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Captain James Cook crosses the Antarctic circle
Captain 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". -
Captain Thaddeus Bellingshausen a Russian naval officer
Captain Thaddeus Bellingshausen a Russian naval officer in the Vostok and Mirny circumnavigates the Antarctic, first to cross the Antarctic circle since Cook. -
1st known landing on continental Antarctica
In the winter of 1821, for the first time ever aprty of men spent a winter in Antarctica. -
British whaler James Weddell discovers the sea named after him
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. -
Separate British, French and American expeditions establish the status of Antarctica as a continent
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 -
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. -
Adrien de Gerlache and the crew of the "Belgica" become trapped in pack ice
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
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. -
Australian Douglas Mawson reaches the South Magnetic Pole.
Australian Douglas Mawson reaches the South Magnetic Pole. -
Norwegian Roald Amundsen leads
Norwegian Roald Amundsen leads a five man expedition that reaches the South Pole for the first time. -
Britain's Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole to discover he has been beaten by Amundsen.
All of the five man team (Scott, Bowers, Evans, Oates and Wilson), are to perish on the return journey only 11 miles from supply depot. Bodies are not discovered until November. -
Ernest Shackleton returns to Antarctica in an attempt to complete the first crossing of the continent.
Ernest Shackleton returns to Antarctica in an attempt to complete the first crossing of the continent. he 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. -
International Geophysical Year (IGY)
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 Poleis 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.
