Cartographers and explorers have long suspected the existence of a southern continent, Terra Australis. In 1820, the Antarctic mainland was sighted for the first time, and in 1821, John Davis became the first person to set foot on Antarctica. The competition to reach the South Pole intensified, with Roald Amundsen’s team becoming the first to reach it in 1911, followed by Robert Scott’s team a month later, who tragically perished on the return journey. Today, the Scott-Amundsen South Pole Station is named after the two men.
Since Aristotle, cartographers and explorers have suspected the existence of a Terra Australis, a vast southern continent to “balance” the northern land masses. Maps as early as 1513 include a continent resembling Antarctica, although it is known for certain that no one from that era could have gotten there with ship technology at the time. It was not until 1820 that three expeditions sighted the Antarctic mainland for the first time, within days or weeks of each other. It would only be a matter of time before someone made it all the way to the South Pole.
It is said that the first person to set foot in Antarctica was the American John Davis, a sealer, who landed there on February 7, 1821. In 1840, Charles Wilkes, leader of a US Navy expedition, was the first to cross a wide swath of land and realize that the new island was a continent and not just a large island. The southeast quadrant of Antarctica was named Wilkes Land in his honor. At the turn of the century, Britain sent out the National Antarctic Expedition (1901-1904), led by Robert Falcon Scott, which established a base at McMurdo Sound and got even closer to the South Pole.
Ernest Shackleton, part of Scott’s Expedition, led the British Imperial Antarctic Expedition (1907-1909), in an attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole, and was only 180 km (111 mi) away before having to return backwards. However, that expedition’s teams were the first to discover the South Magnetic Pole.
After the discovery of the magnetic south, the competition got really intense. Robert Falcon Scott, the Briton, and Roald Amundsen, from Norway sailed their ships Terra Nova and Fram in an attempt to be the first to the South Pole. Their expeditions took place throughout the year 1911 and early 1912 Roald Amundsen’s group was the first, reaching the South Pole on December 14, 1911. Their strategy was to take 52 dogs with them and feed the dogs as they died. They came back with only 11, because that was how these expeditions were done in those days. Robert Scott reached the South Pole just a month later, but his party of five perished on the return journey across the Ross Ice Shelf. Today the Scott-Admundsen South Pole Station is named after the two men.
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