany Bay
On this day in 1770, Captain James Cook and the HMS Endeavour arrived at Botany Bay (named Stingray Bay at first, because of the large number of stingrays spotted), which Cook later named Botany Bay because of the abundance of plants found and collected there by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Daniel Solander, botanists on the voyage.
For more visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botany_Bay
Captain James Cook: Off the East Coast of New Holland
Captain James Cook had already made a name for himself in Canada with the Royal Navy during the Seven Years’ War prior to his first voyage of discovery. In 1766, the Royal Society hired Captain Cook to travel to the Pacific Ocean in order to observe and record the passing of Venus across the sun in Tahiti. It was on his return journey to England, having completed his primary mission and having mapped New Zealand by circumnavigation, that he and his crew decided to return via the east coast of New Holland.
The Endeavour reached the south-east coast of Australia on the 19th April 1770. On the 20th April Cook was off the east coast of what is now known as New South Wales. By doing so, he became the first European to discover and observe the east coast of New Holland (Australia). On the 23rd April 1770 he made his first observations of Australian Aborigines. On the 29th April Captain Cook made his famous landing at Botany Bay, which he named after the unique plant specimens found there by botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander.
History for Today 