1. The literal
meaning of ‘Antarctica’ is ‘opposite the bear’. The ancient Greeks named
the frozen north ‘Arktikos’ after their word for ‘bear’, as the Great
Bear (Ursa Major) is above the North Pole.
2. Until 1840, it was not known whether the Antarctic was just ice or if there was land beneath.
3. Before 1840, the Antarctic was known as Terra Australis Incognita (the unknown southern land).
4.
Robert Falcon Scott was not the only notable Scott born on June 6:
David Scott, born June 6, 1932, was the seventh person to walk on the
Moon.
5. Mount Erebus is the only active volcano in Antarctica.
6. There is about eight times as much ice in Antarctica as in the Arctic.
7. The number of breeding pairs of penguins in Antarctica is estimated to be 20 million.
8. On October 14, 1899, the Norwegian zoologist Nicolai Hansen became the first person to be buried in Antarctica.
9. The first person born in Antarctica was Emilio Marcos Palma of Argentina on January 7, 1978.
10. If all the ice in Antarctica melted, the world’s sea levels would rise by about 200 feet.
