The Southern Cross Expedition, officially known as the British Antarctic Expedition 1898–1900, was the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, and the forerunner of the more celebrated journeys of Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. The brainchild of the Norwegian-born, half-British explorer and schoolmaster Carsten Borchgrevink, it was the first expedition to over-winter on the Antarctic mainland, the first to visit the Great Ice Barrier since James Clark Ross in 1839–43, and the first to successfully land on the Barrier's surface. It also pioneered the use of dogs and sledges in Antarctic travel. The expedition was privately financed by the British magazine publisher Sir George Newnes. Taken south in the ship Southern Cross in August 1898, Borchgrevink's party spent the winter of 1899 at Cape Adare, the north-west extremity of the Ross Sea.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1805:

War of the Third Coalition: French forces under Marshal Michel Ney defeated Austrian forces in Elchingen, present-day Germany. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Elchingen

1938:

One of the most-produced American fighter aircraft, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (pictured), made its first flight in Buffalo, New York. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_P-40_Warhawk

1940:

Second World War: During the Blitz, a 1,400 kg (3,100 lb) semi-armour piercing fragmentation bomb fell on the road above Balham station, which was being used as an air-raid shelter, killing at least 64 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balham_station

1969:

The British fifty pence coin was introduced to replace the ten shilling note, but its size initially caused people to mistake it for both the old half crown and the new ten pence piece. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_pence_(British_coin)

1981:

Hosni Mubarak was elected President of Egypt, one week after Anwar Sadat was assassinated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosni_Mubarak

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

iatrogenic: (of a medical condition) Induced by the words or actions of the physician. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/iatrogenic

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

seeming's enough for slaves of space and time — ours is the now and here of freedom. Come --E. E. Cummings https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings