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Captain James Cook and his crew became the first men to cross the Antarctic circle.
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First sighting of the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands by British Capt. William Smith.
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Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen
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Palmer Land discovered by American Capt. Nathaniel Palmer.
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U.S. Capt. John Davis makes first known landing on the continent at Hughes Bay on Antarctic Peninsula.
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First sighting of the Antarctic continent in the Indian Ocean sector (Enderby Land) by British Capt. John Biscoe, in the Tula and Lively.
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First landing south of the Antarctic Circle by British Capt. John Balleny in the Eliza Scott, discovered and landed on the Balleny Islands.
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First ever to enter the Ross Sea by British explorer Sir James Clark Ross in the ship Erebus.
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First landing on Greater Antarctica (Victoria Land) by American Captain Mercator Cooper in the Levant.
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Carsten Borchgrevink made the first landing on Antarctica since Davis. Three years later he led the first party to winter on the continent.
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First permanent scientific station established in the Antarctic, at Laurie Island, South Orkneys by the Scottish National Antarctic expedition under William Speirs Bruce.
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Argentina began to occupy Antarctic lands when purchasing the meteorological station belonging to the Scottish Dr. Bruce, on Laurie island, South Orkney islands.
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Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole
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Roald Amundsen of Norway reaches the South Pole; on 18 Jan 1912 U.S. Capt. Robert Scott located the South Pole but died on the return trip.
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U.S. explorer Richard E. Byrd made the first flight over the South Pole from Little America Base.
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First permanent station at South Pole built (Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station).
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International Geophysical Year (IGY), scientists of 67 nations research the environment.
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First successful land traverse of Antarctica by British Commonwealth Transantarctic expedition under Vivian Fuchs. Weddell Sea to Ross Sea via the South Pole.
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South Geomagnetic Pole reached for the first time by a tractor traverse by the Soviet Union.
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The Antarctic Treaty was signed.
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The Treaty entered into force.
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World Park Base - a non-governmental year-round base located at Cape Evans on Ross Island in the Ross Dependency established by Greenpeace.
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Secretariat of Antarctic Treaty inaugurated.
