On Dec. 14, 1911, Roald Amundsen and four fellow Norwegian explorers became the first men to reach the South Pole, beating the ill-fated team of British Capt. Robert F. Scott by just over a month. Our On This Day article captures this race to the South Pole, which enraptured the world, and ended triumphantly for one party and tragically for the other.
In our newsletter last week, we highlighted this letter from Captain Scott to his wife, written as his safe return became increasingly unlikely.
Amundsen is one of many of the world's great adventurers and explorers that students can learn about from our SweetSearch Biographies page for this category.
This day in 1546, Tycho Brahe, notable Danish astronomer, was born. His perfectionist approach to astronomy and astronomical instruments yielded some of the field's greatest discoveries. His meticulous measurements of objects at different stages of their orbits was a revolutionary approach to astronomy that helped pave the way for the more sophisticated conjectures of Kepler, Galileo and others who followed Brahe. Specifically, Kepler used Brahe's observations to develop the theory that the planets move in elliptical orbits.
From SweetSearch2Day:
American Memory covers the death of George Washington, on December 14, 1799. Though Washington wished to enjoy retirement after the end of the American Revolution, he was continually asked to set aside his personal interests to serve his country. On the day of his death, he said "I feel myself going. I thank you for your attentions; but I pray you to take no more trouble about me. Let me go off quietly. I cannot last long."
Letters of Note features a handwritten letter from Kenneth Grahame to his 7 year-old son, asking "Have you heard about the Toad?" This letter, and bedtime stories that Grahame told to his son, became the basis for his classic book, "The Wind in the Willows."
The Big Picture offers these photos of student protests in London over tuition hikes.
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