100th Year Anniversary ~ Discovery of the South Pole

100 years ago Roald Amundsen along with four members of his team and 16 dogs reached the South Pole and planted the Norwegian flag in the frozen Antarctic ice.  This discovery was historic as man was still trying to conquer the earth just a century ago. 

Olivia has long been fascinated by the story of Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott and their "Race to the South Pole."  I recall her receiving a book on explorers several years ago which sparked ignited her curiosity.  The following weeks she checked out probably a dozen books on the subject from the library.  She researched and learned all about details of their routes and explorations. 

Even today she is so interested in their stories she included The Story of Polar Conquest on her Christmas wish list over a month ago.  In fact, she has shared so many intriguing details of Amundsen and Scott with me that she has now drawn me to their story.  :)

When I realized today was the 100th year anniversary I knew I must do something special in honor of the discovery. 

Tonight after dinner I made a South Pole Marker, grabbed our stuffed penguin, scattered some marshmallows around, and then scooped Polar Cream (vanilla ice cream) and whipping cream into white ramekins, and topped them each off with a miniature south pole marker.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed their Polar Cream and Olivia enjoyed sharing facts about the Amundsen exploration with us while Isaac talked about our "Captain Cook," of Mr. Poppers Penguins, of course.  :)

I'll leave you with this excerpt from the New York Times:

When Roald Amundsen's ship, the Fram, left Norway on Aug. 9, 1910, it carried, in Amundsen's words, "nineteen men, ninety-seven dogs, four pigs, six carrier pigeons, and one canary." The ship was nearly 20 years old, and the expedition leader, Amundsen, was 38. He was already a formidable polar explorer, but this voyage to Antarctica and the South Pole made him one of the greatest explorers who ever lived.

On Dec. 14, a century ago, Amundsen and the four members of his team reached the South Pole. "That day," he wrote, "was a beautiful one," and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon they planted the flag of Norway, each man with one hand on the flagpole. Like so many other days on that polar journey, that day was "like a pleasure trip," as Amundsen later reported. The weather was good, but even better was the planning. The Norwegians were born skiers, excellent dog handlers and skilled navigators. They proceeded across the ice exactly as they had done across the ocean, fixing their location again and again by dead reckoning and with sextants. They also left innumerable cairns and markers to guide them on their return.

In his book, "The South Pole," Amundsen makes none of this sound heroic. He admired the English for their "pluck and grit," but what you feel in reading his account is joy and adventure. Even now, Amundsen is too little admired, mainly because his straightforward success was eclipsed by what a member of Robert Falcon Scott's expedition called the "first-rate tragedy" of Scott's polar push, which ended in the deaths of Scott and his four-man team.

On Dec. 14, Amundsen was at the pole, writing a letter to Scott wishing him a safe return. Scott was 34 days behind him, on a different route. Scott's journal for that day reads, "We are just starting our march with no very hopeful outlook."

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Information and pictures taken from:
www.wikipedia.org and www.visionforum.com

Comments

[Renee]

What a fun mom and teacher you are! :) Thanks for sharing the history lesson.

[Dad]

I'm amazed at your creativity on the spur on the moment. Wish I had that quality. I know the grandchildren enjoyed this fun and educational moment.

Dad