When did Captain Cook sail?

Answer 1

Captain Cook departed England on 25 August 1768 in order to observe the transit of Venus (when the planet Venus passes directly between the Earth and the Sun). Cook reached Tahiti in April, in plenty of time for his crew and scientists to set up their instrumentation necessary to observe and report on the transit, which occurred on 3 June 1769. After observing the transit of Venus, Cook went on to search for Terra Australis Incognita, the great continent which some believed to extend round the pole. It was shortly after observing the transit of Venus that Cook came across New Zealand, which had already been discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642. He landed there on 6 October 1769. Cook claimed New Zealand for England and spent some months there, charting the coastline. Later, he set sail east for New Holland, (later having its eastern half proclaimed as New South Wales), sailing into botany Bay on 29 April 1770.