* Astronomy

In 1766, the Royal Society engaged James Cook to travel to the Pacific Ocean to observe and record the transit of Venus across the Sun. Cook, at the age of 39, was promoted to lieutenant and named as commander of the expedition. The expedition sailed from England in 1768, rounded Cape Horn and continued westward across the Pacific to arrive at Tahiti on 13 April 1769, where the observations of the Venus Transit were made. However, the result of the observations was not as conclusive or accurate as had been hoped. Once the observations were completed, Cook opened the sealed orders which were additional instructions from the Admiralty for the second part of his voyage: to search the south Pacific for signs of the postulated rich southern continent of Terra Australis. Cook later mapped the complete New Zealand coastline, making only some minor errors. He then sailed west, reaching the south-eastern coast of the Australian continent on 19 April 1770, and in doing so his expedition became the first recorded Europeans to have encountered its eastern coastline.
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Lieutenant James Cook (not yet a captain) first sighted the eastern coast of Australia on 19 April 1770, when officer of the watch, Lieutenant Zachary Hicks, sighted the southeastern corner of the mainland. Cook named this Point Hicks.

"the Southermost Point of land we had in sight which bore from us W1/4S I judged to lay in the Latitude of 38°..0' S° and in the Longitude of 211°..07' W t from the Meridion of Greenwich. I have named it Point Hicks, because Leuit t Hicks was the first who discover'd this land".

Because the southeast coast of Australia is now regarded as being 10 hours fast relative to Britain, that date is now called Friday, April 20
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In 1768, Lieutenant James Cook was invited to command an expedition to the South Seas sponsored by the Royal Society.
The voyage's mission was to visit Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus across the Sun, hence contributing to astronomy and navigation. He was also tasked to determine whether there was a great Southern Continent, or, as it was originally known 'Terra Australis'.
Renamed from H.M. Bark to Endeavour, she set sail from Plymouth on August 25, 1768 and arrived in Tahiti on April 13, 1769. Cook's crew established good relations with the Tahitians and stayed on the Island for 3 months.
They first landed on the Island of New Zealand on Oct 4, 1769 and for six months, toured the Islands and established that there was indeed two Islands separated by what became known as the Cook Strait.
Cook abandoned his search for Terra Australis on March 31, 1770. It was only because of bad weather on April 19, 1770, that he arrived off New Holland (in fact Australia).
Endeavour set sail again on May 16, 1770 along the coast of Australia. On June 10, 1770, the ship was holed on the Great Barrier Reef. It took 2 days to free the ship. Nine days later, Cook landed at what became known as Cook town. Endeavour stayed there for 6 days for repair.
After claiming New Holland for the British Crown, Cook set sail again. The voyage was plagued by illness and ill fortune, and thirty-crew died during the journey. Cook finally anchored in the Downs on July12,1771, after a circum navigation lasting 2 years, 9 months, and 14 days .
Cook was promoted to the rank of Commander, and set sail again in July 1772, this time on the Resolution and the Adventure.
Following a refit on March 7, 1775, HMS Endeavour was sold to the Navy. Endeavour sailed for 15 more years. She was purchased by French interest in 1790,and renamed La Liberte. In 1793, she ran aground off Rhode Island and was later broken up. A replica of the ship was later commissioned at Fremantle as recently as 1994.