This Day in History November 17, 1820

By Grutness at en.wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons

I wonder if you knew about this particular date in history--I sure didn't!  On this date in 1820, Captain Nathaniel Palmer became the first person to see Antarctica.  He was on his ship "Hero" at the time, and later a portion of the continent (the part you see in red) was named after him--Palmer Land.  Of course, he only knew this was an area of land he had never seen before.  He wasn't even looking for new land.  He was on a voyage in the South Atlantic looking for new seal rookeries (or colonies of seals).  

For more information, please check out:

http://www.stoningtonhistory.org/palmer2.htm

http://www.geni.com/people/Nathaniel-Palmer/6000000001888459692

This Day in History October 27, 1728

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Captain-James-Cook.jpg

It just so happens that this day in history is a monumental one for Hawaii (as well as other areas of the world).  On this date in 1728, Captain James Cook was born.  He was a British explorer who sailed around the world twice and led three exploratory expedition for Great Britain.  Part of that exploration led to Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, and almost Antartica.  (You'll have to read about why he didn't discover that continent).  He also searched for the Northwest Passage, but of course, this mythical waterway did not exist.  It is sad to note how he met his untimely death.  On his third and final trip, he was stabbed to death by a Hawaiian native due to a dispute over a stolen boat.

If you would like to read more about him, check out these sites:
http://geography.about.com/cs/captaincook/a/jamescook.htm
http://www.discoverhawaiitours.com/info/captain-james-cook.html
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95oct/jcook.html
http://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/captain-cook.html

This Day in History March 27, 1844

So, does anyone know who this is?  It is the anniversary of his birthday.  It was on this date in 1844 that Adolphus Greely was born.  And just who was he?  He was a Polar explorer and an officer in the army.  He even received the Medal of Honor.  And, are you ready for this?  He was an American!  You mean someone was well-respected and an American?  How rare that is in this day and age.  Then again, respect is hard to come by in this world.

He was  Massachusetts native who entered the army at the age of 17 (after being rejected twice).  He served as a volunteer in the Civil War, but most of his army career was with the Signal Corps (joined in 1869).  His career was not without difficulties.  There were only six survivors of his army Arctic expedition, and his leadership was called into question.  The expedition did result in some wonderful Canadian and Greenland explorations, and he finally was cleared of any wrongdoing.

He retired from the army in 1908, but he was not done with his contributions to society.  He was a founding member of the National Geographic Society.  He received a belated Congressional Medal of Honor at the age of 95.  He died October 20, 1935, and he has been commemorated with a postage stamp in 1986.

Okay, so I hadn't heard of him before either.  That is one of the reasons I continue to do these features.  I continue to learn, and I hope my wonderful readers do, too.

For much more information, check out:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244850/Adolphus-Washington-Greely
http://www.ekkane.org/Biographies/BioGreely.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/adolphus-greely
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/awgreely.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphus_Greely

This Day in History September 27, 1514

I really could use what was not discovered by the explorer associated with this day in history.  Ever hear of Juan Ponce de Leon? He was the explorer from Spain who set out to discover the Fountain of Youth.  It was on this day in 1514 that he was granted a second patent to settle the islands of Bimini and Florida.  His first patent had expired, and that is when he discovered and populated Bimini.  He had already founded modern day St. Augustine in Florida.  He truly thought he had discovered the mythical islands of Bimini and thus the fountain of youth.  Too bad it was not the case.

And here's the rest of the story.  He landed near Charlotte Harbor on the west coast of Florida.  He and his party were attacked, and Ponce de Leon was wounded by an arrow.  He returned to Cuba, and he died from an infection that resulted from that injury later on that year.  Interesting to note that if he had never gone back, he wouldn't have been injured and died in the way he did.

It is an interesting story surrounding the Fountain of Youth.  The myth was a European story which said that in Asia there was a fountain that was supposedly in the Garden of Eden.  To the Spaniards, America was Asia.  He related the story to the "Indians," but indeed this mythical fountain was never discovered.  It was supposed to refresh and revitalize whomever drank from it. I bet if he had discovered it, it would have been drained in no time!  But then again, who really wants to remain young the rest of their lives?  Let's agree to grow old gracefully!

For more information, check out:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/sep27.html
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Ponce-de-Le-n-Juan.html