1935 – The first woman to set foot in the Antarctic continent was Caroline Mikkelsen, the wife of a Norwegian whaling captain, when she steps ashore at Vestfold Hills. Shakelton and his crew of five men crossed the mountainous region with no supplies and no mountain climbing equipment and reached the Stromness whaling station. Before leaving on the expedition, he had vowed “to reach the South Pole and to secure for the British Empire the honor of this achievement.”, Scott’s mission was made all the more urgent by the knowledge that another explorer was seeking the Pole. 1907-1909 Ernest Shackleton leads the second British Antarctic Expedition on the Nimrod. 1905-7 – International Geophysical Congress, meeting in London, decides to make Antarctica the main target of future exploration. December 14th. “This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have labored to it without the reward of priority.”. The constellation Ursa Major – the great bear – found in the northern hemisphere was also referred by the Greeks as Arktos meaning “of the north”. Erebus carrying 257 people onboard that included tourist and crew. Pack ice prevented the whaler from reaching Elephant Island. 1910 – Norwegian Roald Amundsen was suppose to head for the North Pole, but took his ship to the South Pole instead. South Pole exploration: Sir Ernest Shackleton In 1907, Ernest Shackleton embarked on an expedition to the South Pole aboard his ship Nimrod . In 1992, Bancroft visited the South Pole for the first time, becoming the first woman in history to travel to both Poles. After sending the dogs back to camp, he and his team were forced to spend much of their journey man-hauling their heavy supply sledges on foot. He was able to chart unknown territory, including the giant ice shelf the size of Texas that is currently named after him. The world’s southernmost point has been continuously inhabited ever since, and its two earliest pioneers are now honored in the name of its permanent research facility: the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Landing on the wrong side of the island, they were forced to cross the mountainous island on foot. 1989 Argentina ship Bahía Paraíso runs aground and sinks just outside Palmer Research Station on Anvers Island. Since I was one of the five who, on that December afternoon, took part in this unveiling, it has fallen to my lot to write -- the history of the South Pole. 1940 – Little America III base is set up at the Bay of Whales under Richard Bryd. The following spring, those left ashore still managed to lay out re-supply depots of rations they had pieced together, unaware of their fate of the Endurance on the other side of the continent. He had been to Antarctica in the late 19th century, and later became the first man in history to sail the treacherous Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The nuclear power plant has a history of fire, radiation leakage, and shutdowns, until it is finally decommissioned in 1972. Fuch’s team met up with Hillary’s Team and continues on to the Ross Sea. Exhausted by weeks of marching into headwinds of at least 30 knots and in -40°F (-40°C) temperatures, Scott and four companions died when they became trapped in a blizzard. 1773 – The Antarctic Circle was crossed for the first time by Captain James Cook in the ships Resolution and Adventure. 1905-7 – International Geophysical Congress, meeting in London, decides to make Antarctica the main target of future exploration. On February 17—more than 20 days after Amundsen’s group had returned to their base camp—a man named Edgar Evans became the first of the British party to die. 1912 – Robert Falcon Scott, Bill Wilson, Henry “Birdie” Bowers, Edward Edgar Evans, and Lawrence ‘Titus’ Oates reach the South Pole one month after Amundsen’s team, and discover the Norwegian flag. The rest of the party struggled on, but was eventually pinned down for eight days by bad weather, ironically just 11 miles (18 km) from their “one-ton” supply depot. Scott had been beaten to the Pole, but his troubles were only beginning. In 1911, British explorer Robert Falcon Scott and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen both aimed to be the first to reach the South Pole. Ross founded and named Cape Adare after Viscount Adare. Erebus in Antarctica. Understanding mathematics and symmetry the Greeks theorized Antarktikos meaning “opposite of north”. The Amundsen-Scott base is built by the United States as part of its Deepfreeze series of expeditions. In 1986, she became the first woman to journey into the North Pole on a dogsled. Terribly discouraged after a tortuous journey, all members perish on the return trip. Ernest Shackleton leads expedition to within 156km / 97mls of the South Pole, turns back after supplies are exhausted. 7th Century – Sailing south to where “white rock-like forms grew out of a frozen sea” a Raratongan traveler, Ui-te-Rangiara, was the first traveler below the Antarctic Circle according to Polynesian lore. Inside you will find extensive biographical data on the early explorers in addition to significant statistics and examples of the philately of Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands. 1916 – The Ross sea support party fared worse. Not a single life was lost. Their ship the Belgica became ice-bound off the Antarctic Peninsula, and they were forced to spend 13 months drifting in pack ice. “Great God!” Scott wrote in his diary. 15 October 1911 Amundsen sets out to reach the South Pole with five men, four sledges and 52 dogs, travelling to pre-prepared depots and killing dogs for food as they go. The remaining party was rescued by the Aurora in January 1917. In 1910, British adventurer Robert Falcon Scott (1868–1912) set out for the South Pole. The History of Antarctic Exploration The Beginnings The history of Antarctic exploration includes national and international politics, social change, ... With the South pole 'conquered' the next challenge became to traverse Antarctica, from one coast to the other across the icecap. January, Australian Douglas Mawson reaches the South Magnetic Pole. It is the southernmost point on the surface of Earth and lies on the opposite side of Earth from the North Pole. Ross determined the approximate position of the South Magnetic Pole but was unable to reach it. However, the next overland expedition to the South Pole was not made until 1958, more than 40 years after Amundsen and Scott's deadly race. The oil slick is believed to have wiped out the blue-eyed shag population in the area. At 82 degrees south, within 450 miles (720 km) they are forced to return home. Norwegian Polar Institute - 1928 - present. 1820 – On January 28, Russian Admiral Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and his deputy Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev approached the Antarctic coast at the coordinates 69o21’28”S and 2o14’50”W. Seventeen of the original 52 dogs would make it to the Pole, and 12 made it back. Amundsen and Scott relied on vastly different forms of transport during their journeys. “The goal was reached,” Amundsen wrote, “our journey ended.”, Over a month later on January 17, 1912, Scott and his weary British team finally reached the Pole. American explorer Richard E. Byrd became the first person to fly over the South Pole, in 1926, and the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station was established thirty years later. He was one of the greatest figures in the field of polar exploration. 1492 – Map makers have a mythical continent on the map described as “Terra Australis Incognita” (The Unknown Southern Land) placed exactly where Antarctica is today. Scott’s five-man party had already endured brushes with blizzards and frostbite during their trek. After numerous attempts to walk and haul their lifeboats to open water the 28 men of the Endurance are forced to camp on floating ice for five months eventually made camp and waited until the pack ice broke up in the spring before taking the boats to Elephant Island. The machines quickly broke down, however, and his ponies grew weak in the cold and had to be shot. He was a veteran explorer who had, among his many credits, pioneered the Northwest Passage. “I am just going outside and may be some time,” he said before leaving the group’s tent and vanishing. South Pole. 2004. They were now less than 80 miles from the finish line, but a single question still loomed over their progress: would they be the first group of men in history to reach the South Pole, or the second? The Treaty states that Antarctica will be used for peaceful and scientific purposes. 1934 – Richard Bryd begins his lone winter sojourn at his base 123 miles inland from the Bay of Whales. Exploration of the South Pole . Bowers took this photograph, using a piece of string to operate the camera shutter. During the next 18 months scientist from 67 countries combine for the geophysical year. The South Pole was exploration's last great prize, and was widely expected to be won by the British. 1911 – Amundsen party set up their base at the Bay of Whales that was 69 miles (105 km) closer to the pole than Scott’s base on Ross Island. Large areas of coastline and hinterland are mapped. 1838 – 1842 American lieutenant Charles Wilkes proves that Antarctica is a continent by identifying over 1500 miles of coast along the area now named Wilkes Land. During this expedition Mawson overcame starvation, poisoning, blizzards, and innumerable falls into gaping crevasses as he struggled back alone to the Winter Quarters at Cape Denison, following the deaths of his sledging companions Xavier Mertz and Belgrade Ninnis. A collection of memoirs, letters, and ships logs starting with Cook’s circumnavigation. After a third attempt, with a Chilean steamer, Yelcho, the whole team was eventually rescued. 1772 – Ice-bound islands in the southern Indian Ocean now identified as Iles Kerguelen were discovered by Yves Joseph de Kerguelen-Tremarec. “Science,” he later admitted, “would have to look after itself.”. 1965 – Antarctica tourism for the public begins. 1830 – A race of expeditions begins to the magnetic poles. Icebreakers are used for the first time. Despite being a featureless flat bit of ice and snow surrounded by identical looking featureless ice and snow for hundreds of miles (at least) in all directions, the South Pole was a very sought after geographical prize, after several attempt to reach it, Norwegian Roald Amundsen arrived there first as part of a team of 5 men with 18 dogs pulling sledges on the 14th of December 1911. The first women to winter over in Antarctica were Edith Ronnie and Jennie Darlinton, who accompanied their husbands on a private American expedition that made a base on Stonington Island on the Antarctic Peninsula. This expeditionary party was whalers looking for Southern Right Whales. 1841 – Great Britain sailor James Clark Ross sailed into what is now known as the Ross Sea. A base is set up at Little America. His expedition had scientific objectives, which included finding out what type of rocks made up the landscape. Scott got underway just a few days later on November 1. On December 14, 1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole. Amundsen, born in Borge, near Oslo, History; South Pole; South Pole. Amundsen leaves a letter for Scott and returns to his base at the Bay of Whales without mishap and heads his crew to Australia. Mawson became very ill of Vitamin A poisoning from eating husky dog livers. 1959 – Antarctic Treaty is signed in Washington, DC with the 12 leading participant countries in the International geophysical Year. There are no survivors. One hundred miles from Cape Dennison, Mertz became delirious and eventually died. Captain Cook’s crew eventually circumnavigates Antarctica crossing the Antarctic Circle 3 times. 1979 – Air New Zealand DC 10 crashes in to Mt. Since then, she has led lots of other exploration missions to both the North and South Pole. At 82 degrees south, within 450 miles (720 km) they are forced to return home. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. It also holds in abeyance all claims to territories in this area. 1911. Reaching the South Pole first and planting a flag was a big prize for explorers from these countries. There's no doubt that Antarctica is an extreme frontier. On December 14, 1911, after 57 days, Admundsen’s team reached the geographic South Pole with four companions and 18 of the 59 dogs. Shakelton and a crew of 5 from Elephant Island navigated 800 miles (1300 km) in an 18 foot (6 m) boat called the James Caird to South Georgia, a whaling port. Antarctic exploration is very ancient. South Pole: A Narrative History of the Exploration of Antarctica. Join Steve Bynum at http://climatechangenewsletters.com as he takes you on a journey to the coldest place on earth, Antarctic Peninsula Climate A Change in Krill Ecosystem. Discover more about the race to reach the South Pole. He reached the South Pole on Jan 17, 1912, a month after Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen did. Britain’s Vivian Fuchs team converted Ferguson farm tractors to cross the Antarctic from the Weddell Sea in the Fuchs Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. It is six years before the site can be used again, after 101 barrels of contaminated rock are shipped back to the United States. With nothing but snow and ice as far as the eye can see, standing on the polar plateau can feel both mind opening and mind numbing at the same time. The severely frostbitten Lawrence Oates followed a month later after sacrificing himself in a blizzard to avoid slowing down the team. Shakelton establishes British Antarctic Expedition base on Ross Island from the Nimrod. They become the first to fly over both poles in an airplane. Mawson and Mertz began the trek back to the base. Norwegian Roald Amundsen becomes the first explorer to reach the South Pole, beating his British rival, Robert Falcon Scott. They all perished. And unlike Scott, whose expedition was burdened by its scientific obligations, Amundsen was focused only on reaching the Pole and returning safely. The British team had reached their destination late in the Antarctic summer, and temperatures were dropping rapidly. 1962 – A nuclear power plant is installed at McMurdo Base by the US Navy. All Rights Reserved. Explorers continued to venture to Antarctica in the years after Amundsen and Scott’s legendary race, but it was not until 1956 that an expedition once again stood on the South Pole. Antarctica is the biggest wilderness on earth and still the least visited of all the continents. Although exploration of Antarctica began in the mid-1800's, attempted exploration of the South Pole did not occur until 1901. The Treaty comes into operation in 1961 and guarantees freedom of access and scientific studies in all areas south of 60 degrees latitude. 1910–1912 – Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition – On 14 December 1911, reached the South Pole (90° S) 1910–1913 – Terra Nova Expedition – On 17 January 1912, Robert Falcon Scott , reached the South Pole (90° S) They began the slow slog north, but exhaustion, frostbite and malnourishment had soon spread through their ranks. Among those in the party were Raold Amundsen, Dr. Frederick Cook, and Henry Arctowski. “It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more.”, Robert Falcon Scott’s Pole party of his ill-fated expedition, from left to right at the Pole: Oates (standing), Bowers (sitting), Scott (standing in front of Union Jack flag on pole), Wilson (sitting), Evans (standing). Roald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer who was the first to reach the South Pole, the first to make a ship voyage through the Northwest Passage, and one of the first to cross the Arctic by air. The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. Two years later, he died in a plane crash while searching for a missing explorer over Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. The Norwegians set out 13 days before Scott and had added the advantage of 59 husky dogs hauling their sleds. All three would perish in their tent just days later. South Pole Expeditions Antarctica: the coldest, driest and wildest continent. 1909. . 1902 – Robert Scott, Edward Wilson, and Ernest Shakelton leave McMurdo Sound for the first real attempt to reach the South Pole. “We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far,” Scott wrote in his last diary entry. On 9 January 1909, Shackleton, Frank Wild, Eric Marshall and Jameson Adams come within 97 miles of the South Pole, but the return trip almost costs them their lives. “Another hard grind in the afternoon and five miles added,” British explorer Robert Falcon Scott wrote in his diary. Even before our conception of the earth's form had taken definite shape, voyages to the South began. 1928 – Australian Hubert Wilkins Expedition makes the first flight in Antarctica from Deception Island across the Antarctic Peninsula in a Lockheed Vega monoplane. This is generally referred to as the beginning of the HEROIC ERA of Antarctic exploration, dating from Adrien de Gerlache 's BELGIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION aboard BELGICA in 1897, extending to Richard Byrd 's FIRST BYRD ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION in 1928. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. He is the first person to winter in the interior of the continent, but almost dies of carbon monoxide poisoning. Parties from Britain, Germany, and Sweden are organized. Amundsen would later write that he “had the same feeling that I can remember as a little boy on the night before Christmas Eve—an intense expectation of what was going to happen.” Finally, on December 14, 1911, he and his companions arrived at the South Pole. 1874 – On a four-year (1872-1876) scientific expedition, the HMS Challenger crosses the Antarctic Circle and is the first steamship to ever do this. The men planted the Norwegian flag, smoked celebratory cigars and posed for snapshots, but they only remained for a few days before beginning the arduous trek back to their base camp. Scott used ponies as well as dogs. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. In that year, Robert Falcon Scott attempted the first expedition from Antarctica's coastline to the South Pole. Scott sets out in the spring for the South Pole. With little food and a makeshift tent they were force to eat the remaining huskies to survive. 1978 – The first human born in Antarctica is from an Argentine base. Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen - Biographical notes 16th July 1872 - 18th June 1928. Scott employed a combination of sled dogs, Manchurian ponies and even a few motorized tractors. Amundsen plants the Norwegian Flag on the South Pole. After wintering on Ross Island, Ernest Shakelton and a team of three others sledged within 97 nautical miles (155 km) of the South Geographic Pole. To their dismay, they spotted the remnants of Amundsen’s camp just as they were approaching. 400 pages. 530 BC -. Undeterred, Amundsen continued his wandering and eventually explored the Arctic both at sea and in a dirigible, which he used to reach the North Pole in 1926. Scott, his friend Dr. Edward Wilson and another man Henry Bowers gamely continued the journey for another few days, but temperatures continued to plunge, and they were later caught in a blizzard only 11 miles away from one of their supply depots. Antarctica - Antarctica - History: Many nations were involved in the discovery and early exploration of Antarctica. Robert Scott’s second expedition returns to Ross Island. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. In 1909, Amundsen had announced a new expedition to navigate the ice floe-riddled waters of the Arctic to the North Pole. 1898 – The first party to live through the winter trapped in pack-ice at the Antarctic Peninsula under a Belgian Adrien de Gerlache and the Belgica expedition. On November 17, American Sealer Nathaniel Palmer, captain of the ship Hero, sights the Antarctic continent and is the first American to set foot on the Antarctic continent. The Norwegians took an untested route that forced them navigate a frozen maze of crevasses, mountains and glaciers, but by early December, they had penetrated farther into the heart of Antarctica than anyone in history. It was with a group of all-women explorers. With frost bite, ‘Titus Oates” realizes that he was slowing the party down, and walked out of his tent never to be seen again. Wilkins successfully traversed most of the length of Graham Land. While on the sledging expedition Ninnis, six dogs and the sled containing most of the food and equipment slipped down a large crevasse, and disappeared. Molluscs, cormorants, penguins and other species were the fatal victims of that disaster. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. In the last 100 years since Antarctic exploration began still only around 350 people have ever made the overland journey from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole. In the process of returning to their winter quarters one of the Ross Sea support died of scurvy. South Pole, southern end of the Earth’s axis, lying in Antarctica, about 300 miles (480 km) south of the Ross Ice Shelf.This geographic South Pole does not coincide with the magnetic South Pole, from which magnetic compasses point and which lies on the Adélie Coast (at about 66°00′ S, 139°06′ E; the magnetic pole moves about 8 miles [13 km] to the northwest each year). Support party held by Sir Edmund Hillary led the way from Ross Island and reaches the South Pole with only 20 gallons (91 liters) of fuel remaining. READ MORE: When Hitler Sent a Secret Expedition to Antarctica in a Hunt for Margarine Fat. Luxury cruises are charted to the Antarctic Peninsula. Before arriving, he sent a letter to Scott, who was still outfitting his own expedition in Australia. In July 1895, the Sixth International Geographical Congress was held in London for the primary purpose of rekindling interest in Antarctic exploration. Robert F. Scott and two of his four companions set out for the South Pole pulling a sled. 1957- International Geophysical Year begins with Antarctica as the main study. This is the first time the Antarctic continent was crossed. A member of Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole stands on a water-worn iceberg near Mt. Studying astronomy the ancient Greeks theorized of the southern region of earth. 1 November 1911 Scott’s main party sets out. In the early 1910s, explorers Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott engaged in a frantic, and ultimately tragic, race to be the first man to reach the South Pole. This expedition is to lay the foundation for modern oceanography. The Stunning Survival Story of Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition, When Hitler Sent a Secret Expedition to Antarctica in a Hunt for Margarine Fat. 1915 – Ernest Shakelton was set on crossing the Antarctic continent, but after being trapped in pack ice, is forced to abandon the Endurance, after it is crushed in the Weddell Sea after nine months. Finally, on October 20, 1911, conditions improved enough for his five-man team to begin their dash to the Pole. This site is dedicated to the stamps, postal history and heroic explorers of the great White Continent. Amundsen, meanwhile, relied solely on skis and sled dogs to cross the tundra. After spending the early part of 1911 laying down advance caches of food and supplies for their polar journeys, Amundsen and Scott’s expeditions took shelter and spent several months waiting out the dark and frigid Antarctic winter. The number of bases on the continent is increased from 28 to 40 bases. 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