It was the first navigator to map the Antarctic shoreline.
He is considered one of the greatest captains of the English navy and one of the best explorers of the time of the great discoveries, initiated by Christopher Columbus.
Cook also visited New Zealand, where a group of fifteen islands still bears his name, and became the first person to chart their complete shoreline. In 1770 he visited New Guinea and claimed the east coast of Australia for England under the name of New South Wales.
On his first trip, Cook had explored more of this territory than anyone else.