Amundsen and his men reached the South Pole at 3:00 in the afternoon on December 14, 1911. His other journeys included the first successful trip through the Northwest Passage beyond Canada. Dec. 18, 2011 — -- On December 14, 1911, a five-man Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen became the first explorers to reach the South Pole. Amundsen's South Pole expedition This wonderful set of photographs come from the pages of The South pole; an account of the Norwegian Antarctic expedition in the "Fram," 1910-1912 , Roald Amundsen's account of his expedition which became the first to reach the South Pole on 14 December 1911, just five weeks ahead of a British party led by Robert Falcon Scott. He had sailed through the North West Passage (1903-6) and was one of the first men to winter south … Amundsen was born near Oslo, the Norwegian Capital in 1872. On this day in history, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen leads a small group to the South Pole. Roald Engebreth Gravning Amundsen was born in 1872 at Borge, Norway. His career of adventure began at the age of 15, originally studying medicine, but dropping out to go to sea where he soon moved his way up to the rank of mate. The Geographic South Pole is the southernmost point on Earth. Roald Amundsen and his crew looking at the Norwegian flag at the South Pole, 1911. They were the first people to reach the South Pole. Jonathan, who lives in Cavan but is “very fond of Kildare”, explained that he’s very keen on family history and his Quaker forebears from Ballitore, combined with a love of natural and polar history. When Roald Amundsen was a teenager he insisted on sleeping in the open with his bedroom window to augment the cold himself. They erected a tent, raised the Norwegian flag, and took pictures of themselves standing reverently before it. He is best remembered for leading the Antarctic expedition to become the first men to Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen - Biographical notes 16th July 1872 - 18th June 1928. short biography. On 14 December 1911, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (who had already led the first expedition to traverse the North West Passage, and would go on to lead the first successful attempt to cross the Arctic by air) and his team became the first human beings to reach the South Pole, just over a month before Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated Terra Nova expedition. (Ed note: Peary, as it turns out, almost certainly didn’t reach the North Pole. Roald Amundsen and his team became the first people to reach the South Pole on December 14, 1911. Amundsen was also active in the Arctic, leading an expedition to the North Pole in 1926. Always on the prowl for more adventure; Amundsen purchased a Farman biplane in 1914, intending to mount skis on the craft and use it to fly over polar obstacles. They stayed in the area for three days, exploring the terrain and checking their instruments. By measuring the angle between the lines, one can triangulate the position on the Earth (same way as GPS does today.) If Peary did not reach the North Pole, this makes Amundsen part of groups to have reached both the south and the north poles for the first time. But Amundsen had a major advantage. Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer who became the first man to reach the South Pole when he successfully led an Antarctic expedition to the dangerous terrain on which no man had set foot previously. In 1911, Britain’s Robert Falcon Scott and Norway’s Roald Amundsen both launched expeditions to reach the Pole. He was born in 1872 in a family of navigators. In 1910-1911, Scott made his second attempt to be the first to reach the pole on the Terra Nova (pictured), but Norwegian Roald Amundsen had set out to beat him to the punch. Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was the first to navigate the Northwest Passage, the first to reach the South Pole, a navigator of the Northeast Passage, the first to fly to latitude 88⁰ N, and the first to fly across the Arctic Ocean. Roald Amundsen became determined to be the first person to reach the South Pole. The Norwegian Captain Roald Amundsen was already a celebrated explorer. Roald Amundsen and his team became the first people to reach the South Pole on December 14, 1911. Roald Amundsen was greeted by a sea captain's dynasty. On 14 December 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team became the first people to reach the South Pole. He used this device called Sextant. Roald Amundsen, from pole to pole. Explorer. Roald Amundsen was, simply put, one of the greatest explorers of all time. The expedition also used lighter sleds and more appropriate clothing and equipment. In December 1911, Amundsen and his party became the first to trek to the South Pole. One of the greatest figures in the world of polar exploration, he was also the first one to traverse the Northwest Passage in the Arctic. Even in his youth, the remarkable book of J. Franklin, a polar explorer, fell into the hands of the future explorer. Who was first? Norwegian-born Amundsen was the first person to sail through the North-West Passage, the first man to reach the South Pole and the first to take a transarctic flight across the North Pole. Amundsen reached the South Pole on December 14, 1911, beating an expedition led by Captian Scott. This was, in fact the plan for Roald Amundsen of Norway, who, in 1909, was busily preparing for an expedition to the North Pole when word arrived that an American, Robert Peary, had just beat him to it. (Note: Amundsen’s North Pole feat was achieved via aircraft.) The great Norwegian, the one who reached the first South Pole, constantly traveled in the most difficult and sparsely populated corners of the Earth. Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer. He was best known for leading the first expedition to reach the South Pole in 1911. Roald Amundsen, born in 1872 near Oslo, Norway, left his mark on the Heroic Era as one of the most successful polar explorers ever born. Norwegian Roald Amundsen would become the first explorer to reach the South Pole two years later in 1911. Roald Amundsen. The previous expeditions of Cook, Peary and Byrd all claimed to have reached the North Pole earlier, but each of those claims are disputed today. Norwegian Roald Amundsen becomes the first explorer to reach the South Pole, beating his British rival, Robert Falcon Scott. Early in his life Roald Amundsen dreamed of the sea. He traveled to both the Arctic and the Antarctic, and he was the first person to reach the South Pole. Open this photo in gallery: Choosing dogs over horses led Amundsen to reach the South Pole before the doomed … He is most famous for being the first man to reach the South Pole, but in his journeys across the polar wastes, he experienced unimaginable horrors. Sextant is basically a protractor which measures angle between two objects. Not one to rest on his laurels, Roald Amundsen later led a trip to the North Pole in 1926 and became the first (with his companions) to verifiably reach the North Pole. What year did Roald Amundsen reach the South Pole? In the early 20th century, the race was on to reach the South Pole, with a number of explorers testing themselves in the freezing Antarctic.. The Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was one of the most important people in the history of polar exploration . In the early 1910s, explorers Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott engaged in a frantic, and ultimately tragic, race to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Early life . Roald Amundsen is proud to be the first person to reach both poles of the earth. Early years. Roald Amundsen's family owned the ships. Roald Amundsen and his team used skis and dogsleds to travel across Antarctica's icy landscape. Scott (left) and Amundsen (right) The year was 1911 when a group of Norwegian explorers, led by Roald Amundsen, accomplished what no one had before — they reached the South Pole … Youth []. He was one of the greatest figures in the field of polar exploration. Amundsen had beaten his great rival Robert Falcon Scott, the British explorer to the Pole and he became world-famous as a result of his remarkable feat. One hundred years ago, on December 14, 1911, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team became the first people to reach the Geographic South Pole. On Dec. 14, the five men, with only 16 dogs left, arrived at 90° 0′ S. Amundsen gave the name “Polheim” to their camp at the South Pole, which means “Home on the Pole,” while he renamed the Antarctic Plateau as King Haakon VII’s Plateau. Another five-man expedition reached the pole … Roald Amundsen 1872-1928 . Let us journey forth to discover 50 trailblazing facts about the Last of the Vikings. It would end in victory for Amundsen – and tragedy for Scott. In 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and British explorer Robert Falcon Scott were each trying to be the first to reach the South Pole. Amundsen and his contemporaries are often called the prime examples of the "Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration" which came to a definite end with the switch to a more scientific approach in the "international geophysical year" 1957/58, which established the Amundsen/Scott South Pole Station and launched the space race with Sputnik.. It is located on the ice-covered continent of Antarctica. Administration; Mission and Vision; Who was Roald Amundsen? World War I ended that endeavor, but the explorer continued to dream of flying over the great ice cap. His trip was a success partly because their base was almost 100 km closer to the pole than Scott’s. Roald Amundsen: first to reach the South Pole, the first to make a ship voyage through the Northwest Passage, and one of the first to cross the Arctic by air. Roald Amundsen died with a crew of five in a small flying boat that took off from Tromso, Norway in June 1928 on a rescue mission for Nobile and two others whose airship had crashed on the way back from the North Pole. The Norwegian explorer had been locked in a thrilling race with British explorer, Robert F. Scott, to the planet's most-southerly point for months and announced his achievement after safely arriving in Hobart, Australia, in March 1912. They beat Captain Robert Falcon Scott's British … Amundsen was born on the 16th of July, 1872, on a small farm near Sarpsborg in south-eastern Norway. 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