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On this day 1912 (maybe 17th) - Captain Lawrence Oates died. Scott: He slept through the night before last, hoping not to wake; but he woke in the morning - yesterday. It was blowing a blizzard. He said: "I am just going outside and may be some time." His body was never found.
1823, 20th Feb. James Weddell, Esqr R.N - The brig Jane (154 tons) and cutter Beaufoy at 74deg 15' the highest southern latitude at the time in what would later be called the Weddell Sea. The Jane was an American ship taken as a prize and first used as a whaler in 1818.
1916 - on this day. Shackleton's James Caird reaches South Georgia after a struggle to land. "Clumsy with cold, exhaustion and swollen numb feet we emptied the boat. Hot milk, hot hoosh, up half the night saving the boat from the sea." They are on the wrong side of the island.
1911, Edward Wilson. How do you paint watercolours at temperatures well below freezing point? You quickly make notes in pencil wearing thin gloves, then work on the picture later when water is liquid again. Painting notes and a finished work - similar but maybe not from the notes
1912 on this day, Douglas Mawson on the Aurora with the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, reaches Commonwealth Bay in an unusually calm spell. They will find it is one of the world's most windy places. Mawson will call his account of the expedition "The Home of the Blizzard"
1911, Captain Scott leaves his expedition base to try to be the first to reach the South Pole. The last motor gives up, constant repairs, difficulty in starting, overheating problems, the motor party are relieved to now be manhauling supplies ahead of Scott and the Ponies.
1901, The Swedish Antarctic Expedition led by Otto Nordenskjold leaves Goteburg, Sweden on the ship Antarctic with a predominantly Norwegian crew and four Swedish scientists. The expedition was not well funded being entirely dependent on private contributions.
1838, 6 ships and 400 men of the United States Exploring Expedition leave Norfolk Virginia under the command of Charles Wilkes. They will chart 1500 miles of Antarctic coastline. “Wilkes Land” Antarctica, is the largest continuous territory on Earth named for a single individual.
1916, The James Caird with Shackleton has reached South Georgia but is unable to land and riding hurricane force winds offshore "Wallowing in a terrible sea, mountainous swell and furious winds conspiring to take us to our destruction".
1985, a paper is published describing the appearance of an annual ozone hole above Antarctica letting harmful levels of ultra violet light through, this led to the Montreal Protocol which greatly reduced the production and release of CFC's so allowing the hole to recover.