The Nimrod Expedition was the first of three expeditions to the Antarctic led by Ernest Shackleton. Its ship, Nimrod, departed from British waters on 7 August 1907, fewer than six months after Shackleton’s first public announcement of his plans. Initially, the expedition's public profile was much lower than that of Scott’s Discovery Expedition six years earlier. However, nationwide interest was aroused by the news of its achievements. The South Pole was not attained, but the expedition’s southern march reached a farthest south latitude at 88°23′S, and it could thus claim that it had got within a hundred miles of the Pole. This was by far the longest southern polar journey to that date and a record convergence on either Pole. During the expedition a separate group led by Welsh-born Australian geology professor Edgeworth David reached the estimated location of the South Magnetic Pole, and the first ascent was made of Mount Erebus, the lofty Ross Island active volcano. The scientific team, which included the future Australian Antarctic Expedition leader Douglas Mawson, carried out extensive geological, zoological and meteorological work. Shackleton’s transport arrangements, based on Manchurian ponies, motor traction, and sledge dogs, were innovations which, despite limited success, were later copied by Scott for his ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition. (more...)

Recently featured: Alfred Russel Wallace – Go Man Go – Frank Macfarlane Burnet

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

• ... that secessionists in St. Augustine, Florida, captured the town's fort (pictured) three days before Florida actually seceded from the United States?
• ... that in 1998, the Khmer Rouge attacked a casino in the city of Koh Kong with rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars?
• ... that Indianapolis claims Charles H. Black as the inventor of the first internal combustion engine automobile, although his vehicle's ignition called for a kerosene torch?
• ... that the imposition of an all-women shortlist caused the Labour Party to lose one of its safest UK Parliamentary seats in 2005?
• ... that Rob MacCachren's victory at the 2007 Baja 1000 marked the first time that a Trophy Truck won the event's overall title?
• ... that Washington Park Subdivision land owners signed 20-year restrictive covenants excluding renting to African Americans, leading to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case of Hansberry v. Lee?
• ... that sprint canoer Thomas Zereske's life was commemorated by the dedication of his former teammate Christian Gille's gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the C-2 1000 m event?
• ... that the 1933 Treasure Coast hurricane blew 16 percent of the total fruit crop from Florida trees?
  
  Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

• Russian state-controlled supplier Gazprom cuts off gas deliveries to Ukraine, with several European countries reporting a fall in supplies.
• John Atta Mills (pictured) of the National Democratic Congress is elected President of Ghana.
• The 2009 Dakar Rally, the first to take place outside of Europe and Africa, begins in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• The Sri Lankan military seizes control of Kilinochchi, the de facto capital of the Tamil Tigers.
• Slovakia adopts the euro, replacing the koruna, and becomes the 16th member of the Eurozone.
• In Bangkok, Thailand, a fire at a nightclub kills 61 people and injures 212.
• The discovery of a bed of dinosaur fossils near Zhucheng in Shandong, China, believed to be the world's largest fossil site, is announced.
• Israeli and Hamas forces resume fighting in Gaza after a six-month ceasefire.
  Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

January 9: Martyrs' Day in Panama

• 1839 – The French Academy of Sciences announced the Daguerreotype photographic process, named after its inventor, French artist and chemist Louis Daguerre.
• 1861 – The civilian ship Star of the West was fired upon as it attempted to send supplies and reinforcements to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor before the American Civil War.
• 1878 – Umberto I became King of Italy following the death of his father Victor Emmanuel II.
• 1916 – World War I: The last British troops evacuated from Gallipoli, as the Ottoman Empire prevailed over of a joint British and French operation to capture Istanbul at the Battle of Gallipoli.
• 1923 – The autogyro (pictured), a type of rotorcraft invented by civil engineer and pilot Juan de la Cierva, made its first successful flight at Cuatro Vientos Airfield in Madrid, Spain.
• 2005 – Mahmoud Abbas was elected President of the Palestinian National Authority to replace Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004.

• More events: January 8 – January 9 – January 10

  Archive – By email – More anniversaries...
  It is now January 9, 2009 (UTC) – Refresh this page