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It's kind of a grim weirdness that Scott is entombed somewhere south, so close to the pole he wanted to conquer. And Amundsen is somewhere entombed up in the north, close to the pole that he wanted to conquer.
With the almost imperceptible flow of ice from the south polar plateau toward the ocean - Scott's body is probably at the bottom of the sea by now. Like Amundsen - eaten by fishes long ago.
@@safloatingfloors9224 wow you're really proud of this I see Since your plastering it on to every comment on the most viewed posts Good for you 👎🥱😤 Just saying 🇧🇻 And yes that's a .Norwegian flag 😁
It's even more grim that Scott made the same mistakes as the Franklin Expedition. With not using sled dogs, using the wrong clothing and being really malnourished.
When I was a young teenager one of my favorite books was "Journeys of great explorers". In it I read about how Amundsen was consciously training for his polar expeditions since 11 or 12, so about the same age as me then, for instance sleeping with an open window in the Norwegian winter just to get used to the cold. He's been my hero ever since, when I think of breaking your boundaries and stepping outside of your comfort zone, this is what comes first to my mind. Much more recently I read Scott's journal of his own doomed expedition and having understood how well prepared and conscious they were also, still Amundsen's team beat them to the pole, is ever more fascinating.
He beat them because his lone goal was to get to the pole!! Scott's expedition was alot more scientific, with more journeys than just the pole, some samples were even taken on the journey to the pole, or on way back cant remember when it happened, they tried for Edward VII land but couldnt make it, sure they went to victoria land, they studied penguins weather everything!! Amundsen just hit the coast, got his bearings and made a shot for the pole!! He was alot more familiar with cold conditions, he was from bloody Norway!! I watched something last night about the terr nova expedition, and basically scotts entire journey was relying on the weather, the weather had been predicted quite accurately, but a freak weather phenomenon happened that year, there is a name for it cant remember it now... I think essentially scott tried to do to much, his expedition wasnt about a "race" to the pole, but that's what it became, if it hadnt become a race he may not have pushed so hard on that final journey, if all the scientific work wasnt done first and he went for the pole sooner, he may have missed the bad weather. They also say amundsen route was alot better and didnt involve scaling such a large glacier full of crevasses. It's all a fascinating time of exploration.
@@johnycabs that was the only way Scott could fund his expedition. I believe if Scott just concentrated on the pole first and did some small scientific stuff when he returned, he might have been first. I still think Amundsen would have been first anyway. He use dogs instead of ponies and on foot. That was a huge benefit. I am not taking anything away from Scott, he was legitimate badass for doing what he did, and he inspired Shackleton, who was another badass with an crew tough as nails. I just love that whole Antarctic exploration Era and have huge respect for all the incredible men.
@@tarionmarsden157 I would personally hang it on the wall opposite to the one you chose, but I'm not gonna throw any shade over your choice of placement for inspiring dead-guy quotes!
There is a saying “If you want to get the Science send Scott, if you want to get home send Shackleton, if you want to get there and back send Amundsen.” Amundsen also was willing to learn form native people’s
Yep, he took inspiration from people who lived in conditions similar to these, and as a result, didn't make as many mistakes as his counterparts. Though an often forgotten part of why he won the race is that as a Norwegian, he was simply superior to the British. (Last part is /s)
I’d rephrase the Amundsen bit as: For meticululous planning, training and application of time tested practical knowledge and skills, - all of which will increase your chances of success to the utmost - choose Amundsen.
In the 1980's, there was a UK TV series called 'The Last Place on Earth.' Until I saw it on American TV and am not sure I knew who Amundsen was, I certainly didn't know any details of his exploration. I'll never forget the scene of his team returning from the South Pole on sledges using sails & wind power, smoking cigars. What a fantastic explorer! Watching that series began a lifetime appreciation for Amundsen. Many years later, I was in a doctoral program with a Norwegian, who also had an interest in Amundsen and Nansen and was able to learn a lot from the Norwegian perspective.
Really the key difference was that the Norwegians approached it as athletes rather than conquerors. Among other things that made it a lot easier for them to listen to the locals than it seemed to be for for Anglos. Most things Amundsen did in Antarctica in terms of equipment he had learned from the Inuit in Canada.
1:25 - Chapter 1 - Early years 3:50 - Chapter 2 - The 1st adventure 6:35 - Chapter 3 - The northwest passage 12:05 - Mid roll ads 13:20 - Chapter 4 - Headed for the north pole 16:40 - Chapter 5 - A change of plans 20:15 - Chapter 6 - North pole by air
Not norwegian here, but damn am I impressed by our neighbours for the amount of explorers they had in this time period... not that we didn't have any polar expeditions ourselves, but you hear more of the Norwegian expeditions than any of our Swedish ones.
Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole was a magnificent tour de force. So much so that the team put on weight during their trek. His book, 'South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the "Fram". 1912.' is a beautifully written adventure story.
Can you imagine the misery of Scott and his men after finding the tent and letter? Exhausted, running out of supplies, and then to have one of the only things motivating you to survive taken from you.
Amundsen did make one mistake that gave them the time to get there first. He forgot to bring the Astronomical tables he needed to establish exactly where the Pole was the following year. So they left a month earlier to get there before the end of the current year. That month sure worked to their favour and against Scott.
Just a note: Norway = Norge in Norwegian, not Norje. It is the same word as in English in a modernized form. It was originally called Nor(v)eg, which basically means north +way/northward. For some reason, it was once a matter of prestige for Vikings to live as far north as possible, and you can find quite a few Norwegians who bragged about living north of their rivals in the Norse sagas. It's just a weird place...
YES! Thank you!!! I am sure I was not the only one but I know I asked for you to cover Roald! I went to Norway last year and was blown away at what I learned about him. Thanks so much!
Amundsen was a true polar explorer. Sadly his legacy is overshadowed by Scott's death. Scott is seen as glorious even in death whilst Amundsen as ruthless. It's like a boxer winning the coveted world championship and his opponent dies from injuries
Don't worry, here in LatinoAmerica Amundsen is very well known while Scott mostly remains a footnote. Fortunately we're not prey to the massive british propaganda machine
Delighted to see this channel has finally covered Amundsen and that Hansen is coming soon. When you to go Norway it seems half of all the museum's are about these two fascinating characters who were much more than just brilliant explorers.
When men had honor and were respected enough not to be expected to change the babies diapers. Now we're just domesticated suburban dwellers whose highlight of the day is playing about with the children like we're women. Yet somehow I believe we're better for it certainly our children are better for it even if we're a shame to our brave ancestors.
@@3ou1man I'm a married man with 3 children. I'm expressing my frustration with domestic life since this lockdown has begun. I don't hate woman nor do I advocate living live without the companionship and love of a woman (unless you're gay then get yourself one of those effeminate gays?)
Glad to learn more about this guy. I'd heard of him years ago as a kid when I played an educational game called "Jump Start Explorers" about using a time machine to travel to meet people like King Tut, Marco Polo, and Roald Amundsen. I knew he was the first person to reach the south poll and that he was from Norway, but didn't know much else. Thanks for filling in the blanks.
Do the arctic explorer Knud Rasmussen! He was half Inuit and half Danish, he had one of the most interesting life’s and is credited with mapping most of Greenland. When he was on European soil he was also known as a bit of a Don Juan.
I remember learning about these expeditions when I was in the 5th grade (or 6th grade). It was intriguing to me. When of the things I remember is that Roald Amundsen, when he was young, would sleep with his windows open to acclimate himself to the extreme cold.
The problem with Thor Heyerdahl's theories of Pacific oceanic exploration was that he got it BACKWARDS! (The "savage" Polynesians "sailed East. The "civilized" South American Indians DID NOT sail West.) I read "Kon Tiki" and thought he had an interesting theory of "civilized diffusion" across the Pacific. But that "diffusion" started from New Zealand and ended up in Tahiti. Oh well, Balsa logs do float and one can voyage from South America to Polynesia, but Polynesian sailors in outrigger canoes were the master mariners.
I have a thick South Korean educational comic book about the North and South Pole, staring a teacher, his teenage girl assistant, a polar bear, a penguin, and the ghost of Roald Amundsen when I was a kid. Why the ghost of Roald Amundsen? Because why not? On a side note, the teenage assistant is one of my childhood crushes.
His ship Fram has its own museum in Oslo. You can actually walk around onboard. It's at Bygdøy next door from the viking ships, and Kon-Tiki. I highly recommend all of them if you're ever in Oslo.
The Norge airship was created by Umberto Nobile, an Italian airship pilot/designer. Nobile would later create a similar airship, the Italia, to do an Italian lead expedition to the poles. While flying back from the pole on the Italia's third polar flight, they fought a headwind all the way, and increasingly lost control of the airship. They would end up with a jammed downwards elevator and would let the airship rise above the clouds for a while, before restarting the engines and lowering altitude after it was fixed. Less than an hour later, the airship would crash, with at least one loosing life, and six missing as during the crash the envelope (the part with the gas) would seperate, flying away with those six. What caused the crash is still to this day up for debate, but this was the aircraft that Roald Amundsen was trying to find.
Just an idea. You should do one on a British explorer named John Cabot. He was the first to discover the island on the east coast of Canada called Newfoundland in 1497
I just went to tromsø and this guy was all over the place, so beautiful, so full of info, it was a pity that due to the coronavirus we couldn't enter the polar museum. But we did get to see the lights
Personal You saw the ‘lights’? You mean the Northern Light (the Aurora Borealis)? Who or what was «all over the place, so beautiful, so full of info»? You sure you actually visited Tromsø?
@@Mr.Monta77 No reason to doubt she went to Tromsø. You can see the Northern Lights, and there are at least two statues of Roald Amundsen. One bust by the Polarmuseum and one at the aptly named Roald Amundsens plass (Prostneset).
Amundsen died looking for the Nobile expedition, one of the most famous and controversial expedition in italian history. There's a movie, the Red tent. I recommend It if you like the genre.
NZ was the nearest inhabited place to Antarctica. Still is if I’m not mistaken. He sent a telegram to The king of Norway, his brother, Fridjoff Nansen (his hero and mentor) and finally one to the Daily Chronicle (The newspaper with exclusive rights to the story). They were all coded because he had gotten to experience what gossip did to his earlier expedition to the northwest passage. They all wrote something along the lines of: Mission completed, all is well.
@@KarryKarryKarry The trip Brett is referring to is the trip part way across Alaska to let the world know he'd completed the NW Passage. He and his companions ski'd and drove dogs over 600 miles in 30 days (i think!) which included mountain passes and forested regions. This is the trip where one of the party fell ill and died.
Amundsen was mean and a bit crazy. During his first atempt to reach the pole he abandoned his men during a snow storm. One injured man was left to die. Hjalmar Johansen saved him and had to carry him back to the base. When Hjalmar and the injured man arrived Amundsen asked what took them so long like as if nothing had happened. Hjalmar exploded and accused him correctly for pannicking. As a revenge Amundsen later had Hjalmar convicted for muteny. Hjalmar Johansen who was a true hero commited suicide after that. On a later expedition over the North Pole Amundsen was the captain on a ship. He became bored after some months and ran away on skis to the mainland. The crew had to make it on their own for two more years in the ice.
Per Ro Dette er ren bakvaskelse og et førsøk på å omskrive historien. Amundsen var kjent for å ha et sterkt og solid forhold til sine menn, og lykkes i alt han foretok seg nettopp fordi han var en leder som andre stolte på og fulgte. Hjalmar Johansen hadde alvorlige personlige problemer og han bidro til å skape splittelse i en godt fungerende gruppe. En slik mann kan man ikke ha med på A laget. Amundsen var en mann av sin tid og hverken en engel eller perfekt. Men han lykkes fremfor alt pga sitt inspirerende lederskap. Det kan ingen surmaget sutring ta fra ham. PS Hvorfor ikke skrive på et språk du behersker? Pinlig å lese engelsken din. 😕
@@Mr.Monta77 Dette er allment kjent i Norge. Bare les det som finnes av biografier. Særlig den om Hjalmar Johansen. Det er til og med laget en spillefilm for et par år siden. Det er du som ikke følger med.
I would recommend to do a Bio on some other well known Norwegians like Edvard Grieg(National Romantic Composer) and Henrik Ibsen(probably the best play- writer in history)
Great vid, as always. I really love your channel....well, all of them, really. Here's a possible suggestion for you.... I was just thinking earlier tonight about someone who most people know due to ONE event, but that one event is pretty much all they're known for... I'm talking about General George Custer. He might be a good one to consider doing a Biographic on. I mean, most know about his ultimate fate at Little Big Horn, but I don't think I could tell you anything else about his life... it might be interesting to hear about! Just a thought, though.. you must get a ton of suggestions a day, so if you never get around to it, I'd understand. Still love the channel!
The first I ever heard of Roald Amundsen was in Roland Huntford's very fine book "Scott & Amundsen", then soon after bought and read "Shackleton" by the same author soon afterwards. Both enjoyed very much.
Amundsen didn’t conquer the Antarctic. It was a pure sprint to the pole and cut and run. Scott was running a huge scientific survey on geography, geology, magnetometry, map making, climatology, marine sciences. They experimented with new techniques motor tractors, dog sledging, Siberian ponies, man hauling. Amundsen’s subterfuge by pretending he was going to the Artic, wrong footed Scott. Scott got to the pole in good shape, it was a one in fifty year very cold snap that was twice as cold as a normal year with spells of four day blizzards which did for him. He almost made it home. If anyone is really wants to know about this, read the book capt Scott by Ranulph Fiennes, who man hauled unsupported across both poles.
16:55 he sailed from Norway to Madeira (for one month) and none of his crewmen noticed that the general direction was south ? like the sun rising every morning on the portside of the ship ??? Seriously ???
Amundsen and Nansen were indisputably great explorers, but for my money the best of them in that era was Otto Sverdrup, longtime skipper of Fram, who had a hand in the both of the others successes, and explored a great deal of northern Canada in his own expeditions as well. He wasn't a flamboyant fellow, just very experienced, professional and effective and above all, prepared for dealing with the unknown, a rare quality in a brutally unforgiving environment. He filled in more empty spaces on the map than any of the others.
6:20 Antwerp is not the capital of Belgium. Brussels is the capital of the country and Antwerp is the largest port city and capital of the Belgian region (county) of Flanders.
It's still crazy how people can say Scott was "unlucky" when it was anything but. He was a terrible leader and over all terrible at polar exploration. Everything he did was to one up his senpai, Shakelton. The white horses lasted longer when shakelton used them? Yup, only white horses can be used, no other. In regards to the horses, his professional horse manager, Oates, wasn't notified about the buying of the horses. Scott completely disregarded Oates and got a dog handler to buy them. Scott spent $100,000 (his times currency) on motorized sledges and only $5 on each horse. They had about 19 horses in total. These horses were lame in every way, old, riddled with infections and couldn't be trusted in even non artic weather. Also the only guy who could fix the motor sledges was not apart of the expedition. Scott and his second and command couldn't fit him on as a crew member. Scott had dogs with the expedition but refused to have them used to the fullest potential. He was very soft towards the dogs and refused to have any killed to be fed to the other dogs as a source of food. Roald and his men did this and it helped them greatly in reaching the pole. When the terra nova came back after a year to pick up people, Mears, the expert dog handler left early due to scott's incomitance and rendering Mears basically useless. Mears wasn't allowed to push the dogs to hard and his years of experience was never used. Mears left early saying his father died but that was a lie just to leave and have no one tell him not too. Scott was terrible and his wife writes to him saying, more or less "If you don't make it to the pole first, what was the point? you will be seen as a failure, how will our son handle it?" way to be supportive/s lol
Huh. I already knew most of this from visiting the Fram museum in Oslo (highly recommend it!!!), but somehow they did not mention how he died. That was very surprising.
Amundsen faced the same problem as Scott. Timing! He started too early then had to restart, whilst Scott may just have started too late. Sad. Great video. Covid isolation entertainment
Here are some more explorers of the Arctic that could be interesting to discuss about. 1. Robert E. Peary and Matthew Henson 2. Robert Falcon Scott 3. Richard E. Byrd 4. Fridtjor Nansen 5. Ernest Shackleton
Hello Simon, at 6:23 you say that Antwerp is the capital of Belgium, which is factually untrue. Brussels has been the capital of Belgium since its independence in 1830. As a Belgian citizen I should know. Just an FYI, I really enjoy your videos of all your channels.
Can you do one about Margaret Thatcher? Every now and then I hear her name, but not growing up in the UK, I have no idea who she is. One one hand, a female prime minister is awesome. On the other, a lot of people seem to hate her...!
Yes, I was also going to chime in with this, the breakup of the Danish-Norwegian double monarchy was in 1814, something that left the old Norwegian settlements of Faroese Islands, Iceland and Greenland in Danish hands as we were forced to join a union with Sweden. Something that led to failed attempts by Norwegians to «re-take» east Greenland in the 1920’s.
Go to go.thoughtleaders.io/1437720200415 for unlimited access to the world’s top documentaries and nonfiction series, and for our listeners, enter the promo code BIOGRAPHICS when prompted during the signup process and your membership is completely free for the first 30 days.
Can you make a video about Augustus
Its surreal to see Borge church in your video, i can actually see it from my window 20 meters away. Awesome
Ragnar Thorseth was the first Norwegian to reach the North Pole, though by land, using snow mobiles. (He is a friend of mine)
Can you make a biography on Alan Watts?
He brought buddhism and aasian philosophy into the west
Bernard L Montgomery sometime good bios love em great presentation
It's kind of a grim weirdness that Scott is entombed somewhere south, so close to the pole he wanted to conquer. And Amundsen is somewhere entombed up in the north, close to the pole that he wanted to conquer.
great observation
POV: he’s ur great great great great great great great uncle
With the almost imperceptible flow of ice from the south polar plateau toward the ocean - Scott's body is probably at the bottom of the sea by now.
Like Amundsen - eaten by fishes long ago.
@@safloatingfloors9224 wow you're really proud of this I see
Since your plastering it on to every comment on the most viewed posts
Good for you 👎🥱😤
Just saying 🇧🇻
And yes that's a .Norwegian flag 😁
It's even more grim that Scott made the same mistakes as the Franklin Expedition. With not using sled dogs, using the wrong clothing and being really malnourished.
When I was a young teenager one of my favorite books was "Journeys of great explorers". In it I read about how Amundsen was consciously training for his polar expeditions since 11 or 12, so about the same age as me then, for instance sleeping with an open window in the Norwegian winter just to get used to the cold. He's been my hero ever since, when I think of breaking your boundaries and stepping outside of your comfort zone, this is what comes first to my mind. Much more recently I read Scott's journal of his own doomed expedition and having understood how well prepared and conscious they were also, still Amundsen's team beat them to the pole, is ever more fascinating.
“Adventure is just bad planning” - Roald Amundsen
He beat them because his lone goal was to get to the pole!! Scott's expedition was alot more scientific, with more journeys than just the pole, some samples were even taken on the journey to the pole, or on way back cant remember when it happened, they tried for Edward VII land but couldnt make it, sure they went to victoria land, they studied penguins weather everything!! Amundsen just hit the coast, got his bearings and made a shot for the pole!! He was alot more familiar with cold conditions, he was from bloody Norway!! I watched something last night about the terr nova expedition, and basically scotts entire journey was relying on the weather, the weather had been predicted quite accurately, but a freak weather phenomenon happened that year, there is a name for it cant remember it now... I think essentially scott tried to do to much, his expedition wasnt about a "race" to the pole, but that's what it became, if it hadnt become a race he may not have pushed so hard on that final journey, if all the scientific work wasnt done first and he went for the pole sooner, he may have missed the bad weather. They also say amundsen route was alot better and didnt involve scaling such a large glacier full of crevasses. It's all a fascinating time of exploration.
@@johnycabs that was the only way Scott could fund his expedition. I believe if Scott just concentrated on the pole first and did some small scientific stuff when he returned, he might have been first. I still think Amundsen would have been first anyway. He use dogs instead of ponies and on foot. That was a huge benefit. I am not taking anything away from Scott, he was legitimate badass for doing what he did, and he inspired Shackleton, who was another badass with an crew tough as nails. I just love that whole Antarctic exploration Era and have huge respect for all the incredible men.
POV: he’s ur great great great great great great great uncle
Hhahaha i've read that same one when i was a kid! I started sleeping with the window open in winter and still do 10 years later 👍
“When you have everything in order you won. People call it luck.”
Roald Amundsen
I would have this quote hanged on this wall because it is inspiring
@@tarionmarsden157 I would personally hang it on the wall opposite to the one you chose, but I'm not gonna throw any shade over your choice of placement for inspiring dead-guy quotes!
POV: he’s ur great great great great great great great uncle
There is a saying “If you want to get the Science send Scott, if you want to get home send Shackleton, if you want to get there and back send Amundsen.” Amundsen also was willing to learn form native people’s
Yep, he took inspiration from people who lived in conditions similar to these, and as a result, didn't make as many mistakes as his counterparts.
Though an often forgotten part of why he won the race is that as a Norwegian, he was simply superior to the British.
(Last part is /s)
The saying I heard was closer to:
For science, send Scott.
For efficiency, send Amundsen.
When your circumstances are hopeless, pray for Shackleton.
I’d rephrase the Amundsen bit as: For meticululous planning, training and application of time tested practical knowledge and skills, - all of which will increase your chances of success to the utmost - choose Amundsen.
In the 1980's, there was a UK TV series called 'The Last Place on Earth.' Until I saw it on American TV and am not sure I knew who Amundsen was, I certainly didn't know any details of his exploration. I'll never forget the scene of his team returning from the South Pole on sledges using sails & wind power, smoking cigars. What a fantastic explorer! Watching that series began a lifetime appreciation for Amundsen. Many years later, I was in a doctoral program with a Norwegian, who also had an interest in Amundsen and Nansen and was able to learn a lot from the Norwegian perspective.
Really the key difference was that the Norwegians approached it as athletes rather than conquerors. Among other things that made it a lot easier for them to listen to the locals than it seemed to be for for Anglos. Most things Amundsen did in Antarctica in terms of equipment he had learned from the Inuit in Canada.
POV: he’s ur great great great great great great great uncle
Mine too?@@safloatingfloors9224
1:25 - Chapter 1 - Early years
3:50 - Chapter 2 - The 1st adventure
6:35 - Chapter 3 - The northwest passage
12:05 - Mid roll ads
13:20 - Chapter 4 - Headed for the north pole
16:40 - Chapter 5 - A change of plans
20:15 - Chapter 6 - North pole by air
Not norwegian here, but damn am I impressed by our neighbours for the amount of explorers they had in this time period... not that we didn't have any polar expeditions ourselves, but you hear more of the Norwegian expeditions than any of our Swedish ones.
What else have they got to do? (What else do they have to do? Also, a non-Norwegian here.)
Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole was a magnificent tour de force. So much so that the team put on weight during their trek.
His book, 'South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the "Fram". 1912.' is a beautifully written adventure story.
POV: he’s ur great great great great great great great uncle
Amundsen had total 9 men along. Scott ... 42.
I didn't know that any of the men put on weight, but there is a reference to one of the dogs weighing more upon return?
@@kevinbergin9971 They put on weight because they ate the dogs.
Is there a citation for them putting on weight? The humans now.@@thosoz3431
Can you imagine the misery of Scott and his men after finding the tent and letter? Exhausted, running out of supplies, and then to have one of the only things motivating you to survive taken from you.
Their expressions in that photo of them standing underneath the Norwegian flag says it all.
Amundsen did make one mistake that gave them the time to get there first. He forgot to bring the Astronomical tables he needed to establish exactly where the Pole was the following year. So they left a month earlier to get there before the end of the current year. That month sure worked to their favour and against Scott.
Well Scott tought about that, before dying, in a letter that "this was The end of The daydreams. Or something along The lines.
First is first and second is nowhere.
Rookh Kshatriya If that is true, why is Captain Scott so famous?
Correction: The Union between Norway and Sweden lasted from 1814 until 1905, not from 1841.
Yeah sounds like someone typoed it, either in the script or during research
As a Norwegian I can only say: the pain of it all. hehe
@@fredericlehman555 As a Swede I can say at least there were no danes involved.
Just a note: Norway = Norge in Norwegian, not Norje. It is the same word as in English in a modernized form. It was originally called Nor(v)eg, which basically means north +way/northward. For some reason, it was once a matter of prestige for Vikings to live as far north as possible, and you can find quite a few Norwegians who bragged about living north of their rivals in the Norse sagas. It's just a weird place...
YES! Thank you!!! I am sure I was not the only one but I know I asked for you to cover Roald! I went to Norway last year and was blown away at what I learned about him. Thanks so much!
POV: he’s ur great great great great great great great uncle
Amundsen was a true polar explorer.
Sadly his legacy is overshadowed by Scott's death. Scott is seen as glorious even in death whilst Amundsen as ruthless.
It's like a boxer winning the coveted world championship and his opponent dies from injuries
Yeah but the injuries weren't Amundsens fault it's more like Scott taking ponies into the artic.
That's because England's big propaganda when talking about historical achievements.
POV: he’s ur great great great great great great great uncle
Don't worry, here in LatinoAmerica Amundsen is very well known while Scott mostly remains a footnote. Fortunately we're not prey to the massive british propaganda machine
Because Scott was a melodramatic romantic, Amundsen boring realist.
Amundsen was acquainted with my great-grandparents in Alaska. Allegedly, he liked to play footsie with my great-grandma. Allegedly.
According to Amundsen's books he actually still owes your great-grandma $50.
Delighted to see this channel has finally covered Amundsen and that Hansen is coming soon. When you to go Norway it seems half of all the museum's are about these two fascinating characters who were much more than just brilliant explorers.
MrImagineryfriend Presumably you enjoyed the local beer during your visit? Its Nansen, not Hansen.
The age of exploration, when men had bold ideas, stout hearts and awesome mustaches.
When men had honor and were respected enough not to be expected to change the babies diapers. Now we're just domesticated suburban dwellers whose highlight of the day is playing about with the children like we're women. Yet somehow I believe we're better for it certainly our children are better for it even if we're a shame to our brave ancestors.
@@ajantsmith6139 incel
@@3ou1man I'm a married man with 3 children. I'm expressing my frustration with domestic life since this lockdown has begun. I don't hate woman nor do I advocate living live without the companionship and love of a woman (unless you're gay then get yourself one of those effeminate gays?)
What about space or deep ocean exploration?? We still live in an age of exploration, it's just moved to new frontiers🙂
@@ajantsmith6139 mate i apologize. Did not see the bottom third of you comment. Truly sorry my mistake.
I would be very interested in a biographic on the Borgias
Specifically Rodrigo, if not Cesare and Lucrezia right?
OUTLAW NEVADA But they are remembered.
Glad to learn more about this guy. I'd heard of him years ago as a kid when I played an educational game called "Jump Start Explorers" about using a time machine to travel to meet people like King Tut, Marco Polo, and Roald Amundsen. I knew he was the first person to reach the south poll and that he was from Norway, but didn't know much else. Thanks for filling in the blanks.
POV: he’s ur great great great great great great great uncle
"Maud", named after Queen Maud of Norway (born Maud of Wales)
"Norge" (Remember, that's a G not a J), literally "Norway" in Norwegian bokmål
So, it might be better to state that Ernest Shackleton was Irish rather than British, even though Ireland was in the UK at the time he was alive.
Yeah he's Irish. Born in a place called Leixlip in Kildare. Not too far from my house
It must be Roald Week! First Roald Dahl now Roald Amundsen. Let’s keep it going!
Dahl was named after him by his Norwegian parents.
Do the arctic explorer Knud Rasmussen! He was half Inuit and half Danish, he had one of the most interesting life’s and is credited with mapping most of Greenland. When he was on European soil he was also known as a bit of a Don Juan.
* 1/16th Inuit
Oh, what did Don Juan explore?
I'm currently while watching this having an Norwegian beer from the Amundsen brewery... I suspect there is a connection here :P
“Harsh, cold and unforgiving!” Do you know my ex?
I remember learning about these expeditions when I was in the 5th grade (or 6th grade). It was intriguing to me. When of the things I remember is that Roald Amundsen, when he was young, would sleep with his windows open to acclimate himself to the extreme cold.
Do one on Thor Heyerdahl, another well known Norwegian explorer
And Fritjof Nansen.
@@warspitehms5334 Tbh Nansen never really achived anything "great" obviusly thats not entirely true but compared to amundsen nah.
The problem with Thor Heyerdahl's theories of Pacific oceanic exploration was that he got it BACKWARDS! (The "savage" Polynesians "sailed East. The "civilized" South American Indians DID NOT sail West.) I read "Kon Tiki" and thought he had an interesting theory of "civilized diffusion" across the Pacific. But that "diffusion" started from New Zealand and ended up in Tahiti. Oh well, Balsa logs do float and one can voyage from South America to Polynesia, but Polynesian sailors in outrigger canoes were the master mariners.
@@PokePresto I have to disagree. He achieved a farthest north record, crossed Greenland on skiis and helped many refugees after WW1.
@@warspitehms5334 I do agree that that is some nice achivements im just saying that compared to Amundsen thats minor achivements.
I have a thick South Korean educational comic book about the North and South Pole, staring a teacher, his teenage girl assistant, a polar bear, a penguin, and the ghost of Roald Amundsen when I was a kid. Why the ghost of Roald Amundsen? Because why not?
On a side note, the teenage assistant is one of my childhood crushes.
His ship Fram has its own museum in Oslo. You can actually walk around onboard. It's at Bygdøy next door from the viking ships, and Kon-Tiki. I highly recommend all of them if you're ever in Oslo.
"The Belgian Capital of Antwerp"? When was Antwerp ever the capital of Belgium?
That depends if you ask the people of Antwerp, or the rest of belgium
@@andromenia1 Let me ask my wife who is from there!
It's unreal how you sustained the interest in this video just with your narration and a few pictures here and there! Terrific!
Roald Dahl was named after him
I was always a fan of these videos, thanks for getting me through quarantine
Feel like we should have Biographic's about each of the men mentioned - Nansen, Scott, Shackleton etc.
I feel a Shackleton bio would be amazing.
Yes videos of all of them would be great. 👍
yes!
well as someone from Antwerp i'm flattered, but brussels has always been the Belgian capital ;p
Roelant Verhoeven It cant be much of a capital if you dont even bother to Capitalise it 😀
@@Mr.Monta77 as a European I don't care about strasbourg either... Must be because the parlament there is quite impotent against my wishes.
Kunnen jullie krijgen een niu vlag voor Antwerpen alstublieft, the current one is horrible to look at xD
The Norge airship was created by Umberto Nobile, an Italian airship pilot/designer. Nobile would later create a similar airship, the Italia, to do an Italian lead expedition to the poles. While flying back from the pole on the Italia's third polar flight, they fought a headwind all the way, and increasingly lost control of the airship. They would end up with a jammed downwards elevator and would let the airship rise above the clouds for a while, before restarting the engines and lowering altitude after it was fixed. Less than an hour later, the airship would crash, with at least one loosing life, and six missing as during the crash the envelope (the part with the gas) would seperate, flying away with those six.
What caused the crash is still to this day up for debate, but this was the aircraft that Roald Amundsen was trying to find.
"And then, they crashed and died - end story".
The Norge .....
Could you please make one on King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom.
excellent again and as always solid sponsors... Dick Gregory strikes me as an excellent bio I'd like to humbly offer up
The Belgian capitol of Antwerp?? Greatings from Brussels!
Hey Simon, I've got someone I'm genuinely surprised you haven't covered yet: Bad King John.
The ending is not what I was expecting. A very sad ending for such an ambitious explorer.
A biographic on Richard Byrd and some of his conspiracies would be interesting.
"Polheim", literally "Pole/polar home"
Ah you should do another great explore John Paul Jones (naval) he explored destroying Britain all by his damn self
Ah, nice to lean back and simply listen to informative and educational entertainment.
Just an idea. You should do one on a British explorer named John Cabot. He was the first to discover the island on the east coast of Canada called Newfoundland in 1497
I just went to tromsø and this guy was all over the place, so beautiful, so full of info, it was a pity that due to the coronavirus we couldn't enter the polar museum. But we did get to see the lights
Personal You saw the ‘lights’? You mean the Northern Light (the Aurora Borealis)? Who or what was «all over the place, so beautiful, so full of info»? You sure you actually visited Tromsø?
@@Mr.Monta77 No reason to doubt she went to Tromsø. You can see the Northern Lights, and there are at least two statues of Roald Amundsen. One bust by the Polarmuseum and one at the aptly named Roald Amundsens plass (Prostneset).
He should have flown to South Pole in the Norge blimp like how he & his teammates were the 1st undisputed guys to each North Pole.
Roald made it to the pole... then begun construction of his secret base, emerging as Dr Evil...
Amundsen died looking for the Nobile expedition, one of the most famous and controversial expedition in italian history. There's a movie, the Red tent. I recommend It if you like the genre.
"Took a trip to Eagle , AK to send telegrams"! Holy hell! The round trip is near 1000 miles! Must've been some important messages!
NZ was the nearest inhabited place to Antarctica. Still is if I’m not mistaken.
He sent a telegram to The king of Norway, his brother, Fridjoff Nansen (his hero and mentor) and finally one to the Daily Chronicle (The newspaper with exclusive rights to the story).
They were all coded because he had gotten to experience what gossip did to his earlier expedition to the northwest passage.
They all wrote something along the lines of: Mission completed, all is well.
@@KarryKarryKarry The trip Brett is referring to is the trip part way across Alaska to let the world know he'd completed the NW Passage. He and his companions ski'd and drove dogs over 600 miles in 30 days (i think!) which included mountain passes and forested regions. This is the trip where one of the party fell ill and died.
Amundsen was mean and a bit crazy. During his first atempt to reach the pole he abandoned his men during a snow storm. One injured man was left to die. Hjalmar Johansen saved him and had to carry him back to the base. When Hjalmar and the injured man arrived Amundsen asked what took them so long like as if nothing had happened. Hjalmar exploded and accused him correctly for pannicking. As a revenge Amundsen later had Hjalmar convicted for muteny. Hjalmar Johansen who was a true hero commited suicide after that. On a later expedition over the North Pole Amundsen was the captain on a ship. He became bored after some months and ran away on skis to the mainland. The crew had to make it on their own for two more years in the ice.
Per Ro Dette er ren bakvaskelse og et førsøk på å omskrive historien. Amundsen var kjent for å ha et sterkt og solid forhold til sine menn, og lykkes i alt han foretok seg nettopp fordi han var en leder som andre stolte på og fulgte. Hjalmar Johansen hadde alvorlige personlige problemer og han bidro til å skape splittelse i en godt fungerende gruppe. En slik mann kan man ikke ha med på A laget. Amundsen var en mann av sin tid og hverken en engel eller perfekt. Men han lykkes fremfor alt pga sitt inspirerende lederskap. Det kan ingen surmaget sutring ta fra ham.
PS Hvorfor ikke skrive på et språk du behersker? Pinlig å lese engelsken din. 😕
@@Mr.Monta77 Dette er allment kjent i Norge. Bare les det som finnes av biografier. Særlig den om Hjalmar Johansen. Det er til og med laget en spillefilm for et par år siden. Det er du som ikke følger med.
I would recommend to do a Bio on some other well known Norwegians like Edvard Grieg(National Romantic Composer) and Henrik Ibsen(probably the best play- writer in history)
amelvik «probably the best play- writer in history»? Ever heard of Shakespare?
Off to Antarctica tomorrow on a cruise. Like Admunsen I spent 3 months in Greenland and 18 days in Svalbard. Greeting from Australia😅.
Do Oliver Cromwell and his atrocities!!
Fascinating , thank you for sharing with us 💫👋🌹🪐⚡️❄️
To be fair, the army of the south pole is pretty poorly armed.
How quaint
YES! when I saw conquered, I was like - really?
John Duncan Yeah, too many Emperors, not enough foot soldiers.
I visited the Gjøa from time to time when she was beached on the western edge of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. She was no longer sea worthy.
Simon! Love the channel! You should do US Grant, certainly a rags to riches story.
20:45 It seems that Amundsen was constantly in debt.
Great vid, as always. I really love your channel....well, all of them, really.
Here's a possible suggestion for you.... I was just thinking earlier tonight about someone who most people know due to ONE event, but that one event is pretty much all they're known for... I'm talking about General George Custer. He might be a good one to consider doing a Biographic on. I mean, most know about his ultimate fate at Little Big Horn, but I don't think I could tell you anything else about his life... it might be interesting to hear about!
Just a thought, though.. you must get a ton of suggestions a day, so if you never get around to it, I'd understand. Still love the channel!
Yes! I love when you post! Also, a request - could you do a video on David Foster Wallace?
Thanks for another very well thought biography.
The first I ever heard of Roald Amundsen was in Roland Huntford's very fine book "Scott & Amundsen", then soon after bought and read "Shackleton" by the same author soon afterwards. Both enjoyed very much.
Antwerp never has been the capital of Belgium, as far as I know (I'm from Belgium) it always has been Brussels.
Amundsen didn’t conquer the Antarctic. It was a pure sprint to the pole and cut and run. Scott was running a huge scientific survey on geography, geology, magnetometry, map making, climatology, marine sciences. They experimented with new techniques motor tractors, dog sledging, Siberian ponies, man hauling. Amundsen’s subterfuge by pretending he was going to the Artic, wrong footed Scott. Scott got to the pole in good shape, it was a one in fifty year very cold snap that was twice as cold as a normal year with spells of four day blizzards which did for him. He almost made it home. If anyone is really wants to know about this, read the book capt Scott by Ranulph Fiennes, who man hauled unsupported across both poles.
16:55
he sailed from Norway to Madeira (for one month) and none of his crewmen noticed that the general direction was south ?
like the sun rising every morning on the portside of the ship ??? Seriously ???
Thank you!
Another excellent video! I learned a lot today!
Amundsen and Nansen were indisputably great explorers, but for my money the best of them in that era was Otto Sverdrup, longtime skipper of Fram, who had a hand in the both of the others successes, and explored a great deal of northern Canada in his own expeditions as well. He wasn't a flamboyant fellow, just very experienced, professional and effective and above all, prepared for dealing with the unknown, a rare quality in a brutally unforgiving environment. He filled in more empty spaces on the map than any of the others.
6:20 Antwerp is not the capital of Belgium. Brussels is the capital of the country and Antwerp is the largest port city and capital of the Belgian region (county) of Flanders.
Antwerp is the capitol of the Antwerop province. Brussels is the capitol of Belgium, as well as the Flanders region.
It's still crazy how people can say Scott was "unlucky" when it was anything but. He was a terrible leader and over all terrible at polar exploration. Everything he did was to one up his senpai, Shakelton. The white horses lasted longer when shakelton used them? Yup, only white horses can be used, no other. In regards to the horses, his professional horse manager, Oates, wasn't notified about the buying of the horses. Scott completely disregarded Oates and got a dog handler to buy them. Scott spent $100,000 (his times currency) on motorized sledges and only $5 on each horse. They had about 19 horses in total. These horses were lame in every way, old, riddled with infections and couldn't be trusted in even non artic weather. Also the only guy who could fix the motor sledges was not apart of the expedition. Scott and his second and command couldn't fit him on as a crew member. Scott had dogs with the expedition but refused to have them used to the fullest potential. He was very soft towards the dogs and refused to have any killed to be fed to the other dogs as a source of food. Roald and his men did this and it helped them greatly in reaching the pole. When the terra nova came back after a year to pick up people, Mears, the expert dog handler left early due to scott's incomitance and rendering Mears basically useless. Mears wasn't allowed to push the dogs to hard and his years of experience was never used. Mears left early saying his father died but that was a lie just to leave and have no one tell him not too. Scott was terrible and his wife writes to him saying, more or less "If you don't make it to the pole first, what was the point? you will be seen as a failure, how will our son handle it?" way to be supportive/s lol
I feel sad when i think about his adopted daughters, who he had to let go at the end. And they never saw him again.
Huh. I already knew most of this from visiting the Fram museum in Oslo (highly recommend it!!!), but somehow they did not mention how he died. That was very surprising.
Please do Sir Ranulph Fiennes :)
Binge watching these videos whilst Lockdown! ♥️♥️♥️
Is he related to actor Ralph Fiennes?
@@linda10989 According to wikipedia, Ralph Finnes is his third cousin, once removed 👍🏻
Amundsen faced the same problem as Scott. Timing!
He started too early then had to restart, whilst Scott may just have started too late. Sad.
Great video. Covid isolation entertainment
16:37 Also the man who invented the 1000 Mile Stare. That face means business.
Cousin roald. Love hearing his stories. We're all from North kriststand, Norway. I was born in Scotland. Along with other refshals lol
The first man to step on BOTH poles. That's some serious badassery.
I'd love to see a Biographics of Basil Rathbone 💖💖🤗🤗
Very interesting and informative
Please Please Please Please! Do the following
-Leonid Brezhnev
-Emperor Meiji
-Kaiser Wilhelm I
-Karl Dönitz
-Carl Gustaf Emil Mannheim
Here are some more explorers of the Arctic that could be interesting to discuss about.
1. Robert E. Peary and Matthew Henson
2. Robert Falcon Scott
3. Richard E. Byrd
4. Fridtjor Nansen
5. Ernest Shackleton
As usual very good quality and presentation, tack🇸🇪🇳🇴®️🇳🇴🇸🇪🇳🇴🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪
Hello Simon, at 6:23 you say that Antwerp is the capital of Belgium, which is factually untrue. Brussels has been the capital of Belgium since its independence in 1830. As a Belgian citizen I should know. Just an FYI, I really enjoy your videos of all your channels.
I requested the bio on Amundsen! Thanks Simon!
oooo love the music at the end!
The name of the ship for Amundsen's NW passage expedition is proununced "Jøa" - the G being silent.
These Vikings sure have itchy feet wanderlust.
Thank you
And inspired one HELLUVA good Lovecraft story-At The Mountains of Madness.
Did I hear him say "Belgian capital Antwerp"?
Yes you did. It's a disgrace:)
Bob Martens yes, I'm not a big expert on Belgium but as far as I'm aware the capital has always been Brussels.
Oh well, never mind.
@@robertsollory7475 Since 1830. It certainly never has or will be Antwerp.
Most have terrible grades when they've no passion or desire for the subject(s)
No, it's just that Simon no longer gives a hot holy f**k.
Living in Antwerp i'm flattered you consider it the capital of Belgium, i do so myself. Sadly, it's still Brussels :'(
...the only thing there is to conquer is ego. Everything else is food, shelter, walking and sleep.
The Union between Norway and Sweden started in 1814 not 1841.
Can you do one about Margaret Thatcher? Every now and then I hear her name, but not growing up in the UK, I have no idea who she is. One one hand, a female prime minister is awesome. On the other, a lot of people seem to hate her...!
Yup she was a prick
Yes, I was also going to chime in with this, the breakup of the Danish-Norwegian double monarchy was in 1814, something that left the old Norwegian settlements of Faroese Islands, Iceland and Greenland in Danish hands as we were forced to join a union with Sweden. Something that led to failed attempts by Norwegians to «re-take» east Greenland in the 1920’s.