American Toby Jug Museum 

Captain James Cook character jug produced by Roy Charles Asplin of Niagara, Ontario, Canada, circa 1970. James Cook (1728-1779), England's most famous eighteenth-century navigator, is considered one of the world's greatest explorers. He commanded three voyages of discovery for Great Britain and sailed around the world twice. His voyages led to the establishment of colonies throughout the Pacific by several European countries. In the Endeavor he commanded a scientific expedition to Tahiti to observe a solar eclipse by Venus. The first European to visit New Zealand, Cook circumnavigated the islands, then charted part of Australia, claiming all of Eastern Australia for Britain. In his second around-the-world voyage he sailed around parts of Antarctica, and discovered several Pacific Island groups. On his third voyage he became the first known European to reach the Hawaiian Islands. Looking for a possible northern sea route between Europe and Asia, Cook sailed up the northwest coast of North America and entered the Arctic Ocean. Great walls of ice blocked the expedition, so Cook headed back to the Hawaiian Islands. He was stabbed to death a year later by Hawaiian natives while investigating the theft of a boat by an islander.