The legendary navigator spent the entire 1770 summer exploring the eastern coasts of Australia. And that got him into trouble. On that day, Cook, in the name of King George III, officially proclaimed the land to be the property of the British crown and named it New South Wales. Today, it is believed that the name came from the fact that the scenery reminded Cook of the Glamorgan coast in South Wales. In any case, the name remained and it is now the oldest state in Australia, with Sydney as its capital.