Ernest Shackleton

Ernest Shackleton
          Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, British (Irish), contributed much to Antarctic exploration. In 1890, he joined the British merchant navy and in 1901 sailed on his first expedition to Antarctica, under the command of Robert Falcon Scott.

          In 1907 Shackleton announced another attempt to reach the South Pole. He came within 156 km (97 miles) of the South Pole on January 9, 1909, breaking previous records. His party also succeeded in climbing the 3,794-m (12,448-ft) Mount Erebus and another team from his expedition became the first to reach the South Magnetic Pole. Shackleton was knighted upon his return.

Furtherest South
          From 1914 to 1916 he attempted to make the first crossing of Antarctica from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea, through the South Pole. The expedition failed. Their ship, the Endurance, was stuck in the ice and the party was marooned. After ten months, the ship was crushed, and the crew drifted in an open boat for another five months before coming to Elephant Island. Shackleton and a few others rowed some 1,600 km (1,000 mi) to South Georgia, where they made the first crossing of the mountainous island to summon help from a whaling station. In 1921 Shackleton, on another Antarctic expedition, died from a heart attack before the expedition could be completed. He was buried on South Georgia.

Race to the South Pole

Roald Amundsen