Vancouver

George, the English navigator, was born about 1758. He accompanied Cook in his second and third voyages (1772-74 and 1776-79); was made first lieutenant in 1780, and served in the West Indies till 1789. He was in command of the expedition to take over Nortka from the Spaniards in 1791, when he also visited the Cape, Australia, and New Zealand. He spent the three summers of 1792-94 in surveying the coast up to Cook's Inlet, wintering at the Sandwich Islands and on his return home visited the west coast of South; America. He reached England in 1795, and published a narrative of his travels. Vancouver Island was named after him. He died in 1798.