100 Years Ago Today (18th Jan. 1912) – Scott reaches the South Pole

British explorer Robert Falcon Scott’s expedition reached the South Pole, but discovered that Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian team had beaten them by over a month. In addition to Capt. Scott, Lieut. Bowers, and Dr. Wilson, two others, Capt. Titus Oates and Petty Officer Edgar Evans made the final push to the Pole. Conditions were appalling: temperatures plummeting to minus 45 degrees F., nearly impassable terrain, blinding blizzards, or blinding sunshine. On January 16, nearing their objective, Scott and his team make a disheartening discovery – evidence that the Norwegians have beat them to the Pole. In fact, the Norwegians had arrived four weeks earlier on December 14, 1911. Psychologically numbed by the finding, the team pushes on. We pick up Scott’s journal on the following day… [more].