Sighting of Antarctica
Avistamiento de la Antártida
- Date
- 1820 · confidence high
- Place
- Princess Martha Coast, Antarctica
- Credited to
- Fabian von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev (27 January 1820); Edward Bransfield (30 January 1820); Nathaniel Palmer (November 1820)
- People
- 👤 Edward Bransfield1785–1852👤 Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen1778–1852👤 Mijaíl Lázarev1788–1851👤 Nathaniel Palmer1799–1877
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
In 1820 three expeditions sighted the Antarctic continent within days of each other. It was the last continent discovered and the only one with no prior human population. Cook had crossed the polar circle in 1773 without sighting it.
Approximate coordinates of the point on the ice shelf sighted by Bellingshausen. Priority among Russians, Britons and Americans remains disputed. The only continent with no Indigenous inhabitants.
What it led to
- Southern seal and whale hunting
- The heroic age of Antarctic exploration
- The Antarctic Treaty (1959) and scientific reserve
- Discovery of the ozone hole
Built on
- Cook's voyages (1772-1775)
- South Shetland Islands (Smith, 1819)
Made possible
- Polar scientific bases
- Antarctic ice cores