us artic explorers heyde

The four most important Antarctic explorers were probably Roald Amundsen, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott, and Richard E. Byrd.

In December 1911, the first trip to the South Pole was held. It was held by a Norwegian scientist, Roald Amundsen, who lived from 1872 to 1928. He was the first person to make it back all the way to his home. Other scientists could not make it back, and would die on their way either back to their ship or on their way back to their homes. It was surprising to all the people that he made it back. .

The next explorer, Robert Falcon Scott, and Roald Amundsen were racing to the south pole. Their teams started at different points and got there at different times. The first one to get there was Amundsen, and five weeks later, Scott got there. Scott's team died on there way back to their ship because they were wearing wool instead of heavy down parkas. Amundsen's team wore heavy down parkas and made it back to their homes. It was a very long and difficult journey, and it took them almost two years to do it. They were traveling by foot, on sled, and in their ships for over 2000 miles!

In 1911, a British trip was led by Robert Falcon Scott. He reached the South Pole five weeks after Amundsen. Instead of using regular materials, like down parkas and other Antarctic winter equipment, they used wool. Wool is not a very heavy material. When Scott and his crew were leaving and hiking back to their ship, wearing wool, they stopped for a break about a mile from their ship. It was so cold that they froze to death. Scott was born in 1868 and died in 1912, the year after he came there.

Another very famous explorer was Richard E. Byrd. He lived from 1868 to 1957. He was the first person to accomplish a flight over Antarctica as an American explorer. After he accomplished that goal, he worked as a United States naval officer. There is a part of Antarctica named after his wife, Marie Byrd, though the place is called "Marie Byrd Land."

Probably the most famous explorer of them all is Sir Ernest Shackleton. He was born on February 17, 1874, and died on January 25, 1922, on South Georgia Island. When he went to Antarctica for the first time in 1901-1902 with Robert Falcon Scott (see above), almost no one had gone there before. He made another trip to Antarctica in 1907-1909.

In 1914, he organized a third trip to Antarctica. His ship was called the Endurance. It got stuck in the ice in 1915, which forced Shackleton and his crew to abandon the ship. Finally, he organized three teams to go in the three rowboats. In order to rescue his crew, Shackleton rowed 800 miles to South Georgia Island and got help there. He managed to get every person on his crew back safely to England.