Close, but no cigar

On this day in history (in keeping with the general frigidness of the temperatures), Ernest Shackleton reached almost the South Pole in 1909.

"Shackleton's group continued southward, discovering and ascending the Beardmore Glacier to the polar plateau, and then marching on to reach their Farthest South point at 88°23'S, a mere 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the pole, on 9 January 1909."

He was in England giving lectures on the South Pole when a Norwegian landed there less than three years later.