Antarctica is a continent encompassing the southern extremity of Earth, and containing the Earth's South Pole. It is surrounded by the Southern Ocean and divided in two by the Transantarctic Mountains. It is considered to be the coldest, driest, windiest, and highest (on average) continent on Earth, and 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice. There are no permanent human residents and only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins, fur seals, lichens, and hundreds of types of algae. The first commonly accepted sighting of the continent occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Mikhail Lazarev and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. Antarctica is not under the political sovereignty of any nation, although seven countries (Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Norway, New Zealand and the United Kingdom) maintain territorial claims. Most other countries do not recognize these claims, and the claims of Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom all overlap. Human activity on the continent is regulated by the Antarctic Treaty, which was signed in 1959 by 12 countries and prohibits any military activity, supports scientific research, and protects the continent's ecozone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4000 scientists of many different nationalities and research interests.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

193: Septimius Severus was proclaimed Roman Emperor. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septimius_Severus)

1865: Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union forces. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee)

1940: Operation Weserübung: Germany invaded Denmark and Norway; Occupation of Denmark began. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Weser%C3%BCbung)

1959: NASA announced the selection of the Mercury program astronauts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_program)

1989: April 9 tragedy: An anti-Soviet demonstration in Tbilisi, Georgia was cracked down by the Soviet army, resulting in 20 deaths and thousands of injured. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_9_tragedy)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"I'm sure we all agree that we ought to love one another, and I know there are people in the world who do not love their fellow human beings — and I hate people like that!" -- Tom Lehrer (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer)