Robert Falcon Scott Biography

Robert Falcon Scott is remembered for his bravery in losing the race to the South Pole. His first Antarctic expedition on the Discovery (1901-04, an attempt that included Ernest Shackleton) took him within 450 miles of the South Pole before he had to turn back. Robert Scott later led the Terra Nova expedition, which reached the South Pole in January, 1912 — only to discover that Norwegian Roald Amundsen had been there a month earlier, claiming the title of the first man ever to reach the pole. On the return trip, Scott and his party of four other men all died of hunger and extreme cold. Their bodies were found 11 miles from a food and fuel depot.