Nansen's Fram expedition was an 1893–1896 attempt by the Norwegian
explorer Fridtjof Nansen to reach the geographical North Pole by
harnessing the natural east–west current of the Arctic Ocean. In the
face of much discouragement from other polar explorers Nansen took his
ship Fram to the New Siberian Islands in the eastern Arctic Ocean, froze
her into the pack ice, and waited for the drift to carry her towards the
pole. Impatient with the slow speed and erratic character of the drift,
after 18 months Nansen and a chosen companion, Hjalmar Johansen, left
the ship with a team of dogs and sledges and made for the pole. They did
not reach it, but they achieved a record Farthest North latitude before
a long retreat to Franz Josef Land. Meanwhile Fram continued to drift
westward, finally emerging in the North Atlantic Ocean. The ship was
rarely threatened during her long imprisonment, and emerged unscathed
after three years. The scientific observations carried out during this
period contributed significantly to the new discipline of oceanography,
which subsequently became the main focus of Nansen's scientific work.
Fram's drift and Nansen's sledge journey proved conclusively that there
were no significant land masses between the Eurasian continents and the
North Pole, and confirmed the general character of the north polar
region as a deep, ice-covered sea.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nansen%27s_Fram_expedition>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1858:
Edgardo Mortara, a six-year-old Jewish boy, was seized by papal
authorities and taken to be raised as a Roman Catholic, sparking an
international controversy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgardo_Mortara>
1894:
Led by French historian Pierre de Coubertin, an international
congress at the Sorbonne in Paris founded the International Olympic
Committee to reinstate the ancient Olympic Games.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Coubertin>
1946:
Canada's largest onshore earthquake, measuring 7.3 Mw, struck
Vancouver Island, but only caused two casualties since there were no
heavily populated areas near its epicenter.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Vancouver_Island_earthquake>
1972:
Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
amended (primary author Patsy Mink pictured) to prohibit sexual
discrimination in any educational program receiving federal funds, which
allowed for huge growth in women's sports for student athletes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX>
1985:
A bomb attributed to the Sikh separatist group Babbar Khalsa
destroyed Air India Flight 182 above the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329
on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_182>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
unbeknownst:
(followed by to) Without the knowledge of.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unbeknownst>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see) This is what I wanna be Suddenly I see
(Suddenly I see) Why the hell it means so much to me.
--KT Tunstall
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/KT_Tunstall>