When James Cook wanted to take the King of Hawaii a hostage, a conflict broke out. He was hit in the head and then stabbed to death on a Hawaiian beach.
On this day the famous English explorer James Cook was killed. His sailing across the Pacific Ocean made him world-famous. He reached the rank of captain in the British Navy and, if he lived longer, he would have certainly become an admiral. Interestingly, the younger officers who served on Cook’s ship also became well-known later. Thus William Bligh later became commander of the ship Bounty and was ousted in the famous mutiny.
Cook’s second-in-command, George Vancouver, became a researcher and the Canadian city of Vancouver, which is now called after him. It is less known that James Cook was the first westerner who discovered Hawaii. He named them the Sandwich Islands, after Earl of Sandwich, the First Lord of the Admiralty at the time (inventor of the famous sandwich).
On this day Hawaiian natives killed James Cook. It happened after the incident in which the Englishman’s boat was stolen. Cook had the custom, on such occasions, to take a native as a hostage until what was stolen is returned. When he attempted to take the King of Hawaii hostage, conflict broke out. He was hit in the head and then stabbed to death on a Hawaiian beach.
