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Born on this day
Yoichiro Nambu, Japanese-American physicist Nobel Prize laureate
3rd week in year
18 January 2020

Important eventsBack

Boerge Ousland of Norway becomes the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided18.1.1997

Wikipedia (18 Mar 2013, 19:00)

Børge Ousland (born 31 May 1962) is a Norwegian polar explorer, photographer and writer. He made the first unassisted Antarctic solo crossing, finishing on 18 January 1997. He ventured to the South Pole on 8 December 2005. On 15 January 2006, he began a journey to the North Pole, which he and Mike Horn successfully concluded on 23 March. In September 2010, Ousland's team aboard "The Northern Passage" completed the circumnavigation of the North Pole. The Russian team aboard the "Peter I" achieved the same feat in that season. These were the first recorded instances of the circumnavigation of the North Pole without an icebreaker. In December 2011 he traversed Antarctica to the South Pole for the centennial celebration of the first expedition to reach the Pole.

Ousland married at the North Pole in 2012 having been flown in by helicopter with "20 or 30 people".

Antarctica (i/æntˈɑrtɨkə/ or /ænˈtɑrktɨkə/) is Earth's southernmost continent, containing the geographic South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14.0 million km2 (5.4 million sq mi), it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages at least 1 mile (1.6 km) in thickness.

Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89 °C (−129 °F). There are no permanent human residents, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Only cold-adapted organisms survive there, including many types of algae, animals (for example mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades), bacteria, fungi, plants, and protista. Vegetation where it occurs is tundra.

Although myths and speculation about a Terra Australis ("Southern Land") date back to antiquity, the first confirmed sighting of the continent is commonly accepted to have occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev on Vostok and Mirny. The continent, however, remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment, lack of resources, and isolation. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by 12 countries; to date, 49 countries have signed the treaty. The treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, prohibits nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal, supports scientific research, and protects the continent's ecozone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 scientists from many nations.

   
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