Nimrod Expedition, was the first of three expeditions to the Antarctic led
by Ernest Shackleton. Its ship, Nimrod, departed from British waters on 7
August, fewer than six months after Shackleton's first public announcement
of his plans. Initially, the expedition's public profile was much lower than
that of Scott's Discovery Expedition six years earlier. However, nationwide
interest was aroused by the news of its achievements. The South Pole was not
attained, but the expedition's southern march reached a farthest south
latitude at 88°23′S, and it could thus claim that it had got within a
hundred miles of the Pole. This was by far the longest southern polar
journey to that date and a record convergence on either Pole. During the
expedition a separate group led by Welsh-born Australian geology professor
Edgeworth David reached the estimated location of the South Magnetic Pole,
and the first ascent was made of Mount Erebus, the lofty Ross Island active
volcano. The scientific team, which included the future Australian Antarctic
Expedition leader Douglas Mawson, carried out extensive geological,
zoological and meteorological work. Shackleton's transport arrangements,
based on Manchurian ponies, motor traction, and sledge dogs, were
innovations which, despite limited success, were later copied by Scott for
his ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod_Expedition
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1839:
The French Academy of Sciences announced the Daguerreotype photographic
process, named after its inventor, French artist and chemist Louis Daguerre.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daguerreotype)
1878:
Umberto I became King of Italy following the death of his father Victor
Emmanuel II.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_I_of_Italy)
1916:
World War I: The last British troops evacuated from Gallipoli, as the
Ottoman Empire prevailed over of a joint British and French operation to
capture Istanbul at the Battle of Gallipoli.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign)
1923:
The autogyro, a type of rotorcraft invented by civil engineer and pilot Juan
de la Cierva, made its first successful flight at Cuatro Vientos Airfield in
Madrid, Spain.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogyro)
2005:
Mahmoud Abbas was elected President of the Palestinian National Authority to
replace Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_presidential_election,_2005)
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Luddite (n) 1. Any of a group of early 19th century English textile
workers who destroyed machinery because it would harm their livelihood.
2. (by extension) Someone who opposes technological
change.
(
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Luddite)
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others,
by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion. --Simone de
Beauvoir
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_de_Beauvoir)