The Far Eastern Party of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition set out with sled dogs in November 1912 to collect specimens, map the coast, and claim territory. Douglas Mawson (pictured), Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier Mertz had covered 311 miles (501 km) when Ninnis and a sled broke through the snow lid of a crevasse and were lost. With few supplies left, Mawson and Mertz made for the main base at Cape Denison, eating the remaining sled dogs one by one. Mertz became sick, and died within a week. For almost a month, Mawson pulled his sled alone across snow and ice despite an illness that increasingly weakened him. He reached the comparative safety of Aladdin's Cave—a food depot 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from the main base—on 1 February, only to be trapped there for a week while a blizzard raged outside. He arrived at the main base just hours after the expedition ship, SY Aurora, sailed for Australia, fleeing the encroaching ice. With a relief party, Mawson remained at Cape Denison until the ship returned the next summer, 10 months later. In 1976 Sir Edmund Hillary described Mawson's journey as "probably the greatest story of lone survival in Polar exploration".

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Eastern_Party

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1531:

According to traditional Catholic accounts, the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary miraculously appeared imprinted on Juan Diego's tilma. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe

1862:

American Civil War: The USS Cairo was sunk in the Yazoo River, the first armored ship sunk by a naval mine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cairo

1915:

President Yuan Shikai of the Republic of China reinstated the monarchy and declared himself Emperor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_Shikai

1935:

The Nazi Lebensborn programme, which was later mistakenly believed to engage in coercive breeding, was established to provide assistance to the wives of SS members and unmarried mothers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensborn

1985:

Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashed after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, killing 256, including 248 members of the US Army's 101st Airborne Division. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_Air_Flight_1285

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

profundify: (in post-19th-century uses, humorous) To make profound; to make a concept unnecessarily complicated. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/profundify

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

You can calculate the worth of a man by the number of his enemies, and the importance of a work of art by the harm that is spoken of it.   --Gustave Flaubert https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gustave_Flaubert