A Look Back opening graphic Photo credits

A LOOK BACK

The attempts of early explorers to navigate the forbidding arctic seas left a legacy that contributes to the rich arctic history. The timeline below provides a glimpse into the scientific highlights of arctic exploration and discovery over the past thousand years.



Historical Highlights of Arctic Exploration

 
           

Date

       

Activity


       
           

11th and 12th centuries

       

Novgorodians reach the White Sea coast.

           

1595-1597

       

Willem Barents (Dutch) and crew become the first Europeans to overwinter in the Arctic on the west coast of Novaya Zemlya after discovering Spitsbergen.

           

1616

       

William Baffin (English) explores northern Baffin Bay, but his maps are lost.

           

1648

       

Fedot Alekseyev Popov (Russian) finds easternmost point of Asian continent by boat.

           

1725-1734

       

First Kamchatka expedition of Vitus Bering (Russian) after a 5,000 mile overland journey.

           

1734-1743

       

Russian explorers attempt the Northeast Sea Route; members of the Great Northern Expedition attempt to map the Arctic coast of Siberia.

           

1819

       

Edward Parry's ships (English) overwinter at Winter Harbour, Melville Sound; ice prevents them from completing the Northwest Passage.

           

1820

       

William Scoresby (English) compiles a summary of meteorological observations from his whaling expeditions.

           

1820-1824

       

Ferdinand Wrangell (Russian) maps the coast east of the Kolyma River.

           

1821-1824

       

Fedor Petrovich Litke (Russian) charts the western and southern shore of Novaya Zemlya and Matochkin Shar Strait.

           

1878-1879

       

Adolf Nordenskiold (Norwegian) sails the complete Northeast Passage over two seasons in the Vega.

           

1882-1883

       

First International Polar Year: twelve meteorological stations established.

           

1893-1896

       

Norwegian Fram expedition (Fridjof Nansen).

           

1903-1906

       

Roald Amundsen (Norwegian) traverses the Northwest Passage.

           

1909

       

Robert Peary (U.S.A.) attempts North Pole by dogsled.

           

1910-1915

       

Arctic Ocean Hydrographic expedition.

           

1914

       

Ya. I. Nagursky (Russian) makes first arctic flight.

           

1918-1925

       

Norwegian Maud expedition (Harold Sverdrup).

           

1924-1926

       

First airborne ice reconnaissance flights in the Kara Sea (Russian).

           

1926

       

Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett (U.S.A.) claim to have reached the North Pole by air.

           

1926

       

The airship Norge flies over the North Pole from Spitsbergen to Alaska.

           

1928

       

The airship Italia crashes; USSR and other countries mount an international rescue effort.

           

1932

       

Icebreaker Sibiryakov navigates the Northeast Sea Route in one season.

           

1932-1933

       

Second International Polar Year: ninety-four arctic meteorological stations established.

           

1933

       

The Cheluskin sinks in the Northeast Passage. Passengers are rescued in April 1934.

           

1937

       

First Russian drifting station, North Pole 1, is established.

           

1937-1940

       

The Georgy Sedov expedition (Russian).

           

1940-1942, 1944

       

The St. Roch (a Royal Canadian Mounted Police ship) sails the Northwest Passage in both directions.

           

1941

       

Russian "Flying Laboratory" program begins.

           

1951

       

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is established.

           

1952

       

U.S. Air Force establishes the ice island T-3 as a research station.

           

1957-1958

       

The International Geophysical Year (IGY). The World Data Center system is established.

           

1958

       

The USS Nautilus crosses the Arctic Ocean beneath the ice.

           

1957-1958

       

As part of IGY activities, U.S establishes Drifting Stations Alpha and Bravo (T-3).

           

1972

       

WMO's Working Group VIII is formed to facilitate data exchange between Russia and the U.S.A.

           

1991

       

The last Russian drifting station, North Pole 31, closes.

           

1993

       

U.S. - Russian Environmental Working Group convenes.