This Coat Of Arms belongs to Captain James Cook, the Intrepid Sailor and Navigator, who Author Andrew James Turner and I have woven into our little children’s tale, The Adventures of Little Andy and His Insect Friends.

Captain Cook’s exploits and voyages have fascinated me since I was a child.  As I would eagerly read about his marvelous adventures, I often wished that I could have traveled with him – boldly going – where few had gone before.

Sounds like Captain James Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise, doesn’t he? 

Few people have even seen the places Captain Cook visited, and he sailed to the far reaches of the world, reaching all seven continents during his short lifetime.

He traveled on three very lengthy journeys with two different sailing ships, encountering both hardship and triumph along the way.

Not many people ever venture off their own continents - even today, and far less did back in the 1700s.

But as the world would discover, Captain Cook was far ahead of his time.

His Coat of Arms was awarded posthumously by the King of England and is the only one ever to include a globe (centered on the Pacific Ocean) and Polar stars.

 The motto reads: "He left Nothing Unattempted.”

For those not familiar with Cook, he first came to the attention of the British Admiralty during the conflicts with France for the possession of Canada. His Highly detailed charts of Canadian rivers and coastlines helped the British Fleet to launch successful Attacks on several French Strongholds and ultimately win the war there.

Later, he was selected to command several long expeditions to search for the rumored Northwest Passage, observe the transition of Venus (from Tahiti) and to search for the ‘Great Southern Continent,’ which scientists in those days believed must exist in order to Balance the Earth!

Along the way, he added a large number of new places to our World Map, including the Islands of Hawaii, which he was the first European to visit.

His remarkable voyages of exploration came to an abrupt end when he was killed by an angry crowd of Hawaiian natives in 1779, after kidnapping one of their chieftains.

Later, when tempers cooled, his remains were returned to his crew, and he was buried at sea.

A Naval Warship from Great Britain stops by each year to take care of his Memorial near Kona on the 'Big Island' of Hawaii. The small white obelisk stands on one of the only two pieces of English Territory left in America.

Cook didn't find the fabled ‘Great Southland’, but he did discover Australia.

A piece of his original ship, The Endeavour, a converted coal-carrier, was taken into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle of the same name.

History truly does fascinate!