american captain john davis was the first person to set foot on antarctica.
american captain john davis was the first person to set foot on antarctica.
who was the first person to set foot on antarctica?
american captain john davis
in 1819, a few of the 644 crew of the wrecked spanish ship of the line "san telmo" with 74 cannons might have been the first men to set foot on antarctica before probably dying of hypothermia - but there is no proof that they did. a year later on the 27th of january, 1820 a russian expedition led by fabian gottlieb von bellingshausen and mikhail lazarev discovered an ice shelf at princess martha coast that later became known as the fimbul ice shelf. bellingshausen and lazarev became the first explorers to see and officially discover the land of antarctica continent. three days later, on 30 january 1820, a british expedition captained by edward bransfield sighted trinity peninsula, and ten months later an american sealer nathaniel palmer sighted antarctica on 17 november 1820. the first landing was probably just over a year later when american captain john davis, a sealer, set foot on the ice.
history of antarctica
women were originally kept from exploring antarctica until well into the 1950s. a few pioneering women visited the antarctic land and waters prior to the 1950s and many women requested to go on early expeditions, but were turned away. early pioneers such as louise séguin and ingrid christensen were some of the first women to see antarctic waters. christensen was the first woman to set foot on the mainland of antarctica. the first women to have any fanfare about their antarctic journeys were caroline mikkelsen who set foot on an island of antarctica in 1935, and jackie ronne and jennie darlington who were the first women to over-winter in antarctica in 1947. the first woman scientist to work in antarctica was maria klenova in 1956. silvia morella de palma was the first woman to give birth in antarctica, delivering 3.4 kg (7 lb 8 oz) emilio palma at the argentine esperanza base 7 january 1978.
history of antarctica