Translate Blog

Search This Blog

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Captain James Cook and a Boilermaker Named Horse

Now if your wondering where the hell I'm going to go with this blog stick around for a very brief history lesson. James (Jimmy) Cook as we all know was a great sailor, navigator and mathematician. We also know that he is credited with discovering the east side of Australia in 1770. On his return to England he was asked to look further south for a fabled great southern land. In 1772 he set off in the sailing vessel,Resolution. By early 1773 he had reached the Southern Ocean and tracking further south. By January 17 1773, he had crossed the Antarctic Circle, at the latitude of 66 degree 36" 30'. Jimmy was the first to have accomplished this feat. Unfortunately he was not able to sail further south due to the sea ice and did not go on to discover the Antarctic landmass. Jimmy in fact had two further attempts later on with no success each time crossing over the Antarctic Circle. It was not until 1819 that a sealer by the name of William Smith actually sighted the landmass of Antarctica. Making a landing, the first mate of the sealer's brig Williams was sent ashore with the Jack and claimed the land for the British crown. In doing so it was named New South Britain. It was later changed to New South Shetland. It was to provide a shelter for British traders in the liklihood things went pair shaped in South America.Now what has that got to do with Horse? Well, what took the British literally years to do, Horse crossed over the Antarctic Circle and landed in McMurdo station in just 5 hours from Hobart Australia, flying business class. You gotta love technology...!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.