TIMELINE OF ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION, 1772–1917
From James Cook to the Heroic Age
Land of Wondrous Cold tells the story of the pioneer Antarctic voyages of 1838–1842, when British, French, and American commanders raced each other to the South Pole. As the first major scientific research expeditions in Antarctica, these early Victorian-era explorers laid the foundation for our modern un- derstanding of the white continent, its glacial history, and the future of its all-important ice cap.
1772 Yves-Joseph Kerguelen sights “Desolation Island” in the sub-Antarctic waters of the Indian Ocean. 1773 James Cook makes the first crossing of the Antarc- tic Circle; he turns back upon reaching the ice pack at 67°15′ south. 1774 Cook achieves a record southing of 71°10′, off the coast of West Antarctica. 1820 Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, leading a Russian- financed expedition, sails within twenty miles of the Fimbul ice shelf, the first recorded sighting of the Antarctic continent. 1823 James Weddell, sailing poleward from the Atlantic South Shetland Islands, makes a new record south- ing of 74°15′. xii Timeline
1832 Samuel Enderby, the whaling magnate, finances an expedition led by John Biscoe, who makes sighting of the northern Antarctic Peninsula, now called Graham Land. 1836 The United States Congress approves funding for a large-scale exploring expedition, to include a mission of discovery to the South Pole. 1837 January Pacific explorer Dumont D’Urville proposes a third southern voyage to King Louis-Philippe of France. An Antarctic campaign is included in his orders. September The French ships Astrolabe and Zélée sail from Toulon. 1838 January D’Urville’s first Antarctic campaign, in the Weddell Sea, is thwarted by pack ice. August The United States Exploring Expedition, com- manded by Charles Wilkes, leaves Norfolk, Virginia. 1839 February The British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, approves a British Antarctic Expedition, to be com- manded by James Clark Ross; sealer John Balleny, sailing south of Tasmania, glimpses the East Antarctic coast at 65° south. March The US Exploring Expedition mounts its first Antarctic campaign. The schooner Flying Fish nears Cook’s record southing in West Antarctica. September The British polar shipsErebus and Terror set sail from Margate. December The Wilkes expedition departs Sydney for the Antarctic; D’Urville’s ships sail southward from Hobart. Timeline xiii
1840 January The American and French expeditions, which briefly encounter each other, explore the East Antarc- tic coast. The French make landfall and raise the tri- color flag. Wilkes charts 1,500 miles of coast. March British Antarctic expedition explores Kerguelen Island. November The Astrolabe and Zélée arrive back in France; Ross sails toward the pole from Hobart. December President Van Buren announces the Ameri- can discovery of Antarctica in his State of the Union address. 1841 January The British expedition explores the Ross Sea, posts record southing in the waters off Mount Ere- bus, at 78°9′ south. December First volume of D’Urville’s Antarctic voy- age narrative is published in Paris; Ross returns to Antarctica, but is unable to better his first attempt. Antarctic exploration enters a long period of hiatus. 1898 Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink, first of the “He- roic Age” explorers, is the first to return to 78° south since James Ross. He overwinters at Cape Adare. 1901–1904 Robert Scott’s first expedition, aboard Discov- ery, retraces Ross’s route and makes land exploration to 82°17′ south. 1901–1903 Swedish expedition, led by Otto Nordenskjöld, spends two winters on the Antarctic Peninsula, with outstanding scientific results. 1907 Ernest Shackleton’s first expedition, aboardNimrod , makes an attempt on the South Pole, but turns back ninety-seven miles short. The expedition’s northern party, including Australian Douglas Mawson, is first xiv Timeline
to ascend Mount Erebus and reach the South Mag- netic Pole. 1910 Race to the South Pole between Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Englishman Robert Scott. Amund- sen arrives first, on December 14, 1911. A monthlater, Scott reaches the pole, but he and four companions perish on the return journey. 1911 Douglas Mawson’s Australian expedition, the first to follow in the wake of Dumont D’Urville and Charles Wilkes, explores the East Antarctic coast. 1914 Shackleton’s attempt to traverse the Antarctic Con- tinent goes awry when the Endurance becomes trapped and sinks in the Weddell Sea ice pack. Shack- leton’s men survive, but his Ross Sea party, laying stores for a journey that never eventuated, lose three men before their rescue in January 1917. The Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration concludes.