Portal:History/Featured article/June, 2006

S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897 was an ill-fated effort to reach the North Pole in which all three members of the expedition perished. S. A. Andrée, the first Swedish balloonist, proposed a voyage by hydrogen balloon from Svalbard to either Russia or Canada, which was to pass, with luck, straight over the North Pole on the way. After Andrée lifted off from Svalbard with Nils Strindberg and Knut Frænkel in July 1897, the balloon lost hydrogen quickly and crashed on the pack ice after only two days. The explorers were unhurt but faced a grueling trek back south across the drifting icescape. Inadequately clothed, equipped, and prepared, and shocked by the difficulty of the terrain, they did not make it to safety. As the Arctic winter closed in on them in October, the group ended up exhausted on the deserted Kvitøya island in Svalbard and died there, not to be found until 33 years later. The main causes of the tragedy are commonly considered to be S. A. Andrée's unlimited optimism, faith in the power of technology, and disregard for the forces of nature. (read more...)