The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
d. 20th-Century Explorations 1902–4 ROBERT F. SCOTT led a major Antarctic expedition, accomplishing significant discoveries and a record south. 1 1903–6 Roald Amundsen first sailed the complete Northwest Passage. 2 1907–9 F. A. Cook and Robert E. Peary each claimed to have reached the NORTH POLE , although it is possible that neither actually accomplished this. 3 1907–9 Ernest Shackleton led an Antarctic expedition that surpassed Scott's records and reached the south magnetic pole . 4 1910–12 ROALD AMUNDSEN discovered the South Pole , on which he placed the Norwegian flag in 1911. 5 1910–13 Scott's last expedition reached the South Pole in 1912, but the whole party died in a blizzard. 6 1917 Danish–U.S. treaty strengthened Danish claims to Greenland by ceding Virgin Islands to the United States in settlement of U.S. claims resulting from Peary's expeditions. 7 1918–25 Amundsen and H. Sverdrup navigated the Northeast Passage and spent an extended period in planned drift over the North Pole. 8 1924 Greenland became a Danish crown colony following Danish agreements with Norway and Great Britain. 9 1925 Spitsbergen came under the sovereignty of Norway . 10 1926 Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett were the first to fly over the North Pole . 11
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth
edition . Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
