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Aye, Aye, Captain!
You’re probably familiar with the names of a few famous sea captains—real and fictitious. The swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, the pirate-villain Captain Hook in Peter Pan, and of course, Captain William Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty.
On June 22, 2007, Canada Post issued a single international rate ($1.55) stamp to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of another famous captain and explorer whose name might sound familiar to you—Captain George Vancouver.
Vancouver’s adventurous and exciting career probably began when he was a 16-year-old seaman serving on Captain James Cook’s ship, Resolution, during Cook’s second great voyage. By his mid-twenties, Vancouver had narrowly escaped death on the island of Hawaii (the day before Captain James Cook was killed on the same island), sailed the world twice, and gained his first commission.
As captain of the ship Discovery, Captain Vancouver is credited with undertaking the last of the great voyages of exploration embarked upon by 18th century European sailors. He bestowed almost 400 place names that are still used today, including the largest island on the west coast of North America, Vancouver Island, and Canada’s largest west-coast city, Vancouver, British Columbia.
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