Full name: Ernest Henry Shackleton Born: 15th February 1874 Place of Birth: County Kildare, Ireland Occupation: British Naval Officer and Antarctic Explorer Died: 5th January 1922

Ernest Henry Shackleton was an Antarctic Explorer born on 15th February 1874 in County Kildare, Ireland as the second of ten children.  Ernest was raised in London and was encouraged by his family to attend medical school, but he decided to join the merchant navy at the age of 16.  By the age of 18, Ernest had become a first mate and within six years, he was a master mariner with a keen interest in exploring the North and South Pole. 

Ernest began an Antarctic expedition with Robert Falcon Scott in 1901, a British Naval Officer, which involved a treacherous trek to the South Pole.  Shackleton and Scott travelled closer to the arctic than anyone before, but Ernest became very ill during the expedition and was forced to return to Britain.  On his return, Shackleton decided to become a journalist and attempted to become a member of parliament, but neither career paths satisfied Shackleton's need for adventure and discovery and he was unsuccessful.

Shackelton set himself a goal to become the first person to reach the South Pole and in 1908, Ernest led his own expedition to the Antarctic on his own ship named 'Nimrod' and made some significant scientific discoveries, whilst setting a new record for the closest anybody had ever been to the South Pole.  Shackleton came within 97 miles of the South Pole but the treacherous conditions forced him to turn back. 

Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer, reached the South Pole before Shackleton could reach his goal, but on his return to Britain, he was knighted by King Edward VII.  Shackleton's new goal was to cross Antarctica via the South Pole and on 1st August 1914, he departed from London on the ship 'Endurance' but encountered a problem when the ship became trapped by ice and sank. 

The expedition team were forced to camp on floating ice and  sought help by escaping on small boats to a nearby island and eventually sailed to South Georgia.  Despite being stranded for almost two years, every member of the crew survived the expedition.  In 1921, Shackleton departed on his fourth and final expedition to the South Pole to circumnavigate the Antarctic but he died after suffering a heart attack in South Georgia on 5th January 1922.  Ernest Shackleton is remembered today as one of the key figures of the 'Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration'.