This day in history: Race for the conquest of the South Pole

In the early 20th century, three men were fighting to be the first one to reach the South Pole: British Royal Navy officer Robert Falcon Scott and Irish & Norwegian explorers Ernest Shackleton and Roald Amundsen. Only one succeeded, on a day like this, Dec 14, 1911. This is their story:

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish polar explorer, one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. His first experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery Expedition, 1901–04. He returned to Antarctica in 1907 as leader of the Nimrod Expedition. In January 1909 he and three companions made a southern march which established a record Farthest South latitude at 88° 23′ S, 97, 190 km from the South Pole, by far the closest convergence in exploration history up to that time. For this achievement, Shackleton was knighted by King Edward VII on his return home.

After the race to the South Pole ended in 1912 with Roald Amundsen's conquest, Shackleton turned his attention to the crossing of the continent from sea to sea, via the pole. To this end he made preparations for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–17. Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, Endurance, was trapped in pack ice and slowly crushed, before the shore parties could be landed. There followed a sequence of exploits, and an ultimate escape with no lives lost, that would eventually assure Shackleton's heroic status, although this was not immediately evident. In 1921 he went back to the Antarctic with the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, intending to carry out a programme of scientific and survey activities. Before the expedition could begin this work Shackleton died of a heart attack while his ship, Quest, was moored in South Georgia. At his wife's request he was buried there. (source: wikipedia)

Watch the documentary, narrated by Kevin Spacey, on Shackleton's expedition on the Endurance, the one that gave him fame:

Shackleton's Anctarctic Adventure part 1

To watch the rest of the documentary:

• part 2
• part 3 

Sir Robert Falcon Scott

Robert Falcon Scott, CVO (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13. During this second venture, Scott led a party of five which reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, only to find that they had been preceded by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition. On their return journey, Scott and his four comrades all perished from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold. (source: wikipedia)

Scott of the Antarctic. Profile with Sir Ranulph Fiennes (a bit of gossip. Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes is actors Ralph & Joseph Fiennes's uncle)

Mecano, an extremely popular Spanish  pop band of the 80s & 90s, composed a song  on the tragic destiny of Sir Robert Scott and his group: Héroes de la Antártida. Click on the title of the song if you want to listen to it (Yes, yes! In Spanish. But just for this one time!!)

Roald Amundsen

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (16 July 1872 – c. 18 June 1928) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 and he was the first person to (undisputedly) reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage. He disappeared in June 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission. Amundsen, along with Douglas Mawson, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. (source: wikipedia)

Roald Amundsen & the South Pole

What is the true dimension of the heroicism of these three men? Why is Antarctica such a dangerous yet compelling place? Would like to know some facts about Antartica?

Antarctica Factfile
 
1. It is 1.4 times bigger than the USA, and 58 times bigger than the UK.
2. Only a 0.32 % (44,890 square kilometres) of the total surface of the Antarctica is ice-free.
3. The largest ice self is Ross ice shelf (510,680 square kilometres).
4. The highest mountain in Antarctica is Mt. Vinson (4,892 m)
5. Antarctica has 70% of all the world's freshwater frozen as ice - and 90% of all the world's ice.
6. There are no permanent residents and there has never been native population on the Antarctica.
7. The lowest temperatures ever recorded on the Antarctica (and extensively, on earth) were -89.2º C