120px|At the South Pole, December 1911
The first expedition to reach the geographic South Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. His party arrived at the pole on 14 December 1911, five weeks ahead of a British team led by Robert Falcon Scott. Amundsen and his companions returned safely to their base, and later learned that Scott and his four companions had died on their return journey. Amundsen's initial plans had been to explore the Arctic, but he decided to go south on hearing that both Frederick Cook and Robert E. Peary were claiming to have reached the North Pole. However, he kept this revised objective secret until after his departure. The expedition arrived in Antarctica in January 1911 and after months of preparation the five-man polar party set out in October 1911. The route from their base at the Bay of Whales took them across the Great Ice Barrier and up the Axel Heiberg Glacier. The party's mastery of the use of skis and their expertise with sledge dogs ensured rapid and relatively trouble-free travel. Although the expedition's success was widely applauded, the story of Scott's heroic failure and tragic death overshadowed its achievements. For his decision to keep his true plans secret until the last moment, Amundsen was criticised for what some considered deception on his part. (more...)
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Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen%27s_South_Pole_expedition
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
557:
A large earthquake severely damaged the city of Constantinople. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/557_Constantinople_earthquake
1782:
In Avignon, France, the Montgolfier brothers conducted their first test of their hot air balloon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgolfier_brothers
1994:
Construction on the Three Gorges Dam began on the Yangtze River in China. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam
1999:
Torrential rains caused flash floods in Vargas, Venezuela, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the complete collapse of the state's infrastructure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vargas_tragedy
2009:
The Tino Rangatiratanga flag representing the Māori people was recognized officially by the government of New Zealand. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tino_rangatiratanga
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
pine (v): <span class="qualifier-brac">(</span><span class="qualifier-content">intransitive</span><span class="qualifier-brac">)</span> To long, to yearn so much that it causes suffering http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pine
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The project of organizing a democratic political movement entails the hope that one's ideas and beliefs are not merely idiosyncratic but speak to vital human needs, interests and desires, and therefore will be persuasive to many and ultimately most people. But this is a very different matter from deciding to put forward only those ideas presumed (accurately or not) to be compatible with what most people already believe. --Ellen Willis http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ellen_Willis
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