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Polar exploration
The Arctic, the Northwest Passage and the Antarctic: the expeditions, the ships and the people on them. 47 stories.
1500 to 1699
- When Richard Chancellor Sailed Into Ivan the Terrible's Court
Picture this: a solitary ship, the Edward Bonaventure , battered and straying through icy waters beyond the reach of any compass needle in 1553… - When Richard Chancellor's Ships Opened the Gateway to Russia in 1553
The Arctic wind howled like a banshee across the White Sea as Richard Chancellor watched his compass needle spin wildly in the dancing aurora light… - Hugh Willoughby's Fatal Search for the Northeast Passage
Picture this: Russian fishermen approaching a ghostly vessel locked in Arctic ice, its rigging heavy with frost, silence hanging in the crystalline… - When Martin Frobisher Brought Arctic Ice to England's Queen
Martin Frobisher's voyages are largely forgotten. They shouldn't be. - When Martin Frobisher Faced the Arctic Ice Alone, 1576
July 25, 1576. The cold wind howled unabated across the desolate expanse of the icy Arctic waters. Above, the pale sun hung diffidently in the sky… - When Martin Frobisher Found Gold in the Arctic — And Lost Everything
He sought riches in strange and distant lands, yet he died in staggering debt. Martin Frobisher, an audacious sea captain and privateer, was… - When Sir Martin Frobisher's Arctic Gold Rush Started Three Frozen Wars
In the bitter cold of August 1576, somewhere in the ice-locked waters of what is now Canada's Arctic archipelago, Sir Martin Frobisher held destiny… - The day Martin Frobisher brought Arctic gold to Queen Elizabeth
Picture this: a summer day in 1577, and the Thames is alive with whispers. Three weather-beaten ships creep up the murky river toward London, their… - The Day John Davis Sailed Into the Ice and Found a New World
The sun hung low in the sky, a pale disc barely warming the air of the Northern Sea. Icebergs loomed like ghostly leviathans, their surfaces etched… - When John Davis Sailed Into the Ice and Refused to Turn Back, 1587
He couldn't read Greek or Latin. Yet John Davis, son of an Elizabethan farmer, charted courses through treacherous waters that left scholars and… - The day John Davis invented the backstaff and saved countless sailors
The Arctic sun blazed mercilessly across the ice-choked waters of the Davis Strait in 1594, its glare so intense it could steal a man's sight… - When Henry Hudson Sailed Into the Ice for England, 1607
The cold gnawed at their bones as the wind howled through the rigging, sounding like a mournful chorus. The tiny vessel shuddered with each crack of… - When Henry Hudson Sailed Past the Edge of the Known World, 1610
The low, grey skies of the northern reaches stretched endlessly, a frigid canvas pierced occasionally by the sun's fleeting warmth. The Arctic waters… - The day William Baffin mapped the unmappable Arctic seas
On July 5th, 1616, as dawn broke over the Arctic Ocean, navigator William Baffin stood on the deck of the Discovery and gazed upon a sight no…
The 1700s
- The Day a Cornish Captain Sailed Into the Ice and Came Back
The sea crackled like shattered glass beneath the weight of the Endeavour as Captain James Cook stood starboard, eyes locked on the strange, frozen… - The Day a One-Eyed Captain Sailed Into the Frozen Unknown
The Arctic Circle in the heart of summer is an ethereal paradox. The sun clings to the sky with an unyielding embrace, denying the horizon its…
1800 to 1849
- The Day a Cornish Sailor Charted the Arctic Alone
1818. The ship's rigging creaked in the cold morning air. - The Day a Norfolk Captain Mapped the Edge of Antarctica
He was a simple seafarer without pretentious ambitions. Yet, Edward Bransfield found himself at the edge of the world, staring into the icy unknown… - The day William Scoresby mapped the Arctic from a crow's nest
The Arctic wind howled across the deck of the Baffin as young William Scoresby secured his rope and began his precarious climb up the ship's mast. It… - When HMS Blossom Charted the Arctic's Edge, 1826
Few recall the voyage of HMS Blossom. Those who do understand its significance. - When Samuel Enderby's Whalers Mapped the Antarctic Edge, 1833
August 14, 1833. The ship groaned under the strain of thickening ice. - The Day a Blacksmith's Son Mapped the Bottom of the World
June 1, 1839. The breath of the Antarctic winds battered the stout hulls of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, the wooden ships that dared to defy the very… - When Mount Erebus Was Named by a British Captain in 1841
He was a man of the sea, not a volcanologist or a geologist. Yet James Clark Ross's voyage led him directly into the heart of Antarctic mysteries. It… - The day John Franklin's wife refused to let Britain forget him
In the creaking stillness of the Arctic night, when the sun abandons its dominion over the frozen wasteland, legends whisper of icy graves and lost… - The day Sir John Franklin's ships vanished into Arctic legend
On a crisp May morning in 1845, two massive warships cut through the grey waters of the Thames, their black hulls gleaming with fresh paint and their… - The Lost Ship of the Arctic Found Frozen in Time
In the frigid silence of the Arctic, the sun dips and dances in twilight, illuminating an enigmatic tableau frozen in time. The doors creak open… - When Inuit Knowledge Found Franklin's Lost Ship in 2.5 Hours
The Arctic in September is a world of contrasts. Light wistfully clings to the horizon, casting an ethereal glow across the sprawling, frozen…
1850 to 1899
- John Rae and the Inuit Account of Franklin's Fate
The chilling wind sliced through his fur coat as his boots crunched over the ice, each step echoing in the void of the Arctic wilderness. John Rae, a… - When HMS Assistance Wintered in the Arctic Ice, 1850
He was never meant to lead such a perilous mission. Captain Erasmus Ommanney knew the Arctic only from maps and tales of survival. Unexpectedly, he… - The day John Rae solved the Franklin mystery that haunted the Arctic
The Inuit woman's eyes held secrets when she approached Dr. John Rae in the spring of 1854. In her weathered hands, she carried something that would… - The Desk Began as a Shipwreck Frozen in Arctic Ice
The endless white expanse of the Arctic, with its glittering icebergs and endless horizon, seems both timeless and forbidding. In the relentless… - The Winter Walk That Mapped the Top of the World
His footsteps vanished into the snow. A half-inch of frost clung to his beard as he trudged through the Arctic vastness. He was alone, yet John Rae's… - The Arctic Explorer Who Ate His Own Boots to Survive
In the frozen wasteland of King William Island, an Inuit hunter named In-nook-poo-zhee-jook made a discovery that would haunt Arctic explorers for… - When a Dying Man's Notes Led Britain Back to Franklin, 1859
Sir John Franklin's Arctic expedition disappeared without a trace. Yet it took just one slip of paper to unravel the mystery. - The Explorer Who Vanished at the North Pole with His Balloon
On July 11, 1897, as champagne bottles clinked together in the wicker basket beneath a massive silk balloon, Swedish engineer Salomon August Andrée…
1900 to 1913
- When Burroughs Wellcome Shipped Cocaine to the Poles, 1901
The Southern Ocean wind cut like a knife, casting an eerie hum over the snow-laden deck of HMS Discovery. The blinding white of the Antarctic… - The day Edward Wilson painted through Antarctic agony to record the unknown
The pencil had frozen to his fingers again. Dr Edward Wilson tried to flex his hand, but the graphite stick wouldn't budge from his frost-bitten… - When William Speirs Bruce Planted a Flag on No Man's Ice
Spring 1902. The icebergs of the Antarctic Ocean glistened beneath the pale sun like sentinels of a world untouched by time. - When Agnes Deans Cameron Defied Every Rule to Reach the Arctic
The sun hung low in the endless sky, casting its amber glow across a sweeping landscape of icy blues and whites. The wind whistled eerily past… - When Captain Oates Walked Into the Blizzard for His Men, 1912
The fierce winds howled like wild banshees across the vast, white emptiness, stinging his eyes with icy shards and clawing at his already ravaged… - When Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic Party Chose Death Over Dishonor
The wind howled across the Ross Ice Shelf like the breath of death itself, carrying crystals sharp enough to cut exposed skin. Inside a cramped tent… - When Robert Falcon Scott's Final Letter Moved a Nation to Tears
The pencil trembled in frozen fingers as Captain Robert Falcon Scott scratched his final words onto paper, the wind howling like banshees outside his… - The Arctic Explorer Who Ate His Own Boots and Lived to Tell
Imagine being so hungry that you boil your leather boots into a stew and consider it a feast. Picture walking across 100 miles of Antarctic ice while…
1914 to 1918
- The day Ernest Shackleton's ship sailed into living hell
The telegram arrived at Millwall Docks on August 4th, 1914, just as the last crates of provisions were being loaded aboard the Endurance . Ernest… - Shackleton's Ship Sank. He Brought Every Man Home.
Ernest Shackleton was unprepared for disaster. Yet he turned calamity into one of history's greatest survival stories. - When Shackleton Knocked on the Door at Stromness, 1916
Ernest Shackleton was surprisingly short. Standing at just 5 foot 8 inches, his stature belied the giant spirit within, a spirit that would see him…
1939 to 1945
- When a Hudson Crew Photographed the Arctic Ice, 1942
He was not armed with guns or bombs. Instead, he wielded a camera as his weapon of choice, capturing the unseen world from the skies above.