December 14, 1911 - Roald Amundsen's team becomes the first to travel to Antarctica

On December 14, 1911, the Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen crossed the mist, cold with the cold wind and plugged the Norwegian flag onto the Antarctic land.

The first person in the world set foot in Antarctica

In 1903, Amundsen led the expedition with six other people on the ship Gjoa , for the first time successfully surpassing the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, the way through which the explorers since Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, and Henry Hudson have tried and failed. They traveled along Baffin, Lancaster and Peel straits, along the straits of James Ross and Rae to survey land and ice from Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, Canada for two consecutive winters.

During this time, Amundsen learned from the Netsilik people the extreme survival skills he needed, such as how to use sled dogs and how to dress. Continuing the journey to South Victoria, the ship crossed the Arctic Islands on August 17, 1905, but had to stop wintering before arriving in Nome, on the Pacific coast of Alaska territory. Five hundred miles away is Eagle City, Alaska. Amundsen went there to send a message on December 5, 1905. After that, he continued to Nome in 1906. Since this was a shallow port where many larger ships could not use this path.

After crossing the North West passage, Amundsen intends to head to the North Pole and explore the Arctic Bay . In 1909, after being told that Frederick Cook and Robert Peary were the first to conquer the North Pole, he changed his plans. Using the Fram (English name "Forward"), previously used by Fridtjof Nansen, Amundsen sailed to Antarctica in 1910. In his book, The South Pole , he needs to conquer Antarctica. to have money to fund the Arctic trip he had planned. To prepare for this trip, Amundsen carefully studied the documents and previous records of the expedition first. At the same time, he summed up his own experiences and combined with materials to map out a thoughtful plan for the trip.

Amundsen did not tell anyone about the plan change except his brother, Leon and Thorvald Nilsen, commander of Fram. Amundsen fears that Nansen will refuse to let him use the ship, but in fact, after being told this, Nansen supports him absolutely. At the same time, he did not want Robert Falcon Scott to know about his competition in the Polar region. But Scott later claimed that Amundsen's presence did not affect his own plans. The original plan took the ship over Horn to the Bering Strait. Amundsen waited until Fram arrived in Madeira to announce the change of plans for the crew. Contrary to his fear, they all agreed to go on. Leon announced the news to the public on 2 October. During his stay in Madeira, Amundsen sent a telegram to Scott, informing him of his change of destination: " PLEASE NOTICE TO THE FRAM IS GOING TO THE NORTH - - AMUNDSEN ".

Roald Amundsen and his team arrived in Antarctica on December 14, 1911. Amundsen named his camp Framheim and the whole plateau around the Pole as King Haakon VII Vidde in honor of King Haakon VII of Norway.They were only a step earlier than a group of five people led by the rare British explorer Robert Falken Scott, becoming the first person in the world to reach Antarctica.