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EXPLORERS
This is a timeline of the most famous Antarctic expeditions -
Sir James Clark Ross
James Clark Ross thought the land was worth exploring and, between 1839 and 1843, he took two ships, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror. Ross was possibly the first to establish that Antarctica was a continent, not just a series of islands. Ross discovered the Victoria Barrier, a massive ice shelf that was later named after him. -
Robert Falcon Scott
When it comes to something as historic as reaching the South Pole, there is no shame in taking second place. Robert Falcon Scott’s first expedition to the Antarctic was in 1901, but his crew’s lack of experience and the lack of proper supplies resulted in the expedition’s need to be rescued by relief ships. While this expedition was a success, many were surprised at Scott’s declaration that he would be the first man to reach the south pole, after barely surviving his first trip -
Ernest Shackleton
Tragically, this expedition was put to a halt when Shackleton’s ship (ironically called the HMS Endurance) was trapped in pack ice and eventually crushed, stranding the crew the near by Elephant Island. For almost a year the crew survived on seal, penguin and whale meat. They used seal blubber to make oil for fires to stay warm, and in one popular photo were seen playing soccer on the ice shelf. -
Sir Edgeworth David
Welsh Australian coal magnate and geologist, Sir Edgeworth David, was part of the first expedition to attempt to reach the southern magnetic pole; he and his men lived off a diet of seals and penguins while exploring the southern coasts.He successfully found the south magnetic pole, in 1909, for which he received the Muller Medal from the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science. -
Nobu Shirase
While most of history remembers Scott and Amundsen heroically racing for the pole around 1911, few remember the Japanese navy’s expedition around the same time. Nobu Shirase and his crew were the first human beings to make landfall on Edward VII peninsula, in 1911. -
Roald Amundsen
Amundsen is possibly one of the most well known polar explorers in history, and has the unique distinction of being the first man to reach both the north and south pole in his lifetime. He and his men trekked across hundreds of miles of totally unexplored mountainous regions and planted their flag on the south pole on December 14th, 1911 naming the area “Polheim” or “Land of the pole”. Not disliking his polar rival, Amundsen left a note for Scott -
Richard Evelyn Byrd
1929, When aircraft and flight were still in their infancy, US Naval officer Richard Evelyn Byrd, a Pilot and a photographer took a rickety Ford Tri-motor and became one of the first people to fly over the South Pole -
Sir Edmund Hillary
He was the first person to summit Mt Everest and now he has traveled to the south pole. In 1958 he led the New Zealand Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
