Sir Ernest Shackleton

Most explorers are famous for their successes and triumphs, but Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton never met his ultimate goal of crossing the Antarctic continent. Instead, he is best known for an expedition that took a horrible turn for the worse. In January 1915, as Shackleton and his crew of 27 men sailed the Endurance through the pack ice of the Weddell Sea, the temperature suddenly plummeted. The slushy water surrounding the ship froze into a solid block of ice, trapping Endurance in the frozen sea. Slowly, the pressure from the moving ice floes crushed Endurance and pulled it down to a watery grave, marooning the men hundreds of miles from land. In an astonishing tale of survival, Shackleton led his men through more than 850 miles of the South Atlantic’s treacherous seas. Never giving up hope for rescue and overcoming the worst of obstacles, he managed to miraculously save all 27 of his men.