Today in History: 17 January 1773

Captain James Cook: First European Below the Antarctic Circle

On his second voyage of discovery, Captain James Cook (with his crew) became the first European to cross below the Antarctic Circle. Cook was in command of the HMS Resolution, which was accompanied by the HMS Adventure at the time of the crossing.

During this second voyage, Cook never reached the Antarctic mainland. The purpose of this voyage was to find the supposed great southern land mass known as the Terra Australis. He had already discovered what was to become known as Australia during his first voyage, but a greater land mass was thought to lie further to the south.

Today in History – 18 April 1861

Robert E. Lee: Turns Down Offer to Lead Union Troops

On this day in 1861, with the Civil War in the United States in its very early stages, Colonel Robert E. Lee was offered the role of Major General in the United States Army. Knowing that Virginia was likely to secede from the Union, Lee turned the offer down and resigned from the United States Army two days later. This despite having said to his son in a letter that ‘I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of the Union.’ However, it was love for and loyalty to his home state of Virginia, that forced his hand to join the Confederacy. On the 23rd of April Lee took command of the armed forces of Virginia and began his role in the southern rebellion, in which he would rise to be the General-in-Chief of all Confederate forces. Almost four years later, on the 9th April 1865, his role in the war ended with his surrender to U.S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.