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Montevideo, March 28th 2024 - 10:36 UTC

Tag: Possession Day

  • Tuesday, January 25th 2022 - 09:12 UTC

    247 anniversary of South Georgia Possession for the British Crown

    Cook and his men on January 1775 were the first to reach the land, plant a British flag, fire a volley of musket shot, and claim the island for King and Country

    Monday, January 17th was South Georgia Possession Day, marking 247 years since the first landing on the island was made by Captain James Cook. The British explorer was on his second world voyage aboard HMS Resolution.

  • Wednesday, February 19th 2020 - 06:48 UTC

    Modern, habitat restored South Georgia recalls Possession Day and James Cook in 1775

    Explorer Cook described what he had discovered as a ‘land doomed by nature to perpetual frigidness’

    Some 245 years and a month ago, James Cook, after 3 years at sea, took possession of South Georgia and claimed the land for His Britannic Majesty, King George the Third. On what must have been a routine summer’s day (January 17th) in the South-West Atlantic, the explorer described what he had discovered as a ‘land doomed by nature to perpetual frigidness’.

  • Friday, February 2nd 2018 - 19:49 UTC

    South Georgia celebrated on 17 January “Possession Day”

    Portrait of Captain James Cook, by John Webber (BBC)

    On 17th January 1775 a small party of men landed on a beach beneath snowy peaks and tumbling glaciers. In charge was an officer by the name of James Cook; the British Flag was planted, a volley of musket shot was fired, and the land was claimed for His Britannic Majesty. Cook named the bay in which he landed Possession Bay. On the 17th January 2018 (and every year) South Georgia marked ‘Possession Day’ with a bank holiday and reception at Government House.