Yves Joseph de Kerguelen-Tremarec discovers a group of icebound islands in the southern Indian Ocean now known as Iles Kerguelen. Captains James Cook and the crew of the Resolution and Adventure become the first men to cross the Antarctic Circle. They eventually circumnavigate Antarctica crossing the Antarctic circle three times. First sighting of the Antarctic Peninsula by Nathaniel Palmer, Bransfield and Smith. On a separate journey, Thaddeus von Bellingshausen sights an icefield at 69 degrees south and lays claim to being the first person to set eyes on the Antarctic continent. Dumont D'Urville in the Astrolabe and Zelee sight Adelie Land followed by Wilkes. HMS Challenger crosses the Antarctic Circle, the first steamship to do so on a four-year scientific cruise of the world.
The Belgica expedition under Adrien de Gerlache finds itself trapped in the Antarctic Peninsula pack ice and spends a year drifting helplessly with the ice. The party is the first to live through an Antarctic winter.
In the first serious attempt to reach the South Pole, Robert Scott, Edward Wilson and Ernest Shackleton leave McMurdo Sound. At 82 degrees south they are forced to return home. Erich von Drygalski and the members of the official German expedition on the Gauss sight a high vertical wall of ice and name it Wihelm II Land.
The International Geographical Congress, meeting in London, decides to make Antarctica the main target of future exploration. This launches an era of government-sponsored national expeditions. Within a short time parties from Britain, Germany and Sweden are being organized.
Ernest Shackleton, Frank Wild, Eric Marshall and Jameson Adams begin their attempt to reach the South Pole. Roald Amundsen heads for the South Pole rather than the North as officially announced. Meanwhile, Robert Scott's second expedition returns to Ross Island. Scott sets out in the spring once again for the South Pole.
Mawson and six others are forced to spend a second midwinter at Cape Denison.
Ernest Shackleton aged only 48 dies of a heart attack on board the Quest on his final expedition to Antarctica. Wilkins' expedition makes the first flight in Antarctica. Richard Byrd and three others take off in a Ford monoplane from his base at the Bay of Whales and head for the South Pole. They become the first to fly over either pole in an airplane. Mawson leads two voyages of the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) aboard the Discovery. British sovereignty proclaimed at seven locations including Cape Denison. (5 Jan 1931) Richard Byrd begins his lone winter sojourn at his advance base 123 miles inland from the Bay of Whales. He is the first person to winter in the interior of the continent, but almost dies of carbon monoxide poisoning. Caroline Mikkelsen, the wife of a Norwegian whaling captain, becomes the first woman to land on the Antarctic continent when she steps ashore at the Vestfold Hills.
The United States Services Expedition under Richard Byrd establishes Little America III base at the Bay of Whales. Operation Highjump, organized by the United States Navy, brings 4,000 men, 13 ships and 23 aircraft to Antarctica. A base is set up at Little America, icebreakers are used for the first time and two groups work around the continent. Large areas of the coastline and hinterland are mapped - with 70, 000 aerial photographs.
The International Geophysical Year begins, with Antarctica as the main area of study. During the next 18 months, scientists from 67 countries combine in an ambitious and successful program of cooperation. The number of bases on the continent is increased from 28 to 40. One of these, Amundsen-Scott, is built by the United States at the South Pole as part of its Deepfreeze series of expeditions. The 12 leading participants in the International Geophysical Year sign the Antarctic Treaty in Washington, stating that the continent will continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. The treaty comes into operation in 1961 and guarantees freedom of access and scientific investigation in all areas south of 60 degrees latitude. It also holds in abeyance all claims to territory in this area. The United States Navy installs a nuclear power plant at McMurdo base. The plant has an expensive history of fire, radiation leakage and shutdowns, until it is finally decommissioned in 1972. It is six years before the site can be used again, after 101 barrels of contaminated rock are shipped back to the United States. Antarctic tourism begins in earnest. Lars-Eric Lindblad, the owner of a New York travel company, charters annual luxury cruises to the Antarctic Peninsula. Other operators soon enter the field. In 1977 Qantas starts day excursion flights over the continent. Solo yatchsman David Lewis partially circumnavigates Antarctica aboard the Ice Bird. Emilio de Palma is born at an Argentine base, the first birth in Antarctica. The Argentinean Government is investigating whether Antarctica "is suitable for family life". An Air New Zealand DC 10 carrying 257 people on a tourist flight over Antarctica crashes into the side of Mt. Erebus. There are no survivors. The cause is held to be a mistake in the programming of the navigation system. The Transglobe Expedition in the middle of the first circumnavigation of the world via the poles complete their crossing of Antarctica and arrive at Scott base. The three men, under English explorer Sir Randolph Fiennes, are only the second party to cross the continent and only the tenth to travel overland to the pole.
The International Trans-Antarctica Expedition led by U.S. explorer Will Steger crosses the Antarctic continent with dog teams from the Antarctic Peninsula to Mirny Station via the South Pole. The Madrid Protocol on Environmental Protection is agreed to after two years of intense lobbying by France and Australia. A Million netizens visit the Antarctic through Virtual Antarctica, the first Terraquest expedition. |
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| Photography ©Canterbury Museum, NZ | © 1995 Terraquest. All Rights Reserved. |
