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[[File:Douglas Mawson 1914a.jpg|300px|left]]
[[File:Blowtorch-Drink.jpg|250px|left]]
Sir '''[[Douglas Mawson]]''', OBE FRS FAA (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was an Australian geologist, [[Antarctic]] explorer, and academic. Along with [[Roald Amundsen]], [[Robert Falcon Scott]], and Sir [[Ernest Shackleton]], he was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. The Mawson Station in the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]] is named in his honor.
A '''[[blowtorch (drink)|blowtorch]]''' is an alcoholic cocktail invented by members of the 1928 Byrd [[Antarctic]] Expedition. The recipe calls for mixing lemon powder with grain alcohol and diluting the mixture with ice until it's drinkable.


Mawson joined [[Ernest Shackleton]]'s Nimrod Expedition (1907–09) to the [[Antarctic]], originally intending to stay for the duration of the ship's presence in the first summer. Instead both he and his mentor, Edgeworth David, stayed an extra year. In doing so they became, in the company of Alistair Mackay, the first to climb the summit of [[Mount Erebus]] and to trek to the [[South Magnetic Pole]], which at that time was over land.
Dr. F. Dana Coman, the expedition's physician, and the man with the keys to the liquor supply, took some of the grain alcohol and mixed it with the lemon powder and the crushed orange juice concentrate. The men dubbed this extremely potent drink a "blowtorch." [[Richard Byrd]] himself participated in the festivities and every couple of weeks, he would authorize a tub of blowtorches to be made up and a party held to help the men relax and unwind during the long winter.


Mawson turned down an invitation to join [[Robert Falcon Scott]]'s Terra Nova Expedition in 1910; Australian geologist Griffith Taylor went with Scott instead. Mawson chose to lead his own expedition, the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, to King [[George V Land]], and [[Adélie Land]], the sector of the Antarctic continent immediately south of Australia, which at the time was almost entirely unexplored. The objectives were to carry out geographical exploration and scientific studies, including a visit to the [[South Magnetic Pole]]. Mawson raised the necessary funds in a year, from British and Australian governments, and from commercial backers interested in mining and [[whaling]].
Drinking contests broke out between the men, most notoriously between Danny Davies and [[Gould Coast|Larry Gould]], who got carried away and ordered everyone to "get cock-eyed drunk."


'''([[Douglas Mawson|Full Article...]])'''
'''([[blowtorch (drink)|Full Article...]])'''

Revision as of 17:03, 26 March 2024

Blowtorch-Drink.jpg

A blowtorch is an alcoholic cocktail invented by members of the 1928 Byrd Antarctic Expedition. The recipe calls for mixing lemon powder with grain alcohol and diluting the mixture with ice until it's drinkable.

Dr. F. Dana Coman, the expedition's physician, and the man with the keys to the liquor supply, took some of the grain alcohol and mixed it with the lemon powder and the crushed orange juice concentrate. The men dubbed this extremely potent drink a "blowtorch." Richard Byrd himself participated in the festivities and every couple of weeks, he would authorize a tub of blowtorches to be made up and a party held to help the men relax and unwind during the long winter.

Drinking contests broke out between the men, most notoriously between Danny Davies and Larry Gould, who got carried away and ordered everyone to "get cock-eyed drunk."

(Full Article...)