13th July 1772, British Royal Navy Captain, explorer, navigator, and cartographer James Cook embarks on his second voyage aboard HMS Resolution to search for ‘Terra Australis’, the fabled Southern continent. The continent was first proposed in the ancient world by the theory that continents in the north should be balanced by a continent in the south. Despite the name, ‘Terra Australis’, did not refer to the continent of Australia, but to the continent later confirmed to exist, and named Antarctica in the 1890’s. By the following January, the crew of the Resolution became the first navigator’s known to history to cross the Antarctic Circle. The ship however got no further as Cook had believed that due to the insurmountable ice he had found, a possible continent beyond was impossible to reach. This was however proved incorrect on the 27th January 1820, when the Russian Antarctic expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev reached Antarctica. The expedition had sailed from Russia on the 16th July 1819, three days and forty seven years after James Cook. Three days later, on the 30th January 1820, a British expedition captained by Edward Bransfield sighted Trinity Peninsula in Antarctica, but the discovery of Antarctica was ultimately credited to Bellingshausen and Lazarev. The nautical race to map what was believed to be the last geographic areas of the globe, had in the early years of the 19th century caused a political rift between Britain and Russia. In 1817 fears were expressed that Russia would be the first country to explore the North West Passage. #captainjamescook #sailinghistory #maritimehistory #royalnavyhistory #hmsresolution #terraaustralia #terraaustralis #antartica #18thcentury #18thcenturyhistory #tallships #sailingships #antarticcircle #arcticcircle #19thcentury #19thcenturyhistory #russianhistory #bellingshausen #northwestpassage #exploration #discoveryglobe #historicalstories #historystory #talesofthesea #historicaldiscovery #icebound #historicalmaps https://www.instagram.com/p/CRZNx3elzV7/?utm_medium=tumblr
