Antarctica - History & culture

The Antarctic Continent was first discovered in 1820. The honour of who first sighted the continent is however still disputed.

In 1901 Robert Falcon Scott, an officer in the Royal Navy, led the Discovery expedition to Victoria Land. With companions Edward Wilson and Ernest Shackleton, he made a trek towards the South Pole, reaching 82°S before having to turn back.

In 1910, Roald Amundsen set out in direct competition with Captain Robert Scott to reach the South Pole. On 14 December 1911 Amundsen first reached the South Pole, 33 days ahead of Scott's expedition. Scott's return journey was plagued by ferociously bad weather and by 29 March 1912, all five men were dead.

In early December 1914, Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated Endurance entered the Weddell Sea only to be trapped in pack ice by 19 January 1915. The ship finally sank in November of that year, with pack ice so thick they were unable to drag the 3 lifeboats and supplies to either water or land. In April 1916 they finally launched three boats and reached Elephant Island 6 days later. Shackleton set off in the largest boat with 5 companions on 24 April, reaching South Georgia 16 days later. All of Shackleton's men left on Elephant Island survived and were rescued by Shackleton onboard the Chilean vessel Yelcho on 30 August 1916.

In 1958 the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by Vivian Fuchs and Sir Edmund Hillary, was the first overland trans-continental expedition.