The Ross Sea party was a component of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial
Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914–17. Its task was to lay a series of
supply depots across the Great Ice Barrier from the Ross Sea to the
Beardmore Glacier, along the polar route established by earlier
Antarctic expeditions. The expedition's main party, under Shackleton,
was to land on the opposite, Weddell Sea coast of Antarctica, and to
march across the continent via the South Pole to the Ross Sea. As the
main party would be unable to carry sufficient fuel and supplies for
the whole distance, their survival depended on the Ross Sea party's
depots, which would cover the final quarter of their journey.
Shackleton set sail from London in his ship Endurance, bound for the
Weddell Sea, in August 1914. Meanwhile, the Ross Sea party personnel
gathered in Australia, prior to departure for the Ross Sea in the
second expedition ship, SY Aurora. After their arrival the
inexperienced party struggled to master the art of Antarctic travel, in
the process losing most of their sledge dogs. A greater misfortune
occurred when, at the onset of the southern winter, Aurora was torn
from its moorings during a severe storm and was unable to return,
leaving the shore party stranded.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Sea_party>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1459:
Yorkist forces led by Richard Neville defeated Lancastrian troops at
the Battle of Blore Heath in Staffordshire, England, the first major
battle of the Wars of the Roses.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blore_Heath>
1803:
Maratha troops were beaten by British forces at the Battle of Assaye,
one of the decisive battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Assaye>
1846:
Using mathematical predictions by French mathematician Urbain Le
Verrier, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle became the first
person to observe Neptune and recognise it as a hitherto unknown planet
.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_Neptune>
1868:
Ramón Emeterio Betances led the Grito de Lares, a revolt against
Spanish rule in Puerto Rico.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Emeterio_Betances>
1952:
In one of the first political uses of television to appeal directly to
the populace, Republican vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon
delivered the "Checkers speech", denying he received illegal campaign
contributions.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers_speech>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
thalweg (n):
(geology, geography) The line that connects the lowest points in a
valley or river channel, and thus the line of fastest flow along a
river’s course
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thalweg>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has so much as
to be out of danger?
--Thomas Huxley
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Huxley>