Mt. Erebus is the tallest point of Ross Island.  It is also the only active volcano in Antarctica.

The Ross Ice Shelf is equal in area to France.

Antarctica has more ice and snow than all the glaciers and snow fields of the rest of the world combined.

Cows came to Antarctica with Byrd.  In 1933, Admiral Byrd took three Guernsey's aboard the Jacob Rupert supply ship to provide fresh milk for the expedition.  They required sand and straw for bedding and a two year supply of hay, beet pulp, grain and bread.  At Little America there was a Cow Barn complete with an electric milking machine.  One cow contacted frostbite aboard ship on the return voyage and had to be destroyed.  The cattle returned after 22,000 miles of sea travel with a new bull calf christened "Iceberg", born just outside of the Antarctic Circle.

Fifty-one U.S. aircraft have been lost in Antarctica since 1946.

No rain has fallen in the Dry Valleys in approximately a million years and the occasional traces of snow are quickly blown away.

When Antarctica freezes in the winter the ice cover doubles the area of the continent, extending it to approximately 30 million square miles.  Even in the summer, almost the entire continent is covered by ice with an average thickness of almost a mile.

800 gallons of rum and 45 sheep were packed on the "Discovery" in 1902.  They were part of the provisions for 48 men for three years, which included 42,000 pounds of flour, 10,000 pounds of sugar, 3,000 pounds of roast beef and 23 sled dogs which were not part of the menu.