-
Period: to
Antarctica Explorers
-
James Cook
In 1773 James Cook crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time but, although he discovered nearby islands, he did not catch sight of Antarctica itself. It is believed he was as close as 241 kilometres from the mainland. James Cook travelled 2011.68 kilometres from the South Pole. -
John Richardson
Richardson was born at Dumfries. He studied medicine at Edinburgh University, and became a surgeon in the navy in 1807. He traveled with John Franklin in search of the Northwest Passage on the Coppermine Expedition of 1819–1822. Richardson wrote the sections on geology, botany and icthyology for the official account of the expedition. -
Pyotr Fyodorovich Anjou
Pyotr Fyodorovich Anjou was an Arctic explorer and an admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy. -
Fabian von Bellingshausen
Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen was an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, cartographer and explorer, who ultimately rose to the rank of Admiral. In 1820, several expeditions claimed to have been the first to have sighted Antarctica, with the very first being the Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. The first landing was probably just over a year later when American Captain John Davis, a sealer, set foot on the ice. -
James Weddell
James Weddell was a British sailor, navigator and seal hunter who in the early spring of 1823 sailed to latitude of 74°15' S and into a region of the Southern Ocean that later became known as the Weddell Sea. -
James Ross
Sir James Clark Ross was a British naval officer and explorer remembered today for his exploration of the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry and, in particular, his own expedition to Antarctica. -
Salomon August Andrée
Salomon August Andrée during his lifetime most often known as S. A. Andrée, was a Swedish engineer, physicist, aeronaut and polar explorer who died while leading an attempt to reach the Geographic North Pole by hydrogen balloon. The balloon expedition was unsuccessful in reaching the Pole and resulted in the deaths of all three of its participants. -
Sir Douglas Mawson
Sir Douglas Mawson, was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer and Academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Mawson was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. -
Hugh Evans
Hugh Evans crossed Antarctica on his first expedition. Hugh Evans was also the first Antarctic explorer to use huskies. -
Ernest Shackelton
Shackleton first went to the Antarctic on Captain Robert Scott's 1901-1904 expedition but he was sent home as he was ill. In 1907 he returned to the Antarctic and in January 1909 was part of a group who walked further south than anyone had ever been before, travelling to within 190 kilometres of the South Pole . In 1912 the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the leader of the first group to reach the South Pole. Shackleton decided on a new target, he wanted to walk across Antarctica from o -
Sir Jameson Adams
Sir Jameson Adams was an Antarctic explorer with the Nimrod Expedition, the first expedition led by Ernest Shackleton in an unsuccessful attempt to reach the South Pole. Nevertheless, he was one of the party of four who reached the Polar Plateau for the first time ever, thus showing the way to the Pole. On 9 January 1909 they attained a Furthest South of 88°23′S 162°00′E, just 97 miles (156 km) from the South Pole, when they were forced by impending starvation to turn back. -
Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole. Roald Amundsen was in a race with Robert Scott to see who could reach the South Pole first. Once the North Pole had been reached in 1909, several expeditions attempted to reach the South Pole. Many resulted in injury and death. Norwegian Roald Amundsen finally reached the Pole on December 14, 1911, following a dramatic race with the Englishman Robert Falcon Scott. -
Robert F. Scott
Robert Falcon Scott was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13. -
Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian polar explorer who was the first person to fly over the North Pole and was the first person to reach the South Pole -
Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd
Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr., USN was an American naval officer who specialized in feats of exploration. He was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. -
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Sir Ranulph Fiennes has led over 30 expeditions to the North and South Poles, the desert, the Nile, and many other remote places. Sir Ranulph Fiennes crossed the Antarctic continent. -
Antarctic Treaty
The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by 12 countries. More countries have signed the treaty since then. So far, 46 countries have signed the treaty. The treaty declares that military activities and mineral mining are against the law. However, it supports scientific research. It also helps the continent's ecozone. More than 4,000 scientists from different nations and different interests experiment together -
First Woman to Antarctica
Ann Bancroft was the first woman ever to go to Antarctica. -
Josée Auclair
On five occasions between 1999 and 2004, Josée skied to the North Pole as part of the "last degree expeditions" organised by Canadian Arctic Holidays, the Arctic expeditions and adventure company she operates with her husband. She acted as the assistant-guide on four of these expeditions but in April 2001, it was in the shoes of the expedition leader that she guided the very first all-women team to ski to the North Pole from a Russian base. -
Stian Aker
Stian Aker is a Norwegian polar explorer. He won the race to the South Pole as a member of "Team Missing Link".