The Shackleton–Rowett Expedition (1921–22) was Sir Ernest
Shackleton's last Antarctic project, and the final episode in the Heroic
Age of Antarctic Exploration. The venture, with vaguely defined
geographic and scientific objectives, was financed by John Quiller
Rowett, and is otherwise known as the Quest Expedition after its ship
Quest, a converted Norwegian sealer. Shackleton had originally intended
to go to the Arctic and explore the Beaufort Sea, but abandoned this
plan when the Canadian government withheld financial support. Shortly
after Quest's arrival at South Georgia, Shackleton died of a heart
attack, aged 47. The expedition continued under the leadership of Frank
Wild, with a three-month cruise to the eastern Antarctic, but the
shortcomings of Quest as a polar vessel kept it from proceeding further
than longitude 20°E, or from penetrating southward through the pack
ice. After returning to South Georgia, Wild hoped for a second, more
productive season in the ice, and took the ship to Cape Town for a
refit, where he found a message from Rowett ordering them home. The
expedition ended quietly, with limited achievements.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shackleton%E2%80%93Rowett_Expedition>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1081:
The Komnenian dynasty came to full power when Alexios I
Komnenos was crowned Byzantine Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_I_Komnenos>
1614:
Native American Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe
in Virginia, and was christened Rebecca.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas>
1936:
Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: An F5 tornado hit
Tupelo, Mississippi, killing at least 216 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Tupelo%E2%80%93Gainesville_tornado_outbreak>
1998:
Japan's Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, linking Awaji Island and Kobe,
opened to traffic, becoming the longest suspension bridge in the world
to date with a main span length of 1,991 metres (6,532 ft).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashi_Kaiky%C5%8D_Bridge>
2009:
The North Korean satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 was launched from
the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground and passed over Japan, sparking
concerns by other nations that it may have been a trial run of
technology that could be used to launch intercontinental ballistic
missiles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-2>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
smell a rat:
(idiomatic) To sense something suspicious.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smell_a_rat>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
My whole life has largely been one of surprises. I believe that
any man's life will be filled with constant, unexpected encouragements
of this kind if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day of
his life — that is, tries to make each day reach as nearly as possible
the high-water mark of pure, unselfish, useful living.
--Booker T. Washington
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington>