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on 17 Jan 1773, James Cook and his crew on board HMS Resolution and HMS Adventure became the first group that cross the Antarctic Circle off Enderby land.
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Fabian von Bellingshausen (a Russian Naval Officer), with companies aboard Vostok and Mirnyy, sighted the Antarctic continent at about 69•35°S [77•06gS] off Dronning Maud Land.
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The American seal hunter Captain John Davis is believed to be the first man landed on the Antarctica continent
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on 20th Feb 1823, British whaler James Weddell discovered the sea named after him. He went on to reach the most southerly point at that time 74° 15' S
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1838-1842, American Lieutenant Charles Davies led the US Exploring Expedition and discovered that Antarctica is very big and proved that it is a continent. Wilkes Land in the eatern part of the Antarctica is named after him.
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British naval officer James Clark Ross took two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, to within 80 miles of the coast until stopped by a massive ice barrier, it is now called the Ross Ice Shelf after him. He also discovered the active volcano which he named after his ship Erebus,
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In December 1893 Carl Larsen a Norwegian-British Antarctic explorer became the first person to ski in Antarctica on the Larsen Ice Shelf which was subsequently named after him. He is also considered the founder of the Antarctic whaling industry.
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1901-1903, Robert Falcon Scott, Edward Wilson and Ernest Shackleton planned to reached the Soth Pole.They set a new southern record by marching to latitude 82°S and discovered the Polar Plateau, on which the South Pole is located; but has to turned back due to snow blindness and sign of scurvy.
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Dr William S. Bruce's Scottish National Antarctic Expedition established the first base camp on the Antarctic
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On 16 Jan 1909, Douglas Mawson, Edgeworth David, and Alistair Mackay from Sir Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition claimed to have found the South Magnetic Pole.
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Roald Amundsen, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting were the first team that reached the South Pole and made a successful journey home.
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Robert Scott and his team reached the South Pole, and found fossils that proved the Antarctica was once foressted. Unfortunately the whole team died on their way back.
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1914-1917, Ernest Shackleton led the expedition with the aim to travel acoss the Antarctic. However, his ship "Endurance" was trapped in packed ice and his team had to survived on ice for many months. He had to use lifeboat to travel all the way back to South Georgia to have the team rescued.
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American Conrad Shinn established the first permanent station which allow aircrafts to land there.
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On 1 Dec 1959, 12 countries signed the Antarctic treaty which regulates the international relations with regard to Antarctica. It is officially enter into force on 23/6/1962.
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