1769 Transit of Venus observed from Tahiti search for the alleged southern continent. HMS Bark "Endeavour" was chosen to take the astronomers and other scientists to Tahiti. James Cook was commissioned as Lieutenant and appointed to command the vessel. Cook was the obvious choice as he was an outstanding seaman with navigational qualifications, a capable astronomer and had observed a 1766 annular eclipse in Newfoundland that was communicated to the Royal Society by John Bevis. Once the "Endeavour" arrived on the island, Cook decided to set up the Venus transit observatory on shore. He required a completely stable platform which the ship could not provide and plenty
Tahiti Trot Tahiti Trot Tahiti Trot, Op. 16, is Dmitri Shostakovich's 1927 orchestration of an arrangement of "Tea for Two" from the musical "No, No, Nanette" by Vincent Youmans. It had previously been arranged by the composer Boris Fomin (1900-1948) for inclusion in his operetta "The Career of Pierpont Blake" (Карьера Пирпойнта Блэка) in 1926, with Russian lyrics by Konstantin Podrevsky (1888-1930), who had given the new lyrics the title "Tahiti Trot." Shostakovich wrote it in response to a challenge from conductor Nikolai Malko: after the two listened to the song "Tahiti Trot" on record at Malko's house, Malko bet 100 roubles