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N0KFQ > TODAY 18.01.17 14:16l 43 Lines 1893 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 19684_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 18
Path: IW8PGT<IR2UBX<SR1BSZ<LU4ECL<GB7CIP<N0KFQ
Sent: 170118/1313Z 19684@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1912
Scott reaches the South Pole
After a two-month ordeal, the expedition of British explorer
Robert Falcon Scott arrives at the South Pole only to find that
Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer, had preceded them by just
over a month. Disappointed, the exhausted explorers prepared for
a long and difficult journey back to their base camp.
Scott, a British naval officer, began his first Antarctic
expedition in 1901 aboard the Discovery. During three years of
exploration, he discovered the Edward VII Peninsula, surveyed the
coast of Victoria Land-which were both areas of Antarctica on the
Ross Sea-and led limited expeditions into the continent itself.
In 1911, Scott and Amundsen began an undeclared race to the South
Pole.
Sailing his ship into Antarctica's Bay of Whales, Amundsen set up
base camp 60 miles closer to the pole than Scott. In October,
both explorers set off; Amundsen using sleigh dogs and Scott
employing Siberian motor sledges, Siberian ponies, and dogs. On
December 14, 1911, Amundsen's expedition won the race to the
pole. Encountering good weather on their return trip, they safely
reached their base camp in late January.
Scott's expedition was less fortunate. The motor sleds soon broke
down, the ponies had to be shot, and the dog teams were sent back
as Scott and four companions continued on foot. On January 18,
they reached the pole only to find that Amundsen had preceded
them by over a month. Weather on the return journey was
exceptionally bad, two members perished, and Scott and the other
two survivors were trapped in their tent by a storm only 11 miles
from their base camp. Scott wrote a final entry in his diary in
late March. The frozen bodies of he and his two compatriots were
recovered eight months later.
73 - K.O., n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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