In 1769, Captain Cook took command of the HMS Endeavor, setting
sail for the Pacific to study the passage of the planet Venus across the
disc of the Sun. Little did the world know, this was a ruse for Cook’s
true objective: He’d been commissioned by the British to find the
mysterious and elusive “Southern Continent.” On this voyage,
Cook became the first European to explore New Zealand, and he did
eventually find Australia. Quite the accomplishment for a captain
who was just out Chasing Venus.