On 14 November, Norwegian Roald Amundsen beat a British rival team, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, to be the first to reach the South Pole. Robert Scott's expedition ended in tragedy. His party arrived at the Pole 36 days after Amundsen (who had left a message behind), and then died of exposure and starvation on the return trip.

Amundsen and his four companions used sleds drawn by teams of husky dogs to cross the Antarctic's vast mountain range and icy windswept plains. They were so well equipped that they actually gained weight during their four-month journey over treacherous glaciers and mountains in temperatures as low as -76 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Norwegian explorer attributed his success to the years he spent living with the Inuit people. They taught him skills he needed to survive, including how to handle a team of huskies. He even brought his own dog teams all the way from the Arctic for his South Pole attempt. Amundsen had originally set his sights on the North Pole, but having been beaten to it by Robert Peary, instead set off for the South Pole, with 19 men, 97 sled dogs, four pigs, and six pigeons, in August 1910.

Related link: See Milestones of the century - Science & Discovery

On 22 August, the world's most famous portrait, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen from the Lourve museum in Paris. The hunt for the thieves began in the early hours of the morning. A museum spokesman said that only a madman would try to steal, and hope to sell such a well-known image. It is was mystery how the thief managed to get in and out of the museum unnoticed.

Leornado painted this portrait, also known as La Giaconda, around 1503 when he was working in Florence. The French King Francois I purchased it soon after, and since then the painting has always been hung in one of the French royal palaces.