James Cook

Historical eventJanuary 171773

James Cook

On James Cook's second voyage, his vessel HMS Resolution became the first vessel to cross the Antarctic Circle.

Everything on January 17Original source

In context

When
Sunday, January 17 1773253 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
18th century · 1770s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

Russia, Greece and some other countries used the Julian calendar into the early 20th century, so local records may show a date up to 13 days earlier.

At a glance

Dates: From 1773.

Type: human.

What happened

Captain James Cook was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer who led three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans between 1768 and 1779. He completed the first recorded circumnavigation of the main islands of New Zealand, and led the first recorded visit by Europeans to the east coast of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands.

January 17 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1773James Cook
  2. 2002Mount Nyiragongo
  3. 2007Doomsday Clock
  4. 2008British Airways Flight 38
  5. 20102010 Jos riots
  6. 2013Murder of Shahzad Luqman
  7. 2013Lance Armstrong
  8. 2016Barack Obama
  9. 2017Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
  10. 20232023 Nyingchi avalanche
  11. 20262026 Indonesia Air Transport ATR 42 crash

Also in 1773

  • December 16American RevolutionAmerican Revolution: A group of colonists threw chests of tea into Boston Harbor (pictured) to protest British taxation without represent…
  • April 19Partition SejmThe Polish Partition Sejm met to discuss the First Partition of Poland, carried out the previous year by Russia, Prussia and Austria.
  • October 13Charles MessierFrench astronomer Charles Messier discovered the Whirlpool Galaxy (pictured), an interacting, grand design spiral galaxy located an estim…

Everything we record for 1773 →

Sources

Cite this page

“James Cook”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/james-cook-1773-january-17, accessed October 28, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did James Cook happen?

January 17 1773 — 253 years ago, on a Sunday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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