Yesterday marked 100 years since Robert Falcon Scott and the others of his expedition reached the South Pole. Photographer Herbert Ponting recorded images of the journey, although he did not personally accompany Scott all the way to the Pole.
Staying behind likely saved Ponting's life: Upon reaching the Pole, Scott and his team discovered that Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had gotten there first, on December 14, 1911. (Find out how Amundsen won the Pole, in his own words.) Then, weakened by extreme cold and dwindling supplies, Scott's entire party died on the return journey, in late March 1912.
Ponting's photographs survived as well, to this day. National Geographic News has a gallery of those historic images posted in honor of the 100th anniversary. Link -Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!
(Image credit: Herbert G. Ponting/National Geographic)
http://southpolepush.com/
Grant Korgan became the first adaptive athlete to make it to the South Pole, on the exact 100 year anniversary of Scott's accomplishment. It took him something like 250,000 pushes. That guy's incredible.