Historical Figure
Ernest Shackleton
1874–1922
Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer (1874–1922)
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Key Dates
Birth
1874 February 15, 1874 →Biography
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Timeline
Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.
January 9 →Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for the ice-trapped ship Endurance.
April 24 →Sailing in the lifeboat James Caird, Ernest Shackleton arrives at South Georgia after a journey of 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island.
May 10 →Ernest Shackleton completes the rescue of all of his men stranded on Elephant Island in Antarctica.
August 30 →More from the Victorian Era
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