1 April 2014 - Royal Museums Greenwich have acquired a uniform belonging to Captain James Cook, on which he charted his progress during his famed voyage of the Pacific at the helm of HMS
Endeavour.
The illustration of Cook’s journey followed an unfortunate accident that led to the destruction of the ship’s dwindling supplies, forcing the captain to complete his charts on the nearest material available – his waistcoat. Retrospective entries in Cook’s logbook detail the incident that led to his unprecedented method of mapping his expedition:
‘In a consummate state of excitement resulting from the fantastic new marvels that I had observed, and my urgency to record them, I clumsily knocked a candle over, only to witness the precious paper needed to document my progress go up in flames.’
Experts at Royal Museums Greenwich believe the charts adorning the waistcoat to be the only example on such an item of clothing to be in existence today.
Cook’s uniform, complete with the charted waistcoat, will be on display for the public to see at the Royal Observatory Greenwich as part of the
Longitude Punk’d exhibition, 10 April 2014–4 January 2015.
...all right, we admit it - this is an April Fools' Day story... but it's true that
Longitude Punk'd will be opening at the Observatory on 10 April, celebrating the creations of wacky inventors, star-gazing scientists and extremely elegant explorers of the 18th century. Don't miss it!