Antarctica History: Robert Falcon Scott

(Note: In order to better appreciate our pen pal program with the US Antarctic Program, I am writing a few stories about the history of Antarctic exploration. )

Robert Falcon Scott is one of the most famous names associated with Antarctica. He was a British naval officer who led two expeditions to the continent. His most famous undertaking, however, ended in tragedy. His sad tale occurred on the second expedition in 1911-12 (see map) called the Terra Nova Expedition.

He and a party of five reached the South Pole only to discover that the Norwegians under Roald Amundsen had just recently reached there as well, making the Norwegians the first men to reach the South Pole. On his return back from the Pole, Scott's team ran into extreme difficulties with the cold weather and with a lack of food. Scott and his men died in Antarctica on this return trip from starvation and extreme cold, and their remains were later discoverd by a search team several months later.

Scott, however, became a legendary and romantic figure in Britain because of his Terra Nova Expedition and his tragic death.

(In the photos we see Scott in his hut near what is now the US base called McMurdo Station. We see Scott (2nd from the right) and his crew at the South Pole. And we see a map of the expedition. All of the photos are from Wikimedia Commons and in public domain.)

--Adrian