Timeline Of Human Activity In Antarctica

We may earn a commission from links on this page.
Image for article titled Timeline Of Human Activity In Antarctica

Antarctica, Earth’s southernmost continent, faces numerous threats from climate change, but many people don’t know very much about the isolated area. The Onion looks back at a history of exploration, scientific study, and human activity in Antarctica.


1490:

Lost European explorers perplexed by how cold India is.


1820:

Discovery of Antarctica sends world ice prices plummeting.


1911:

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen beats British explorer Robert Falcon Scott in the race to the South Pole after Scott falters during the critical Ross Ice Shelf sprint stage.

Advertisement

1917:

Ernest Shackleton completes the first successful mission to get a boat stuck in Antarctic pack ice and be forced to live miserably on a floe for months.

Advertisement
Advertisement

1935:

Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first person to experience sexism on Antarctica.


1959:

The Antarctic Treaty is signed in Washington, placing a moratorium on natural resource exploitation and preventing penguins from industrializing the continent and entering the 20th-century global economy.

Advertisement

1991:

The ratification of the Madrid Protocol declares Antarctica to be a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science” for the remaining 50 years of its existence.

Advertisement

2005:

The film March Of The Penguins documents Antarctica’s disturbing descent into fascism.

Advertisement

2018:

Look, it’s perfectly normal for some continents to shrink, okay? Happens all the time.