Jan Genomonic Man

For the Buffy, we take the B for born in Yorkshire, England in 1728.

The U is assisting.

The first F, first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.

The second F, first recorded visit by Europeans to the east coast of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands.

And the third F, first to cross the Antarctic Circle.

And the Y, year of 1779, Cook was killed by Hawaiians.

Now on to... And the first fun fact today, fact number one.

Cook worked on a Yorkshire farm in his youth before winning an apprenticeship with a merchant sailing company at age 17.

From here he rose through the ranks and focused on mastering the art of navigation.

He was well on his way to becoming captain, but shocked his superiors when he enlisted in the British Royal Navy, where he later became one of the first men in British naval history to rise through the enlisted ranks and take command of his own vessel.

And fact number two.

Cook was held in high esteem for his map making.

One example was during the Seven Years' War, where his detailed maps of the St.

Lawrence River helped the British pull off a surprise attack against the French-held Quebec.

This expertise in producing precise maps helped him win command of his first round-the-world voyage in 1768.

And fact number three.

Cook's first voyage was ostensibly a scientific expedition which entailed sailing to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus across the face of the sun in order to help scientists better calculate the distance between the Earth and the sun.

But there was a hidden agenda.

He carried sealed orders instructing him to seek out the Great Southern Continent, an undiscovered landmass that was believed to exist near the bottom of the globe.

Cook sailed to the 40th parallel but found no evidence of this southern continent.