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Antarctica Discovery
1772 to 1775: The first well-documented evidence for the existence of a frozen southern continent came from the second expedition of Captain James Cook beginning in 1772. He did not actually see the continent but he did cross the Antarctic Circle and saw the icebergs and frigid waters of the far southern ocean. -
First Exploration of Antarctica
The next expeditions by William Smith, and James Bransfield a year later, in 1820, discovered the South Shetland Islands and the shore of the Antarctic Peninsula. -
1820 - 1890
Beginning in 1820 there were several expeditions by British, French, American, and Russian explorers, but starting around 1840 there was little work done in the Antarctic for more than 50 years. That changed in the 1890s when Norwegian and Scottish expeditions explored the area for whaling. -
Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen
During this period, many countries sent exploring expeditions to the Antarctic. The Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the Sorth Pole on Dec. -
Ernest Shacklton
Ernest Shackleton
Perhaps the most famous Antarctic expedition was led by Ernest Shackleton. He and his crew survived being shipwrecked in the sea ice around Antarctica and finally were rescued after a harrowing voyage in a small open boat across 1,300 kilometers of some of the most treacherous ocean on the planet. -
1929 - 1961
Those scientific efforts led to the establishment of the Antarctic Treaty, which has been signed by 44 countries. This treaty, passed into law in 1961, calls for Antarctica to be used for peaceful purposes only. It also promotes international scientific cooperation in Antarctica. -
1997 - 2008
International Polar Year: There have been a number of major international science initiatives in Polar Regions and all have had a major influence our understanding of global processes in these important areas. These initiatives have involved an intense period of interdisciplinary research that provide a broad range of information about the polar regions. The last such initiative was the International Geophysical Year in 1957-58. It produced unprecedented exploration and discoveries in many field
