Timeline of Antarctica History 1773-1997

By Nisha Hunter

1773- Captain James Cook became the first to cross the Antarctic Circle.

1820- Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen became the first person to sight land on the continent.

1821- John Davis was the first person to land on the continent.

1823- John Weddell want the farthest south into the Antarctic that is why the Weddell sea is named after him.

1841- Sir James Clark Ross started searching for the south magnetic pole.

1861- Robert Falcon Scott an Antarctic explorer was born.

1872- Another Antarctic explorer Roald Amundsen was born.

1895- The first sighting of lichens the first sign of plant life.

1898-Adrein de Gerlache and his crew were the first to survive Antarctica in the winter.

1901-1902- Scott and Shackleton and three other men attempted to walk the South Pole and were unsuccessful.

1911- the first successful trip to Antarctica led by Roald Amundsen.

1914- shakleton and his crew sailed from England to Antarctica just before world war I started.

1914- the ship the ENDURENCE set off for Antarctica.

1915- the ENDURANCE gets crushed by ice and the crew abandons their ship.

1915- On November 21st the ENDURENCE sinks.

Early 1940’s- first permanent settlement happened around this time.

1961- The Antarctic treaty was signed by many nations, who promised to use Antarctica only for scientific studies.

1997-small ozone holes formed over Antarctica

1997- Boerge Ousland became first person to cross Antarctica unsupported​​​