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[[File:Achaean Territory Claim.jpg|300px|left]]
[[File:Ernest Shackleton before 1909.jpg|250px|left]]
The '''[[Achaean Territory of Antarctica]]''' was the original name of [[Westarctica]] when it was founded on 2 November 2001 by [[Grand Duke Travis|Travis McHenry]], who proclaimed himself [[Consul-General of the Achaean Territory]] prior to filing his legal claim to the territory. The Achaean Territory was a new country project that evolved into a [[Micronations|micronation]] named Westarctica in June 2004.
'''[[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.


In August 2001, while serving in the U.S. Navy as an Intelligence Specialist onboard the USS ''Kearsarge'' (LHD-3), McHenry spent a significant amount of time researching the countries of the world in the classified version of the C.I.A. World Factbook. In the course of his research, he discovered that the region of [[Antarctica]] between 90°W and 150°W was unclaimed by any nation. This area, commonly known as [[Marie Byrd Land]], was explored by the United States starting in the 1920s, but was never formally claimed. McHenry determined that although Article 4 of the Antarctic Treaty prohibits any ''nation'' from making new claims on the Antarctic continent, it would not prevent an ''individual'' from doing so. He called his prospective claim "The New Land Claim," and slowly began to further develop the concepts and ideals of the territory.
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.


'''([[Achaean Territory of Antarctica|Full Article...]])'''
'''([[Ernest Shackleton|Full Article...]])'''

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