Historical Events
Cook Sights Australia
Apr 19 British explorer Captain James Cook first sights Australia. Writes in his log book that “what we have as yet seen of this land appears rather low, and not very hilly, the face of the Country green and Woody, but the Sea shore is all a white Sand.”
- Apr 28 British Captain James Cook, aboard HMS Endeavour, first lands in Australia at Botany Bay
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 3 Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general and leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821-29), born in Ramοvouni, Messenia, Ottoman Empire (d. 1843)
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
Apr 7 English poet laureate (The Prelude), born in Cockermouth, Cumberland
- Apr 9 Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist (Seebeck effect), born in Tallinn, Estonia, Russian Empire (d. 1831)
George Canning (1770-1827)
Apr 11 British Prime Minister (Tory: 1827) and Foreign Secretary, born in London, England
- Apr 19 Georg Abraham Schneider, German horn player and composer, born in Darmstadt, Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1839)
- Apr 25 Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian statesman, born in Nærøy, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway (d. 1850)
- Apr 28 Nikita P. Panin, Russian diplomat and minister of Foreign affairs, born in Kharkiv, Ukraine (d. 1837)
David Thompson (1770-1857)
Apr 30 English-Canadian explorer and cartographer (mapped more Canadian territory than anybody else), born in Westminster, England
