ONE of the men of the millennium, Captain James Cook, will be the focus of Friday's Yorkshire Day celebrations.
A token will be presented to Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Ashok Kumar in a ceremony also designed to mark the 275th anniversary of Cook's birth.
The event is one of many organised in the seafaring explorer's home town of Middlesbrough, now Cleveland, this year.
A replica vessel of HM Bark Endeavour will dock on the Tees and an archaeological dig has been organised to verify the site of the cottage in which Cook was born in Marton. Other musical and children's events are planned from Hartlepool to Whitby.
"This celebration of Cook's birth and achievements gives an impetus to our work in promoting the area that bears his name - Captain Cook Country," said Dennis Weller of the Captain Cook Tourism Association. "He is acknowledged internationally and his name is synonymous with discovery and adventure."
Cook was top of a Yorkshire Man of the Millennium poll.
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