Antarctica was believed to exist long before it was actually discovered. There were many reasons for this belief, including Aristotle's theory that there must be a sizeable land mass to balance the globe.
The first person to cross the Antarctic Circle is James Cook, who in 1773 circumnavigated the Antarctic continent but never actually saw the landmass. However, Cook's reports of the large seal population and massive numbers of whales encouraged significant numbers of whalers and sealers to travel south. Sealers are responsible for exploring close to one third of the Southern Ocean along with numerous sub Antarctic islands.
The first confirmed person to see the Antarctic continent was Russian explorer Fabian von Bellingshausen, in January 1820. It was, in his words, "an icefield covered with small hillocks." However, it took until after the second World War for his accomplishment to be recognized, when the Soviet Union was attempting to establish Antarctic claims.
James Weddell of Scotland hit a record low when he reached 74°15' South, in February of 1823. The body of water he traveled through bears his name today, as does the species of seal that he discovered.
[NOTE] We saw Weddell seals on our trip. They are very impressive creatures!
In late December of 1897, a Belgian ship captained by navy lieutenant Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache left Punta Arenas, Chile. The ship became mired in the Antarctic ice and did not move for over a year. Eventually, the crew managed to hew a canal through the pack ice and achieve freedom. His was the first known ship (and his crew the first known humans) to survive an Antarctic winter.
[NOTE] Our voyage took us down the Gerlache Straight, named after Lt. de Gerlache.
The famous voyage of Captain Robert Falcon Scott departed from England in 1901, entering the Ross Sea in early 1902, and then waited for spring. Once the warmer weather arrived, Scott and two of his men departed for the South Pole using dogsleds, despite a lack of experience. They reached 82° 16.5' south before being forced to turn back. Upon their return to the ship Discovery, they took on goods from their relief ship Morning and then spent another winter in the Antarctic, leaving the next summer.
The Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who had been a part of an earlier expedition to the Antarctic, left Oslo in 1910 hoping to be the first man to reach the North Pole. After discovering that an American had already done so, he reversed course and headed south. Amundsen and his men traveled from the Ross Ice Shelf to the South Pole in late 1911, reaching the Pole on December 14, 1911. Scott arrived at the pole 23 days later, and he along with his entire party was lost in the weather. Their bodies were found eight months later.
After the second World War, governments were the only ones able to afford an Antarctic expedition, and the permanent occupation of the continent began in 1943. The United States used the Antarctic as a training ground for fighting in polar conditions, as they were concerned that a war with the Soviet Union would require fighting in the similar conditions of Siberia. The first permanent research station, Mawson station, was created by an Australian government organization.
The Antarctic Treaty, considered one of the most successful international treaties ever created, was signed in 1961. Since that time, it has administered all activities on the continent: scientific, tourist, and commercial. There are now over 60 bases on the Antarctic continent and surrounding islands.
Information compiled from the Lonely Planet Antarctica guidebook,