On Nov. 1, 1911 Englishman Robert Falcon Scott left his base camp for the fateful journey that would eventually take his life.
During that journey to the South Pole, Scott and his team of four men risked life and limb to become the first men to reach the bottom of the Earth. Similar to the space race of the 1960s reaching this goal first would bring pride to his name and his nation.
Unfortunately, when they reached the South Pole, the Norwegian flag had already been planted. Roald Amundsen, Scott's rival, had beaten him by a little over a month. Heartbroken, Scott's team of men began the long journey home.
Fighting fierce winds, freezing temperatures, and scathing frostbite, the perilous journey slowly killed off the five-man team. Robert Evans died from a severe fall down a glacier. Lawrence Oates, whose toes had become frostbitten, voluntarily committed suicide as to not slow down the rest of the team.
In the middle of a blizzard, Oates' final words were, "I am just going outside and may be some time," before he left the tent never to be found again.
As the three survivors marched on, they were pinned down by one final blizzard. Fighting fatigue, frostbite, and at this point, starvation, they eventually all fell asleep a mere 11 miles away from a supply depot. Scott's daily journal had one last chilling message scrawled in it before the team all died together huddled in a tent: "Last entry. For God's sake look after our People."
Since their deaths over 100 years ago, the huts that these brave explorers stayed in have recently been renovated to look exactly as they did during those glory days of Victorian England. The extreme cold preserved many of the artifacts, including newspapers, scientific equipment, furniture, cans of food, and even a stuffed penguin.
Through this conservation effort, these historical buildings have all been made to last for the next generation of explorers so that the brave men and women, who sacrificed their lives for posterity, would never be forgotten.
What do you think of these incredible historical houses? Would you ever want to live in one of them? Would you ever want to march to the South Pole on foot? Let us know!
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Robert Falcon Scott with his team at the South Pole
Check out the amazing video below!
