Chronology of Arctic Events

Nov/22/1594:	Death of Martin Frobisher, polar explorer, in Plymouth, England.
Dec/29/1605:	Death of John Davis, polar explorer, on board ship near Sumatra.
Jan/23/1622:	Death of William Baffin, arctic explorer and navigator, of injuries sustained in a battle near Kishm, Iran.
May/03/1760:	Birth of William Scoresby Sr in Cropton, Yorkshire.
Jun/19/1764:	Sir John Barrow born at Dragley Beck, Ulverston, Lancashire. For most of forty years (1804-1845), Barrow was Secretary of the Admiralty and was instrumental in promoting Arctic exploration.
Jun/04/1773:	Two converted bomb ketches, the Racehorse, commanded by Captain Constantine Phipps, and the Carcass commanded by Captain Skeffington Lutwidge, set sail from London to search for an open arctic ocean, sailing along the west coast of Spitzbergen. On board the Carcass was Midshipman Horatio Nelson, aged 14.
Sep/19/1773:	The Racehorse and the Carcass, with Midshipman Horatio Nelson aboard, catch sight of the English coast at Yarmouth, returning from their abortive attempt to find an open arctic ocean, having narrowly escaped entrapment in ice.
Jun/24/1777:	Birth of Sir John Ross, near Stranraer, Scotland.
Apr/16/1786:	Birth of Sir John Franklin in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England.
Nov/05/1787:	Sir John Richardson, arctic explorer and naturalist, born in Dumfries, Scotland.
Oct/05/1789:	Birth of William Scoresby Jr in Cropton, Yorkshire.
Dec/19/1790:	Sir William Edward Parry, naval officer and arctic explorer, born in Bath, England
Dec/04/1791:	Lady Jane Franklin born in London, England.
Feb/27/1799:	Sir Edward Belcher, naval officer and arctic explorer, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Apr/15/1800:	Sir James Clark Ross, who explored both the arctic and antarctic regions, born, although his exact birthplace is unknown.
Jul/04/1805:	Sir John Barrow elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, London.
Jan/28/1807:	Sir Robert McClure, arctic explorer, born in Wexford, Ireland.
Sep/30/1813:	Dr John Rae born near Stromness, in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland.
Jul/08/1819:	Leopold McClintock, naval officer and arctic explorer, born in Dundalk, Ireland.
Feb/03/1820:	Elisha Kent Kane, arctic explorer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Feb/15/1821:	Sir William Edward Parry elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, London.
Feb/02/1823:	Sir John Franklin elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, London.
Jun/17/1824:	William Scoresby elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, London.
Dec/10/1825:	John Torrington, leading stoker on HMS Terror and a member of the Franklin expedition, born in Manchester, England.
Nov/05/1828:	Marriage of Sir John and Lady Jane Franklin. It was his second marriage.
Dec/11/1828:	Sir James Clark Ross elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, London.
Apr/24/1831:	Admiral Sir George Nares, who led expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica, born in Llansenseld, near Abergavenny, in Monmouthshire, Wales.
Mar/05/1832:	Isaac Hayes, arctic explorer, born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA.
May/24/1843:	Newly-qualified as a medical doctor, Elisha Kent Kane ships out as a surgeon on the Brandywine, heading for the Far East.
Mar/27/1844:	Adolphus Greely, army officer and arctic explorer, born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA.
May/19/1845:	The Franklin expedition set sail from Greenhithe, England, en route to the arctic coast of Canada.
Jul/26/1845:	Last sighting of the Franklin expedition by Europeans. Captain Dannett of the whaler Prince of Whales recounts that he saw them in Melville Bay, off the west coast of Greenland.
Jan/01/1846:	John Torrington, leading stoker on HMS Terror and a member of the Franklin expedition, died on Beechy Island at the age of 20.
Jan/04/1846:	John Hartnell, able seaman on HMS Erebus and a member of the Franklin expedition, died on Beechy Island at the age of 25.
Apr/03/1846:	William Braine, private in the Royal Marines on HMS Erebus and a member of the Franklin expedition, died on Beechy Island at the age of 31.
Jun/13/1846:	Dr John Rae leaves York Factory, charged with exploring the north coastline of North America.
Jul/24/1846:	Dr John Rae and his team reach Repulse Bay and continue along the arctic coast.
Aug/08/1846:	Dr John Rae ends his exploring for the year and returns to Repulse Bay to set up winter quarters.
Jun/11/1847:	Death of Sir John Franklin, as recorded in a letter by his second-in-command, Francis Crozier. He probably died on King William Island, Canadian Arctic.
Sep/06/1847:	Dr John Rae and his team arrive back at York Factory at the end of his coastal exploring expedition. Rae learns he has been promoted to Chief Trader of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Apr/22/1848:	Led by Captain Crozier, the survivors of the Franklin expedition abandon their ships, the Erebus and Terror, and set out to to make their way to safety overland.
Aug/03/1848:	Sir John Richardson and Dr John Rae reach the mouth of the Mackenzie River in their search for the Franklin Expedition.
Nov/23/1848:	Sir John Barrow died in London, England, at the age of 84. For most of forty years (1804-1845), Barrow was Secretary of the Admiralty and was instrumental in promoting Arctic exploration.
May/22/1850:	The first Grinnell expedition, consisting of the Rescue and Advance with Elisha Kent Kane on board, left Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York, heading for the arctic.
Aug/21/1850:	The Advance meets with the Felix in Lancaster Sound and Elisha Kent Kane meets the famous arctic sailor, Sir John Ross.
Aug/27/1850:	The first Grinnell expedition finds the graves of three members of the Franklin Expedition (Braine, Hartnell, and Torrington) on Beechy Island.
Aug/28/1850:	Eager to learn more about the arctic, Elisha Kent Kane has a long conversation with Sir John Ross aboard the Felix.
Sep/04/1850:	From the deck of the Advance, Elisha Kent Kane shoots and kills his first polar bear.
Sep/22/1850:	While in the Wellington Channel, Elisha Kent Kane named Grinnell Land, a northern landmass he discerned from on board to the Advance. This was not actually a separate landmass and is now named the Grinnell Peninsula, northwest Devon Island.
Nov/09/1850:	The crews of the Rescue and Advance, the first Grinnell expedition, see the sun for the last time before the long arctic winter night.
Jan/29/1851:	The crews of the Rescue and Advance, the first Grinnell expedition, see the sun for the first time since the long arctic winter set in.
Jun/05/1851:	In the Davis Strait, the ice starts to break up around the Rescue and Advance, the ships of the first Grinnell expedition.
Jun/17/1851:	The ships of the first Grinnell expedition reach Disco in western Greenland. The crews recover their health with fresh food.
Sep/30/1851:	The ships of the first Grinnell expedition, with Elisha Kent Kane aboard, sail into New York Harbour.
Dec/14/1852:	Elisha Kent Kane gives a lecture to the American Geographical Society, New York, outlining plans for a second Grinnell expedition to the arctic. His plans receive support and endorsement.
May/19/1853:	The Breadalbane, a supply ship for the Belcher expedition, sets sail from Sheerness, heading for Lancaster Sound.
May/31/1853:	The second Grinnell expedition, consisting of the Advance captained by Elisha Kent Kane, sets sail from New York Harbour.
Jul/20/1853:	Led by Elisha Kent Kane, the second Grinnell expedition reaches Upernarvik, west Greenland.
Aug/06/1853:	The Advance, commanded by Elisha Kent Kane, sails north into Smith Sound between Greenland and Ellesmere Island.
Aug/21/1853:	The Breadalbane, a supply ship for the Belcher expedition, is crushed by ice off Beechy Island.
Aug/26/1853:	Many of the Advance's crew want to return south for the winter, but, after some debate, Elisha Kent Kane over-rules them and determines to spend the winter in the ice, so as to get a head start north next season.
Sep/10/1853:	With the ship fast in new ice, Elisha Kent Kane organizes the Advance's crew to start settling in for the winter in a cove on Greenland's west coast that he named Rensselaer Harbour.
Mar/19/1854:	Elisha Kent Kane sends a group of men north by dogsled, to set up a depot and cache supplies, ready for further travel northwards later in the season.
Mar/31/1854:	Three members of the depot-laying team return to the Advance to report that the remaining men were badly afflicted by frostbite and were freezing in a tent at least thirty miles away.
Apr/25/1854:	Elisha Kent Kane, accompanied by William Godfrey, sets out north to survey and map the basin in which the Advance was iced in.
May/03/1854:	Elisha Kent Kane and his exploring party reach the cache of provisions left the year before only to find that it had been broken up and destroyed by polar bears.
May/14/1854:	Elisha Kent Kane and his exploring party arrive back at the Advance, all very debilitated, and with Kane delirious.
May/20/1854:	Elisha Kent Kane sends Isaac Hayes and William Godfrey with a dogsled to explore the area northwest of the Advance. They reached the coast of Ellesmere Island before returning to the ship.
Jun/04/1854:	Elisha Kent Kane sends a party of six men north to try to get beyond the Humboldt Glacier and see if there was an open sea passage northwards out of the basin in which the Advance was ice bound.
Jun/21/1854:	Having crossed around the Humboldt Glacier on the pack ice, William Morton and Hans Hendrik find open water in a large channel. Elisha Kent Kane is convinced that they have found evidence of the open polar sea and names this the Kennedy Channel.
Jun/23/1854:	Morton and Henrik leave the sled and proceed north on foot, killing a polar bear and her cub for food. Morton reaches their furthest point north: Cape Constitution at 80° 30' N.
Jun/27/1854:	Led by James McGary, four of the second Grinnell expedition's exploring party returned to the Advance, having failed to get beyond the Humboldt Glacier.
Jul/10/1854:	William Morton and Hans Hendrik return to the Advance, having crossed around the Humboldt Glacier on the pack ice.
Jul/14/1854:	Elisha Kent Kane with five men drags a boat south to the open water, hoping to sail south to find Belcher's British expedition and get help from them.
Jul/31/1854:	Encountering heavy pack ice near Cape Parry, Elisha Kent Kane and his men are forced to return north to the Advance. The men now realise that they will have to spend another winter at the ship.
Aug/07/1854:	Elisha Kent Kane and his men arrive back at the Advance with the news that the ship will not be freed from the ice this season.
Aug/21/1854:	William Morton tells Elisha Kent Kane that some of the men are talking of deserting and making a dash for Upernarvik rather than spending a second winter on the Advance.
Aug/24/1854:	Elisha Kent Kane calls a meeting of the Advance's crew to discuss the intent of some of the men to leave so as to try to travel to Upernarvik.
Aug/25/1854:	Eleven of the Advance's crew vote to leave the ship and try to travel to Upernarvik.
Aug/26/1854:	Elisha Kent Kane requires the defectors to sign a document absolving him of responsibility for their future welfare and acknowledging that they now form a separate organization.
Aug/28/1854:	The defectors, now numbering nine, left the Advance and set off to travel south. Their progress was slow and for a week they returned to the ship each night to sleep.
Sep/05/1854:	The defectors reach open water. George Riley returns to the Advance with the large sled, leaving the defectors to travel south on their own. Communication between the two groups now ceases.
Sep/18/1854:	The defectors from the Advance reach the small Inuit settlement of Netlik.
Oct/21/1854:	No sunlight at the Advance heralds the onset of winter darkness.
Oct/30/1854:	In their winter camp, Wanderers' Home, the defectors from the Advance endure the first sunless day of winter.
Nov/23/1854:	Realizing that they can't survive the winter at their camp, the defectors decide to return to the Advance.
Dec/07/1854:	A group of Inuit arrive at the Advance, bringing with them two of the defectors, Amos Bonsall and Carl Petersen.
Dec/12/1854:	Inuit from Etah bring the other six defectors back to the Advance. All are suffering from hunger and Isaac Hayes has a badly frostbitten foot.
Jul/08/1855:	Sir William Edward Parry, naval officer and arctic explorer, died in Ems, Germany, aged 64.
May/06/1856:	Robert Peary, arctic explorer, born in Cresson, Pennsylvania, USA.
Aug/30/1856:	Sir John Ross died in London, England, at the age of 79.
Feb/16/1857:	Elisha Kent Kane, arctic explorer, died in Havanna, Cuba, at the age of 36.
Mar/21/1857:	Death of William Scoresby Jr in Torquay, England, at the age of 67.
Oct/10/1861:	Birth of Fridtjof Nansen, near Oslo, Norway.
Apr/03/1862:	Death of Sir James Clark Ross, who explored both the arctic and antarctic regions, at Aston Abbotts, Buckinghamshire, England, at the age of 61.
Jun/05/1865:	Sir John Richardson, arctic explorer and naturalist, died in the Lake District, England, at the age of 77.
Aug/08/1866:	Matthew Henson, arctic explorer who accompanied Robert Peary, born in Maryland, USA.
Nov/08/1871:	Charles Francis Hall, arctic explorer, died aboard the expedition ship Polaris off the west coast of Greenland, at the age of about 50.
Oct/17/1873:	Sir Robert McClure, arctic explorer, died in London, England, at the age of 66.
Jun/30/1874:	Death of Henry Grinnell, New York businessman who financed four US expeditions to the arctic, at the age of 75.
Jul/18/1875:	Lady Jane Franklin died in London, England, at the age of 83.
May/12/1876:	Lieutenant Albert Markham gets to within 400 miles of the North Pole but is forced back by scurvy among his team. This was the furthest north reached by any expedition to that time.
Mar/18/1877:	Sir Edward Belcher, naval officer and arctic explorer, died in London, England, at the age of 78.
Jun/03/1880:	Dr John Rae elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, London.
Dec/17/1881:	Isaac Hayes, arctic explorer, died in New York City, USA, at the age of 49.
Jul/22/1893:	Dr John Rae died in London, England, at the age of 79.
Nov/17/1907:	Leopold McClintock, naval officer and arctic explorer, died in London, England, at the age of 88.
Apr/06/1909:	Robert Peary, accompanied by Matthew Henson, claims to have reached the North Pole.
Jan/15/1915:	Admiral Sir George Nares, who led expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica, died at the age of 83.
Feb/20/1920:	Robert Peary, arctic explorer, died in Washington, DC, at the age of 63.
May/13/1930:	Fridtjof Nansen died in Lysaker, outside Oslo, Norway, aged 68.
Oct/20/1935:	Adolphus Greely, army officer and arctic explorer, died in Washington, DC, USA, at the age of 91.
Mar/09/1955:	Matthew Henson, arctic explorer who accompanied Robert Peary, died in USA at the age of 88.
Aug/03/1958:	The nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus, commanded by Commander William R. Anderson, becomes the first sea vessel to reach the geographic North Pole.
Aug/13/1980:	Using side-scan sonar, a team led by Dr Joe MacInnis locates the wreck of the Breadalbane off Beechy Island.