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A brief history of the exploration of Antarctica |
What else was happening in the world? |
Other stuff |
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1773 In January, James Cook crosses the Antarctic circle and circumnavigates Antarctica, though he doesn't sight land, deposits of rock seen in icebergs showed that a southern continent exists. His comment - "I make bold to declare that the world will derive no benefit from it". 1819 - 21
He made the first sighting of the continent, reaching 69° 21'S, 2° 14'W - describing an "icefield covered with small hillocks." on Jan 27th 1820. For some considerable time, exactly who and when first set eyes on Antarctica were in dispute as British naval officers, William Smith and Edward Bransfield also saw Antarctica on Jan 30th the same year - followed by American sealer Nathaniel Palmer on Nov 16th. This was the first time a continent had truly been "discovered" (i.e. there weren't any native peoples living there who'd known about it for ages already). All sightings are of the Antarctic Peninsula. 1821
In the winter of 1821, for the first time ever a party of men spent a winter in Antarctica. An officer and ten men from a British sealing ship the Lord Melville had to spend the winter on King George Island - part of the South Shetlands group, north of the Antarctic Peninsula. The ship had been driven offshore and did not return to pick them up again. They were rescued the following summer. 1823
1840's Separate British, French and American expeditions establish the status of Antarctica as a continent after sailing along continuous coastline. In 1840, British naval officer and scientist James Clark Ross takes two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, to within 80 miles of the coast until stopped by a massive ice barrier - now called the Ross Ice Shelf. He also discovers the active volcano that he names after his ship Erebus, and identifies 145 new species of fish (not personally you understand - a scientist on the ship did that bit).
1898 March. Adrien de Gerlache and the crew of the "Belgica" become trapped in pack ice off the Antarctic Peninsula in the first scientific expedition to the continent. They become the first to survive an Antarctic winter (involuntarily!) as their ship drifts with the ice (they didn't enjoy it).
Carsten Borchgrevink leads a British expedition that landed men at Cape Adare and built huts. This was the first time that anyone had wintered on the Antarctic landmass. Believed by some historians to be the first confirmed landing on continental Antarctica. 1902 Captain Scott, UK, leads his first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole, with Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson. They are forced to turn back two months later having reached 82 degrees south, suffering from snow blindness and scurvy.
1907 - 1909 Shackleton leads expedition to within 156km / 97mls of the South Pole, turns back after supplies are exhausted. 1909 January, Australian
Douglas Mawson reaches the
South Magnetic Pole. 1911
1912
December.
Douglas Mawson begins his
trek across George V Land back to his base at Commonwealth Bay. His
two companions had died, and against the odds he makes it home. A new section
of coast is discovered and described, and radio is used for the first time
in Antarctica. 1915 October. Shackleton returns to Antarctica in an attempt to complete the first crossing of the continent. The goal is not attained, but one of the greatest adventures of all time follows. Their ship is crushed in the sea ice and a small party sets out for South Georgia and the whaling station. The party is eventually rescued in 1917. 1923. The beginning of large-scale factory ship whaling in the Ross Sea.
Australian Sir George Wilkins and American Carl Benjamin Eielson are the first to fly over Antarctica around the peninsula region. 1929 Richard E. Byrd and three others - US - become the first to fly over the South Pole. 1935 Lincoln Ellsworth - US - flies across the continent. Caroline Mikkelsen, Norway, is the first woman to set foot on Antarctica when she accompanies her husband, a whaling captain. 1947 Operation Highjump - US - sends the largest ever expedition of over 4700 men, 13 ships and 23 airplanes to Antarctica. Most of the coast is photographed for map making. 1956 US aircraft lands at South Pole. First people there since Scott and his team in 1912. 1st July 1957 - 31st Dec 1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY) 12 nations establish over 60 stations in Antarctica. The beginning of international cooperation in Antarctica and the start of the process by which Antarctica becomes "non-national". The first successful land crossing via the South Pole is led by British geologist Vivian Fuchs with New Zealander Edmund Hillary leading the back up party, over 40 years after Shackleton's expedition set out with the same aim. 1961 Antarctic treaty comes into effect. 1997 Boerge Ousland (Norway) becomes first person to cross Antarctica unsupported. Taking 64 days from Berkner Island to Scott base towing a 180kg (400lb) sled and using skis and a sail. March 2007 - March 2009 International Polar Year - Actually Spans two years in order that researchers get the opportunity to work in both polar regions or work summer and winter if they wish. |
1776 - USA becomes independent from Great Britain 1780 - James Watt perfects the steam engine 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
1830 - World's first railway opens 1840 - Victoria becomes queen of Great Britain
1859 - Darwin publishes "Origin of Species"
1885 - Karl Benz builds the first motor car
1896 - Marconi invents wireless telegraph (radio)
1901 - Australia becomes an independent nation. Queen Victoria dies. End of the Victorian era. President McKinley shot, USA. Roosevelt takes over
1903 - Wright brothers make the first powered flight of an airplane Marie Curie becomes first woman to win a Nobel prize 1908 - Ford motor company produce the "Model T"
1910 - Republic of South Africa established
1912 - Titanic sinks on maiden voyage killing 1500 people
1914- 1918 World War I
1919 Professor Ernest Rutherford splits the atom
1927 Al Jolson stars in the "Jazz Singer" the first talkie film
1930's - Great depression era
1939 - 1945 World War II 1947 - Picard invents the bathyscaphe and descends to 4000m in the ocean. 1953 Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tensing climb Mount Everest for the first time
1969 - Men first walk on the moon |
Lets pretend to be Ancient Greeks
If the logic is sound and argument convincing, it could be taken as the "Truth". The landmasses on Earth have been pretty much sorted out, so how about another planet - say Venus. Can't see the surface - too cloudy No contact ever, no radio waves - very primitive. Closer to sun than us - hot and sweaty. Similar (ish) to Earth ages ago. Humid - probably rainforests every where, very ancient = Dinosaurs, Bingo!
But hey, it's convincing and that's probably good enough. This idea of dinosaurs on Venus was "common knowledge" in the 1800's! *************************** Sealers Finger - The Seals Revenge!
*************************** Wrap up warm
Early Antarctic explorers had to make do with heavy layers of itchy woollen fabrics and outer layers that would soak up the moisture produced by sweat. Getting dressed in the morning would often involve putting on layers that were frozen solid with ice in the fabric. As the garments gradually warmed up, they would become more flexible. The same would happen to pretty much any clothing that was taken off before bed.
Eat well Early explorers weren't as knowledgeable about nutrition in cold climates either (they learned much that we know today by finding out the hard way). Humans get through much more food in a cold climate, burning it up and converting it to heat rather than energy for physical activity. Early explorers therefore often went out relatively under stocked with food. This had a limiting effect on the achievements of the earliest expeditions. High energy combined with low weight is the best sort of food for expeditions in cold climates. This usually meant a diet high in fat. Early expeditions also went out with their food largely tinned or dried, this meant that it was low in vitamins that are destroyed by the canning process. Scurvy was therefore a very real problem.
Divide your food the Antarctic explorers way
Crumbs also became important. When sledging biscuits were broken up, it was done over something that would catch the falling crumbs so that nothing went to waste. The crumbs too were divided up fairly. *************************** |
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Captain
Thaddeus Bellingshausen a Russian naval officer in the Vostok and Mirny
circumnavigates the Antarctic, first to cross the Antarctic circle since
Cook.
February
the 7th. 1st known landing on continental Antarctica by American sealer
Captain John Davis, though this is not acknowledged by all historians.
British
whaler James Weddell discovers the sea named after him and then reaches
the most southerly point at that time 74° 15' S. No one else manages to
penetrate the Weddell sea again for 80 years.
December
14th. Norwegian 
January
18th. Britain's Captain 
1928
Perform
a thought experiment like the ancient scientists and philosophers.
Seals
mouths are full of a very rich and varied fauna of exotic bacteria
(as a friend of mine, an old Antarctic hand, would describe it
they're "goppin"). While trying to kill seals, sealers would often get bitten
(hurrah!) and frequently on the fingers. The result would be a very nasty
and painful infection as the finger went septic, followed by the loss of
the use of that finger. It would still be there but completely immobile
- known as "Sealers Finger".
Today's
scientists and explorers have the benefits of modern fabrics and materials
to help keep warm, windproof and dry. These materials are comfortable
and lightweight and make conditions much better than in the early days.
1900
- 1916 is known as the
Emotions
about food on sledging expeditions frequently became almost obsessive.
The traditional way of sharing out the often meagre rations was for
the days appointed cook to divide the days food into as many equal portions
as there were people as fairly as he could. One of the party would then
turn his back, the cook would point to a portion and ask "whose?" The man
who's turn it was would give the name of who would have that portion. This
was done to avoid arguing about who received the largest meal. There were
still sometimes complaints though that the cook and the person naming the
meals had some kind of secret system organized between them. 
