Difference between revisions of "Template:Westarctica.wiki:Today's featured article"

From Encyclopedia Westarctica
Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
(174 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
[[File:The Claimant Letter.jpg|thumb|300px|left]]
[[File:Ernest Shackleton before 1909.jpg|250px|left]]
The '''[[Claimant Letter]]''' is the founding document of [[Westarctica]]. The purpose of the letter was analogous to a Declaration of Independence, although Westarctica was not under the authority of any world government at the time it declared itself to be a [[sovereignty|sovereign]] nation.
'''[[Ernest Shackleton]]''' was a polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the [[Antarctica|Antarctic]], and one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.


Starting in August 2001, [[Grand Duke Travis|Travis McHenry]] began researching the feasibility of making a legal claim to the previously unclaimed sector of [[Antarctica]] known as [[Marie Byrd Land]]. After closely studying the articles of the [[Antarctic Treaty]], Travis determined that the terms of the treaty would only prevent a ''country'' from making a claim to Antarctica territory, but it would not prevent an ''individual'' from doing the same.
After the race to the [[South Pole]] ended in December 1911 with [[Roald Amundsen]]'s conquest, Shackleton turned his attention to the crossing of [[Antarctica]] from sea to sea, via the pole. To this end he made preparations for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–17. Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, ''[[Endurance]]'', became trapped in [[pack ice]] and was slowly crushed before the shore parties could be landed. The crew escaped by camping on the sea ice until it disintegrated, then by launching the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island and ultimately the inhabited island of South Georgia, a stormy ocean voyage of 720 nautical miles and Shackleton's most famous exploit.


Travis decided to register a legal claim to the entirety of Marie Byrd Land by sending formal letters to the polar affairs offices of the seven countries with [[territorial claims in Antarctica]] as well as the United States and Russia.
'''([[Ernest Shackleton|Full Article...]])'''
 
'''([[Claimant Letter|Full Article...]])'''

Latest revision as of 02:55, 15 April 2024

Ernest Shackleton before 1909.jpg

Ernest Shackleton was a polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic, and one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

After the race to the South Pole ended in December 1911 with Roald Amundsen's conquest, Shackleton turned his attention to the crossing of Antarctica from sea to sea, via the pole. To this end he made preparations for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–17. Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and was slowly crushed before the shore parties could be landed. The crew escaped by camping on the sea ice until it disintegrated, then by launching the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island and ultimately the inhabited island of South Georgia, a stormy ocean voyage of 720 nautical miles and Shackleton's most famous exploit.

(Full Article...)