The Ancient Greeks believed that the world was round. They suggested that
if the world were a sphere then the Northern region of the world (where
they lived and had explored) must be balanced by a southern
region otherwise the world would tumble over.
The first known explorers to the south began in 1487 when Bartholomeu Dras
de Novaes sailed around the tip of Africa to prove
that the 'Southern Continent' was not attached to Africa.
Many explorers headed south but never found Antarctica. The storms of the
Southern Ocean, the extreme cold and the ice packs kept the explorers from
reaching Antarctica.
Captain Cook was the first known person to sail past the Antarctic Circle
in 1773, yet he did not manage to sight Antarctica. The first part of
Antarctica was sighted by a Russian expedition in 1820. This opened
up the way for more Antarctic expeditions.
- The first person to set foot on Antarctica was Henrik Bull
from Norway in 1895
- The first people to experience an Antarctic winter (darkness for
24 hours), was the crew of the ship Belgica from Belgium. There ship
became trapped in the ice in 1898
- The first explorers to go in to the Antarctica interior to collect
information for scientific research were Englishman Robert Scott and
Ernest Shackleton, in 1902. This also resulted in the first flight over
parts of Antarctica by balloon.
- The first person to reach the South Pole was Roald Admunsen by
dogsled and ski on December 14, 1911. He was from Norway, winning the
race between him and Robert Scott to be the first to the Pole. His trip
took 99 days.
- Robert Scott and 4 others reached the South Pole on 17 January
1912 just a month after Admunsen to discover the Norwegian
flag already flying at the Pole. Scott and the other 4 explorers later
died of starvation on their return to Ross Island.
- In 1928, the first plane landed in Antarctica
- The first woman in Antarctica was Caroline Mikkelsen from Norway
in 1935
- In 1957-8 Vivian Fuchs (English) and Edmund Hillary (New
Zealander) were the first complete a crossing of Antarctica.
Many parts of Antarctica bear the names of the early explorers (e.g.
Ross Island, Scott Base, Ross Sea, Amundsen Sea, Shackleton Ice Shelf,
Weddell Sea)
This material has been produced by UNITEC Institute of Technology
under contract to the Ministry of Education.
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