Roert ScottLibrary of Congress

A little over 100 years ago, Robert Scott led a privately funded British expedition to become the first people to successfully reach the South Pole.

Scott, who had previously been a senior member on another polar expedition, was chosen to lead a group of 65 men who used the Terra Nova supply ship to guide them on the initial portion of the journey. Because of the name of the ship, Scott's mission has been historically referred to as the Terra Nova Expedition.

Scott was not the only group looking to be the first to reach the South Pole. A Norwegian group with Roald Amundsen at the helm was traveling on the other side of the Antarctica down to the South Pole at the same time.

Scott's crew successfully reached the South Pole on Jan. 12, 1912, but were ultimately beaten by Amundsen's crew by over a month. Supplies were low for the trip back north and temperatures were beyond frigid. Scott and his crew did not make it and a search party found Scott's frozen body in November 1912.


Here we chronicle Scott's fateful journey.

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