The Arctic submitted to humanity at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. This inaccessible region was studied by daredevils from many countries: Russia, Norway, Sweden, Italy, etc. The history of the Arctic discovery is not only a scientific, but also a sports race, which continues to this day.
Niels Nordenscheld
The polar explorer Niels Nordenskjöld (1832-1901) was born in Finland, which then belonged to Russia, however, being a Swede by birth, he carried out his expeditions under the Swedish flag. In his youth, he was a lot on Svalbard. Nordenskjöld was the first traveler to "tackle" the ice sheet of Greenland. All famous Arctic explorers of the beginning of the 20th century deservedly considered him the godfather of their craft.
The main achievement of Adolf Nordenscheld was his expedition along the Northeast Passage in 1878-1879. The steamboat Vega was the first in one journey to sail along the northern shores of Eurasia and completely circled the vast mainland. The merits of Nordenscheld are appreciated by descendants - numerous geographical features of the Arctic are named after him. This includes the archipelago near Taimyr, as well as the bay near Novaya Zemlya.
Robert Peary
The name of Robert Peary (1856-1920) is special in the history of polar expeditions. He is the first Arctic explorer who conquered the North Pole. In 1886, the traveler set out to cross Greenland on a sleigh. However, in that race, he lost to Fridtjof Nansen.
The then researchers of the Arctic were extremals in an even greater sense than now. Modern equipment did not yet exist, and daredevils had to act almost blindly. Intending to conquer the North Pole, Piri decided to turn to the life and traditions of the Eskimos. Thanks to the "cultural exchange", the American refused to use sleeping bags and tents. Instead, he began to resort to the practice of building an igloo.
The main journey of Piri is his sixth expedition to the Arctic in 1908-1909. The team included 22 Americans and 49 Eskimos. Although, as a rule, researchers of the Arctic went to the ends of the earth with scientific tasks, the Piri enterprise was held solely due to the desire to set a record. The North Pole was conquered by the polar explorers on April 6, 1909.
Raul Amundsen
The first time Raul Amundsen (1872-1928) visited the Arctic in 1897-1899, when he took part in the Belgian expedition, in which he was the navigator of one of the ships. After returning to his homeland, the Norwegian began to prepare for an independent journey. Prior to this, Arctic explorers mainly set off on a journey with large teams on several ships. Amundsen decided to abandon this practice.
Polar explorer bought a small Yoa yacht and assembled a small detachment that could feed itself by gathering and hunting. This expedition started in 1903. The starting point of the Norwegian was Greenland, and the final - Alaska. Thus, Raul Amundsen was the first to conquer the Northwest Passage - the sea route through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It was an unprecedented success. In 1911, the polar explorer was the first in the history of mankind to reach the South Pole. In the future, Amundsen became interested in the use of aviation, including airships and seaplanes. The researcher died in 1928, looking for the missing expedition of Umberto Nobile.
Nansen
The Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) began researching the Arctic literally out of sports interest. As a professional skater and skier, at the age of 27 he decided to cross the huge ice cover of Greenland by skiing and went down in history from the very first attempt.
The North Pole had not yet been conquered by Piri, and Nansen decided to reach the treasured point, drifting along with the ice on the schooner Fram. The ship found itself in ice captivity north of Cape Chelyuskin. The team went further on a sleigh, however in April 1895, reaching 86 degrees north latitude, it turned back.
Later Fridtjof Nansen did not participate in pioneering expeditions. Instead, he plunged into science, becoming an outstanding zoologist and author of a dozen studies. In the status of a famous public figure, Nansen fought the consequences of World War I in Europe. He helped refugees from different countries and starving the Volga. In 1922, the Norwegian Arctic explorer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Umberto Nobile
The Italian Umberto Nobile (1885-1978) is known not only as a polar explorer. His name is associated with the golden era of airship building. Amundsen, who was fired up by the idea of an air flight through the North Pole, met Nobile specialist in aeronautics in 1924. Already in 1926, the Italian, in the company of the Scandinavian argonaut and American eccentric millionaire Lincoln Ellsworth, set off on a landmark flight. The airship "Norway" followed the previously unprecedented route Rome - North Pole - Alaska Peninsula.
Umberto Nobile became a national hero, and the Duce Mussolini made him a general and an honorary member of the fascist party. Success prompted the builder of airships to organize a re-expedition. This time, Italy played the first violin in the event (the aircraft of the polar explorers was also called "Italy"). On the way back from the North Pole, the airship crashed, part of the crew perished, and Nobile was rescued from the ice by the Soviet icebreaker Krasin.
Chelyuskintsy
The feat of Chelyuskinites is a unique page in the history of the development of the polar frontiers. It is associated with an unsuccessful attempt to establish navigation along the Northern Sea Route. Her inspirations were scientist Otto Schmidt and polar explorer captain Vladimir Voronin. In 1933, they equipped the Chelyuskin steamboat and went on an expedition along the northern shores of Eurasia.
Soviet Arctic researchers sought to prove that the Northern Sea Route can be traveled not only on a specially prepared ship, but also on a simple dry cargo ship. Of course, this was a gamble, and its doom became clear in the Bering Strait, where the ship crushed by ice was wrecked.
The Chelyuskin crew was hastily evacuated, and a government commission was set up in the capital to organize the rescue of polar explorers. People were returned home by air bridge using airplanes. The history of Chelyuskin and its crew conquered the whole world. Rescue pilots were the first to receive the title of Heroes of the Soviet Union.
George Sedov
Georgy Sedov (1877-1914) connected his life with the sea in his youth, entering the Rostov nautical classes. Before becoming an explorer of the Arctic, he participated in the Russo-Japanese War, during which he commanded a destroyer.
Sedov’s first polar expedition took place in 1909, when he described the mouth of the Kolyma River. He then examined the New Earth (including its Phillips Cross). In 1912, the senior lieutenant proposed to the tsarist government a project of a luge expedition, the purpose of which was the North Pole.
The authorities refused to sponsor a risky event. Then he collected money from private funds and still organized a trip. His ship "St. Fock" was blocked by ice near Novaya Zemlya. Then Sedov fell ill with scurvy, but still, accompanied by several comrades, he went on a sleigh to the North Pole. Polar died on the way near the island of Rudolph, where he was buried.
Valery Chkalov
Most often, Russian Arctic researchers are associated with ships, sleds and dog teams. However, pilots also contributed to the study of polar open spaces. The main Soviet ace Valery Chkalov (1904-1938) in 1937 made the first non-stop flight from Moscow to Vancouver via the North Pole.
The co-workers of the mission brigade were co-pilot George Baidukov and navigator Alexander Belyakov. For 63 hours, the ANT-25 aircraft traveled a length of 9 thousand kilometers. Reporters from around the world were waiting for heroes in Vancouver, and US President Roosevelt personally received pilots at the White House.
Ivan Papanin
Almost certainly Ivan Papanin (1894-1896) is the most famous Soviet explorer of the Arctic. His father was a Sevastopol port worker, so it is not surprising that the boy caught fire in the sea from an early age. Papanin first appeared in the north in 1931, visiting the Land of Franz Joseph on the ship "Malygin".
The thunderous glory came to the explorer of the Arctic at the age of 44. In the years 1937-1938. Papanin supervised the work of the world's first drifting station, the North Pole. Four scientists spent 274 days on an ice floe, observing the Earth’s atmosphere and the hydrosphere of the Arctic Ocean. Papanin twice became a Hero of the Soviet Union.