Antarctic History
In the 4th century before Christ, the Greek philosopher Aristotle assumed that a large landmass ("Antarcticos") must exist in the southern hemisphere to balance the landmasses in the north.
The first circumnavigation of Antarctica was done by James Cook during the austral summers of 1772-75. In January 1773 he crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time in history. During his voyage he crossed the Antarctic Circle three times more, but heavy sea ice always forced him to turn northwards again. After his return to England he announced "no man will venture further south than I have done, and the lands which may lie to the south will never be explored.", but this proved to be wrong.
Forty-seven years after Cook's expedition people saw the Antarctic continent for the first time. In 1820 three different expeditions headed by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (Russian Imperial Navy), Edward Bransfield (British Royal Navy) and Nathaniel Palmer (American sealer) explored the area near the Antarctic Peninsula and caught sight of the continent.
 It's most likely Bellingshausen and Lazarev with their crew were the first explorers who saw the Antarctic continent, although Bellingshausen never claimed it. His description of the observations done on 16 January 1820 during his voyage along the Antarctic Peninsula supports this assumption. He was sailing with the two ships Vostok and Mirny. During this expedition, he also discovered the first islands south of the Antarctic Circle: Peter I Island and Alexander I Island
The reports of James Cook about islands densely populated by seals and the Southern Ocean full of whales aroused a commercial interest in the southern areas. In the late 18th century sealers and whalers headed south. After 50 years of intensive harvesting, most of the easily accessible seal colonies had been wiped out. Beside the exploitation of Antarctic wildlife, sealers and whalers also made a contribution to the exploration of Antarctic areas in order to find new hunting grounds. During the 19th century the contours of the continent were basically mapped.
During, the members of the 6th International Geographical Congress in London in1895 appealed to further exploration of the Antarctic regions. The heroic era of exploration started. The following expeditions orientated more on scientific observations than on commercial aims.
The first wintering in Antarctica (Cape Adare , Victoria Land) was undertaken in 1899-1900 by the Norwegian explorer Carsten Borchgrevink, 9 men of his crew and 75 dogs. At the beginning of the 20th century extensive routes in the internal regions of the continent were laid by the polar explorers R. Scott (1901-04, 1910-12), E. Shackleton (1907-09), R. Amundsen (1910-12), D. Mawson (1911-13) and others.
 On 16 January 1909 the members of Shackleton's expedition reached the South Magnetic Pole, but his most famous expedition was the Imperial Transantarctic Expedition (1914-17) which was aimed to cross Antarctica from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea by way of the pole. The plans were never fulfilled, because their ship, the Endurance, was trapped and crushed by sea ice on 21 November 1915. They reached Elephant Island , north of the peninsula, on drifting ice and in open boats. All members of the expedition could be rescued after Shackelton and 5 men had landed on South Georgia on 20 May 1916 after an epic voyage through the Southern Ocean.
One of the most exciting and dramatic races in exploring history was the footrace to the South Pole. On 14 December 1911 the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and 4 men of his crew arrived at the Geographical South Pole after a 56-days journey. Just 35 days later, January 18, R.Scott and 4 men reached the pole. After altogether 99 days of travelling, all members of Scott's British polar party died on the way back to the camp.
In the 20 th century technical innovations like radios, powerful engines, steel hulled ships and airplanes made a huge contribution to the polar exploration. The first powered flight in Antarctica was done by Hubert Wilkins and Carl Elison on 16November 1928 They also used aerial photography for mapping the Antarctic continent for the first time. On 29 November 1929 , Richard Byrd (navigator), Bernt Balchen (pilot) and 2 men in a Ford Trimotor accomplished the first flight over the South Pole. In 1935 Lincoln Ellsworth and his pilot Herbert Hollick-Kenyon became the first people who crossed the continent by plane. For this journey they needed 22 days and had to finish the last 16 miles on foot because they ran out of fuel.
In 1908, Great Britain was the first country which formally claimed Antarctic territory. France , Australia , Argentina , Norway , and Chile followed. After the Second World War the U.S.A. tried to establish a major presence in Antarctica. In the 1940s first permanent bases were constructed to give legitimacy to the territorial claims.
Also in preparation for the International Geophysical Year (IGY, 1957-58), stations were build on the Antarctic continent and the surrounding islands. By 1958 more than 50 stations were established by twelve nations:
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. The Special Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) was founded to coordinate the scientific cooperation between the countries. The most important outcome of the IGY was the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959 by these 12 countries in order to ban military activity, allow free access for scientific research, protect the environment, and to solve the problem of territorial claims.
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