The British Naval Officer Who Was Killed by Hawaiian Villagers on a Beach at Kealakekua Bay After a Stolen Cutter and a Misjudged Hostage Plan
Captain James Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay on Hawaii Island on 14 February 1779. He had returned to repair a broken mast, conflict had escalated after a ship's cutter was stolen, and his attempt to take the Hawaiian high chief Kalani'opu'u hostage in retaliation produced a beach fight in which he was struck on the head and stabbed multiple times. He was 50.
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