A Brief History
On August 23, 1898, a new age of exploration began when the Southern Cross Expedition set sail for Antarctica in the aptly named ship, Southern Cross.
Digging Deeper
Thus began the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, a British venture exploring the Southernmost part of the Earth, an era that ended in 1922.
Inspired by previous Antarctic explorers, Norwegian born Carsten Borchgrevink first gazed on Antarctica from the deck of a whaling ship, prompting his desire for further exploration. Carsten pursued financing in Britain and succeeded in organizing the expedition with the Southern Cross, the first such visit to Antarctica that would see its members spend the entire winter at the bottom of the world. The expedition lasted until 1900 and provided new information and spurring new expeditions.
A major feat achieved during the Heroic Age was the Roald Amundsen venture of 1911 which was the first to reach the South Pole of the Earth.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Crawford, Janet. That first Antarctic winter: The story of the Southern Cross Expedition of 1898-1900 as told in the diaries of Louis Charles Bernacchi. John Wiley & Sons, 1998.
Jensen, David. Huskies of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. The Erskine Press, 2018.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of expedition commander Carsten Borchgrevink taking a theodolite reading in front of the Southern Cross, 1899, is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 70 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.
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