Ptolemy, a Greco-Roman astronomer who lived around 100 – 170 CE, thought that an enormous far-southern landmass must exist in order to provide a planetary counterweight to … Often described as a continent of superlatives, Antarctica is the world’s southernmost continent. Archived. With this he became the first head of government and state to visit Antarctica. ... Antarctica is clearly a sociopath as the only he's happy or smiles is when he is surrounded by dead bodies. While the depots were never used, the group managed to cover 1,356 miles across the ice laying supplies. The United States of we shut your 3rd eye for a damn reason. The party treks without sleep across the unmapped island, finally reaching the Norwegian whaling station at Stromness on 20 May. Culture, In the Spotlight, PORTLAND, ... South America, the Indian subcontinent and Antarctica. Some content is licensed under a Creative Commons license, and other content is completely copyright-protected. Explorers wanted to win the Race to the South Pole more than understand Antarcticas environment. Shackleton and the rescue party finally reach South Georgia 17 days later, but are forced to land on the uninhabited side of the island. Current weather in Antarctica, with temperatures in 15 cities, including high and low temperatures for the country. It replaced Wilkies station, and later, the Casey tunnel. A Brief History of Antarctica in Maps By Oceanwide Expeditions 02-04-2018 07:31:56 From Terra Australis to Antarctica. 1901-1904 Captain Robert Falcon Scott leads his first expedition to the Antarctic in the specially built ship Discovery. In 1901-03 a German expedition to Antarctica was led by Erich von Drygalski. 1992-1993 Ranulph Fiennes and Dr Mike Stroud become the first people to cross the Antarctic continent unsupported, without assistance or extra supplies. A brief history of the continent has been discussed below. 23 June 1961 The Antarctic Treaty comes into force, an international agreement establishing how the continent should be protected and governed. 2 3 7 732. Discover more about James Cook’s voyage to the Antarctic Circle. Amundsen set out in a ship called the Fram in June 1910 The expedition reached Antarctica in January 1911. Read more: the shoes that survived – caring for Captain Scott’s shoes. The first man to reach the South Pole was a Norwegian named Roald Amundsen (1872-1928). Amundsen’s brother Leon had sent Scott a telegram, simply saying: ‘Beg leave to inform you Fram proceeding Antarctica. Three men died during the expedition. 24 April 1916 Six men including Shackleton leave on the James Caird in search of rescue, planning to sail 800 miles to the whaling stations of South Georgia. Casey station: a brief history Home About Antarctica History History of Australian Antarctic stations Casey. However the Greeks and later peoples had no way of proving it. They were equipped with skis and dogs for pulling sleds. Their trip to Antarctica also included the construction of 50 handmade dwellings stitched from national flags, clothing and other objects that symbolize Antarctica’s borderless possibilities. The continent is divided into two regions, known as East and West Antarctica. Around the same time, Royal Navy officer Edward Bransfield reported seeing ‘high mountains, covered with snow’ during a British mapping expedition. However, their ship broke free and the men left behind were not rescued until January 1917. 5 January 1922 Ernest Shackleton dies of a heart attack during an expedition to the Antarctic on board the Quest. During the expedition, Ross discovers the Ross Sea and Ross Ice Shelf: this region would later serve as the starting point for both Amundsen and Scott’s expeditions to the South Pole in 1911. They reached it on 14 December 1911. Expedition ship Discovery in Antarctica But it was not until the early 1900s that Antarctica would really seize the headlines. His body was never found. They find Amundsen’s tent and realise they have been beaten. Marisol Maddox, Arctic Analyst with the Polar Institute, began the event by introducing the speakers and providing a brief introduction to U.S. interests in the Arctic. 16-17 March 1912 Scott’s diary records Captain Lawrence Oates’s death. First sighting of Antarctica. According to Scott, Oates walked out of his tent with the words, ‘I am just going outside and may be some time’. Mawson finally returned to base on 8 February 1912, only to discover that his ship had left just hours before. Lying in the Antarctic Circle that rings the southern part of the globe, Antarctica is the fifth largest continent. In 1958 Edmund Hilary reached the South Pole. Mount Everest climber Edmund Hillary leads part of the mission, laying supplies for the crossing party as far as the South Pole. The initial plan included the use of ponies, dogs and tractors to carry supplies, with only the final push to the Pole using manpower alone. Outlines the history of Antarctic exploration from the Greek philosophers of 500 BC to the adoption of the minerals regime in 1988. In 1991, the Treaty expanded to agree not to explore for oil or other minerals for at least 50 years. In the early days, voyages to Antarctica involved hunting seals or whales and undertaking scientific studies and geographical surveys to try to better understand the newly discovered continent. It was later sold to Argentina. 20 February 1935 Danish Norwegian explorer Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot on Antarctica. A Brief History of Antarctica – Magellanica. The first person to actually see the Antarctic mainland has been debated: in the last week of January, Thaddeus von Bellingshausen reported seeing ‘an ice shore of extreme height’ during a Russian expedition to the Antarctic. How Antarctica Became Isolated (and cold) A Geological Timeline Antarctica used to have a tropical climate, it cooled down slowly over many millions of years for three main reasons: 1 - the continent drifted south until it settled over the South Pole. 1337uania. The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. 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. Antarctica is about 5.5 million square miles (14.2 million square km) in size, and thick ice covers about 98 percent of the land. 1 November 1911 Scott’s main party sets out. He crossed it 3 times but failed to find land. Seventeen of the original 52 dogs would make it to the Pole, and 12 made it back. Scott arrived in Antarctica in January 1911 and he set out for the South Pole in October. Originally published by Royal Museums Greenwhich under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license. Captain Cook’s expedition 50 years previously never sighted land. Since large-scale glaciations there are not restricted to the Quaternary Period, the paper will first present a brief summary of the pre -Quaternary history, then proceed with a general overview of the Pleistocene record, and finish with A Brief History of Antarctica Posted by admin December 24, 2009 On Dec. 1, 1959, representatives from a dozen countries, including the U.S., Japan and the U.K. met in Washington to sign a treaty intended to keep the Cold War out of the coldest place on Earth. knowledge of the glacial and climate history of Antarctica. 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. 29 March 1912 The remaining three explorers are around 11 miles from their final depot at One Ton when Scott writes his final diary entry: ‘Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. 98% of Antarctica is covered by a gigantic ice sheet, averaging 1.6 kilometers (1.0 mi) thick, which contains about 60% of the world's fresh water.The continent has the most extreme climate of any continent, experiencing the world's lowest temperatures and least rain. The name Antarctica comes from the Greek word antarktiké meaning 'opposite to the north.' Amundsen.’. Today many nations maintain bases in Antarctica. Although it is now a frozen wilderness Antarctica was once much further north and it had a tropical or semi-tropical climate. Scott discovered that he was in a ‘race’ on 13 October after landing in Melbourne, Australia. However, setbacks and equipment failure meant that Scott would have to man-haul far further and on fewer provisions than he had originally planned. In the process he leads just the third group to reach the South Pole, and the first to do so in vehicles. Brief History of the Antarctic, seen from the Ham Radio Communication’s world. Discover more about the race to reach the South Pole. “Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration” (1897-1922). Then in 1897-98, a Belgian named Adrien de Gerlache led another expedition to the Antarctic. Nearly 1000 years later, Europeans reached Antarctic waters. Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email. Also in 1901-1903, a Swedish expedition was led by Nils Nordenskjold. The History of Antarctica starts off with the European discoverers. In 1935 Caroline Mikkelsen became the first woman to land on Antarctica. 19 January 1915 Endurance becomes stuck in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea. Photo: Peter Cummings. If all countries that are party to this agreement, of which there are 29, agreed otherwise, there could be … 9 April 1916 Unable to remain on the sea ice any longer, the party abandon their ‘Ocean Camp’ in three lifeboats: the James Caird, the Dudley Docker and the Stancomb-Willis. January 1820: Antarctica is first sighted. Among the crew on the ship is Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, later to become the first person to reach the South Pole. 29 November 1929 Expedition leader Richard Byrd, pilot Bernt Balchen, co-pilot Harold June and radio operator Ashley McKinley become the first people to fly over the South Pole. The Weddell Sea is named after him, as is the Weddell seal – the most southerly breeding land mammal in the world. However, on 29 November 1929, an American called Richard Byrd actually flew over the South Pole. All 28 men survived. The first polar pleasure trips took place in the Arctic, starting in 1893 along the Northern Norway coastline. It is also the world’s highest, driest, windiest, coldest, and iciest continent. The resulting bases were later given over to scientific research, and became the foundation for the British Antarctic Survey in 1962. 26 February 1914 Australian explorer Douglas Mawson returns to Australia after a two-year Antarctic expedition. 15 December 1911 At 3pm Roald Amundsen becomes the first person to reach the South Pole. ‘Great God!’ wrote Scott, ‘this is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority. Scott and his crew leave Cardiff on the Terra Nova on 15 June; Amundsen departs Kristiansand on 9 August on the Fram. During a sledging journey, Mawson was forced to trek over 100 miles alone following the death of his two companions, Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier Mertz. During the National Antarctic Expedition, Scott, Ernest Shackleton and EA Wilson travelled to within 410 miles of the South Pole before they were forced to turn back on 30 December 1902. 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