#Francis Shackleton

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1921 – Sir Arthur Vicars was assassinated in Kilmorna, Co Kerry by the IRA.

Sir Arthur Vicars is executed by the IRA in Co Kerry and around his neck the IRA placed a placard bearing the inscription ‘SPY. INFORMERS BEWARE. IRA NEVER FORGETS’. Vicars, who played a pivotal (and probably negligent) role in the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels in 1907. Born in England, Vicars spent most of his life in Ireland where he was Custodian of the Irish Crown Jewels at the time they…

[jesslovesboats]

BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT, I'm back with more Sad Boat Books for Sad Boat People! But first, some words.

I never dreamed that a silly little graphic I made for some friends would generate this much response on twitter and here, but I'm overjoyed that it resonated with so many of you! I read every single comment and tag, and by far my favorites are all of the people who say some variation of "I thought I was the only one who loved these books." We are NOT alone, there are literally thousands of people who reblogged or retweeted this list-- people of all ages and backgrounds and gender identities. Sad Boat isn't just for old white men! I was also delighted to hear from other librarians who are using this in displays and for reader's advisory. PLEASE go forth and do so with my blessing, nothing would make me happier! I was recently laid off from my librarian job as part of a restructuring under new management (don't worry about me, it sucks right now but I'm gonna be fine), so I would love to think that I'm still contributing to the library ecosystem while I'm out of commission. I would also love to keep making these lists (including one that deals with Sad Boat fiction and one with recommendations for other types of media), and I've never had more time to do it, so if you have suggestions, please drop them in my inbox!

Anyway, enough of that-- here are more books! I've either read all of these, or the recommendation came from someone I trust, so read with confidence!

First Hand Accounts

The Quiet Land: The Antarctic Diaries of Frank Debenham edited by June Debenham Back

The Voyage of the Discovery by Robert Falcon Scott

Farthest North by Fridtjof Nansen

Endurance by F.A. Worsley

Boats boats boats!

Franklin's Lost Ship: The Historic Discovery of HMS Erebus by Alanna Mitchell and John Geiger

The Voyages of the Discovery: The Illustrated History of Scott's Ship by Ann Savours

HMS Terror: The Design, Fitting, and Voyages of a Polar Discovery Ship by Matthew Betts

The SS Terra Nova (1884-1943): Whaler, Sealer, and Polar Exploration Ship by Michael C. Tarver

You'll learn about the Ross Sea Party and you'll like it

Shackleton's Heroes by Wilson McOrist

Shackleton’s Forgotten Men: The Untold Tragedy of the Endurance Epic by Lennard Bickel

The Ross Sea Shore Party 1914-1917 by R.W. Richards

The Lost Men by Kelly Tyler-Lewis*

Polar Castaways by Richard McElrea and David Harrowfield*

*These were on my other list, but this is my graphic and I'll do what I want

Sad Airships and Planes

From Pole to Pole: Roald Amundsen's Journey in Flight by Garth James Cameron

N-4 Down: The Hunt for the Arctic Airship Italia by Mark Piesing

Antarctica's Lost Aviator by Jeff Maynard

Disaster at the Pole: The Tragedy of the Airship Italia and the 1928 Nobile Expedition to the North Pole by Wilbur Cross

More Shackleton Content

Shackleton: A Life in Poetry by Jim Mayer

Shackleton's Last Voyage by Frank Wild

The Quest Chronicle: The Story of the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition by Jan Chojecki

Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition: The Voyage of the Nimrod by Beau Riffenburgh

Polar Partners

Snow Widows by Katherine MacInnes

Polar Wives: The Remarkable Women Behind the World's Most Daring Explorers by Kari Herbert

Widows of the Ice by Anne Fletcher

Sad Boat Graphic Novels

Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi

The Worst Journey in the World- The Graphic Novel Volume 1: Making Our Easting Down adapted by Sarah Airriess from the book by Apsley Cherry-Garrard*

How To Survive in the North by Luke Healy

*This was also on my other list, but this is my graphic and I'll do what I want

Biographies

Scott of the Antarctic by David Crane

Ice Captain: The Life of J.R. Stenhouse by Stephen Haddelsey

Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard by Sara Wheeler

Birdie Bowers: Captain Scott's Marvel by Anne Strathie

Roald Amundsen by Tor Bomann-Larsen

Miscellaneous sad boat books that are well worth your time

I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination by Francis Spufford

Fatal North: Adventure and Survival Aboard USS Polaris, The First US Expedition to the North Pole by Bruce Henderson

Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy by Fergus Fleming

Pilgrims on the Ice by T.H. Baughman

The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture by Michael F. Robinson

Ghosts of Cape Sabine by Leonard F. Guttridge

Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Andrea Pitzer

If you read and enjoy any of these, please let me know!

EDITED TO ADD: OG Sad Boat Books post here!

[areyougonnabe]

How would you suggest people get started learning about polar expeditions? I read Frozen in Time but I'm at a loss of where to go now 😭 any suggestions?

Hi!!! It depends on which era you're interested in!!

For Victorian exploration including the FE, I always recommend Erebus by Michael Palin, William Battersby's Fitzjames biography, and Barrow's Boys by Fergus Fleming. Now, all of those books have their flaws as many nerds (like me) will tell you, but they are all great starting points and will introduce you to the cast of characters/run of events of that era. Once you've advanced a bit, you could check out Dave Woodman's Unraveling the Franklin Mystery for an intensely detailed look at Inuit testimony; The Spectral Arctic by Shane McCorristine for an academic exploration of ghosts and clairvoyance in Victorian exploration; or Finding Franklin by Russell Potter for an overview of the search expeditions up to the present day. Michael Smith's Crozier biography is also a solid read. (EDIT: I forgot The Man Who Ate His Boots by Anthony Brandt if you want to know more about Franklin himself and his earlier expeditions!)

If you're more interested in the late Victorian/Edwardian era, commonly referred to under the "Heroic Age" umbrella, you have a lot of potential starting points....

That era could be said to have begun in 1897 with the Belgica expedition, one of the most chaotic and insane expeditions of all time. Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton is a RIDE of a book (more like FRATHOUSE at the end of the earth, amirite) and will get you started with two of my favorite figures of the age: it was the polar origin story of Roald Amundsen, and where he met a pre-pole controversy Frederick Cook (HIS SOULMATE).

For more Amundsen after the Belgica, I really liked The Last Viking by Stephen Brown. You could also check out Roland Huntford's biography buuut this blog is a No Roland Zone so I am hesitant to recommend him, even though re: Amundsen he's more legit than elsewhere.

The Worst Journey In The World is a classic for a reason: a really beautiful and detailed first-person account of Scott's last expedition that is a pillar of travel writing and the foundation for much of the historiography that came after. However, you could also start with A First Rate Tragedy by Diana Preston (which I haven't read yet but comes highly recommended) or even Cherry's biography by Sara Wheeler which is really excellent. OH and the graphic novel version of Worst Journey just released its first volume which is a WONDERFUL introduction to the story! Buy it here and support the artist!

I've also really enjoyed all of the other first-person accounts I've read, many of which are free & in the public domain: With Scott: The Silver Lining by T. Griffith Taylor and The Great White South by Herbert Ponting are super interesting and give you a taste of what it was like to really be there.

For Shackleton, definitely start with Endurance by Alfred Lansing and go from there. Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition is a good second step & will get you background on him and Scott (& Wilson). I have had Shackleton: A Life In Poetry by Jim Mayer recommended to me as well but haven't read it yet. After that, Frank Worsley (captain of the Endurance) wrote two books which are great supplements: Shackleton's Boat Journey and another one just called Endurance. And Caroline Alexander's The Endurance is really good too but it's a coffee table book with nice pictures, so grab a hard copy!

And last but CERTAINLY not least, I May Be Some Time by Francis Spufford is the be-all and end-all of polar exploration nonfiction, IMO. I'm just finishing a reread right now actually—I first read it post-Franklin obsession but pre-Scott obsession and honestly, it's an entirely different book once you're crazy about the Heroic Age, so while I have recommended it in the past for people just getting started, and still do, at this point I also kind of want to tell people to maybe wait until you've already reached a certain level of derangement to dive into it.

[croziers-compass]

Gender as Ship Ranks and Titles: A Drunken Ramble from Yours Truly.

Not particularly edited in any way and very Raw in its creation. So please forgive the hideous nature that this piece is written and articulated in.

Dead Dove. Do not Eat.

I have another weird influx of people resonating with the gender system of ship ranks and Naval History in several other groups and circles/communities I am in. And it's strangely wholesome right now because it has created an influx of individuals with varying degrees of understanding that specifically comes from Polar Exploration. This new influx is a bunch of Polar Explorers who have a particular niche interest in other Expeditions such as the Crozier-Ross Expedition, Terra Nova, the Ross Sea Party, Amundsen, Captain Scott, and Shackleton. So now, included in this, comes an influx from some people who attended Terror Camp and got to discuss some things with Francis Spufford who spoke about how strangely and very unexpectedly gendered it was on these Expeditions.

In my mind, despite the crews being all men, gender sort of melted away into ranks and how they provide for one another as individuals both through rank and their skills aboard the Expedition. He spoke a little about how the crews engaged with one another through almost "neo-gendered" roles that replaced conventional social structures and settings that you would normally have been seeing in the period appropriate binary that was so strictly enforced. From caregiving and support concepts as well as other nuanced aspects that were important for the crew and their social structures. This was because there was this immense amount of isolation and removal from conventional society and no other "binary" to compare themselves as individuals to. This removed gender altogether for the crews as they were so isolated and far from civilisation that such concerns, matters, and focuses were no longer an applicable structure. But still, yet, gender as a social structure plays a prominent role in understanding one another in a more social way and not a way to uphold "Gender Roles" or the "Gender Binary". It was not a necessity.

This was particularly true about the Shackleton Expedition and it seemed to impact a lot of others that have a sort of niche interest in the concept of gender associations that are expressed through varying "era's ship ranks". We observed this particularly with how some of the crew sought out very particular individuals and referred to them in almost an exclusive way where they connected the ship rank or the ship role to the crew member and began to exclude conventional pronouns in their journals. There was a fluidity to the way that they saw one another after being isolated for so long. The years spent away from the structures of conventional society meant that they needed to reinvent social society for themselves.

They could not afford to abide by the usual structures of society in the Polar Regions because it was not a safe way to survive.

The structures of Naval roles and Navy Ranks provided a good chain of command that could be relied upon as a narrative for who provides and does what for the expedition as well as the personality and entire energy of that individual.

Naturally, eventually, everything else fell away.

So there is this concept of conventional grasps of gender falling away entirely and no longer being useful to the societal structures that they once had. By extension, there is no need for the other concepts and structures that fit into the social binary. They don't exist. The Polar Regions are sterile. You are isolated. Without need of anything else but the chain of command to keep everything in a way that makes sense to the crew.

Final Disclaimer these are not sober ramblings.

[polarexplorerspoll]

ROUND THREE IS UPON US!

Unfortunately, Frank Worsley, Kristian Prestrud, John Franklin, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Charles Francis Hall, Harry McNish, John Hartnell, Olav Bjaaland, James Clark Ross, John Torrington, Richard Byrd, Leopold McClintock, Alexander Macklin, William Edward Parry, Salomon August Andrée, and John Ross have all succumbed to scurvy, and died painfully. The rest of the party survives, but for how much longer?

Here are the matchups for the third round:

Ernest Shackleton vs. Hjalmar Johansen

Tom Crean vs. Fridtjof Nansen

Ada Blackjack vs. Lawrence Oates

Mrs. Chippy vs. Roald Amundsen

Francis Crozier vs. Frank Wild

James Fitzjames vs. Frederick Cook

Charles Tong Sing vs. Edward Wilson

Robert Falcon Scott vs. Adolf Lindstrøm

[brookston]

Holidays 5.20

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The Dainty-Four Remembrance Day (Shamanism)

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Premieres

The Abominable Snow Rabbit (WB LT Cartoon; 1961)

Apple Andy (Andy Panda Cartoon; 1946)

Balls, by Greg Nettles and Peter Golenbock (Sports Memoir; 1984)

Beatlemania (Musical Play; 1977)

Beaus Will Be Beaus (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1955)

Becoming Bond (Documentary Film; 2017)

Beverly Hills Cop II (Film; 1987)

Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers (Animated Film; 2022)

The Color and the Shape, by the Foo Fighters (Album; 1997)

Day of the Dead, by Various Artists (Grateful Dead Anthology Album; 2016)

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (Film; 1994)

Every Breath You Take, by the Police (Song; 1983)

Fat in the Saddle (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1968)

Fourteen Hours (Film; 1951)

Godzilla (Film; 1998)

The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (DePatie-Freleng Animated TV Special; 1982)

Harry’s House, by Harry Styles (Album; 2022)

His Bitter Half (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

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The Killing (Film; 1956)

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Midnight in Paris (Film; 2011)

The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz (TV Movie; 2005)

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The Nice Guys (Film; 2016)

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Film; 2011)

Poodle Hat, by Weird Al Yankovic (Album; 2003)

The Quarto, Shakespeare’s Sonnets (Book of Poems; 1609)

Rock Around the Clock, by Bill Haley & His Comets (Song; 1954)

Russian Rhapsody (WB MM Cartoon; 1944)

The Saint on Guard (a.k.a. The Saint and the Sizzling Saboteur), by Leslie Charteris (Short Stories; 1944) [Saint #26]

The Scapegoat, by Daphne du Maurier (Novel; 1957)

The Scotswoman, by Inglis Clark Fletcher (Novel; 1955)

The Smurfic Games (Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Special; 1984)

Unplugged (The Official Bootleg), by Paul McCartney (Album; 1991)

A Very English Scandal (Film; 2018)

Viva Las Vegas (Film; 1964) [Elvis Presley #15]

Willow (Film; 1988)

You Made Me Love You, recorded by Harry James (Song; 1941)

Today’s Name Days

Bernhardin, Elfriede, Mira (Austria)

Bernardin, Lidija, Zlata (Croatia)

Zbyšek (Czech Republic)

Angelica (Denmark)

Liili, Liilia, Lilian, Lilja, Lille, Lilli (Estonia)

Karoliina, Lila, Lilja, Lilli (Finland)

Bernardin (France)

Bernardino, Elfriede, Mira (Germany)

Lead, Lidia, Lydia (Greece)

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Akvilas, Alfreda, Eidvilas, Vygintė (Lithuania)

Bjørnar, Bjørnhild (Norway)

Anastazy, Asteriusz, Bazyli, Bazylid, Bazylis, Bernardyn, Bernardyna, Bronimir, Iwo, Sawa, Teodor, Wiktoria (Poland)

Lidia, Talaleu (România)

Varvara (Russia)

Bernard (Slovakia)

Baudilio, Bernardo, Orlando (Spain)

Carola, Karolina (Sweden)

Bernadette, Bernardina, Bernardine, Bernetta, Bernita (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 141 of 2024; 225 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 21 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 9 of 28]

Chinese: Month 4 (Ji-Si), Day 13 (Jia-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 12 Iyar 5784

Islamic: 12 Dhu al-Qada 1445

J Cal: 21 Magenta; Sevenday [21 of 30]

Julian: 7 May 2024

Moon: 92%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 28 Caesar (5th Month) [Trajan]

Runic Half Month: Ing (Expansive Energy) [Day 11 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 63 of 92)

Week: 3rd Full Week of May

Zodiac: Taurus (Day 31 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 5.20

Holidays

Alfalfa Day (French Republic)

Be A Millionaire Day

Beating of the Bounds (Old England)

Behcet’s Disease Awareness Day

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Days of the Castle (Netherlands)

Discovery Day (Cayman Islands)

Doctor Day (Indonesia)

Eliza Doolittle Day (My Fair Lady)

Emancipation Day (Florida)

Empire Day

EMS Education Day

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Everybody Draw Mohammed Day

Fire Festival (Elder Scrolls)

501 Day

520 Day (Valentine’s Day; China)

520 Day (Tucson, Arizona)

Flower Day

Flying Solo Day

Go Fly A Kite With the Kids Day

Hari Kebangkitan (Indonesian Awakening Day)

Hats for Headway Day

Indonesian Doctor Day (Indonesia)

International Clinical Trials Day

International Gator Day

International Heritage Breeds Day

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International Red Sneakers Day

International Williams Syndrome Day

Josephine Baker Day (NAACP)

Lafayette Day (Massachusetts)

Love Feast Under the Gospel Elm (Wicken, UK)

M.P.R. Day (Zaire)

National Anger Day (Cambodia)

National Awakening Day (Indonesia)

National Band Director’s Day

National Day (Cameroon)

National Day of First Nations Fishing Right (Canada)

National Day of Hatred (Cambodia)

National Day of Remembrance (Cambodia)

National Eli Day

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SI Redefinition Day

Stop the Bleed Day

T’veer Chong Kamhaeng (Day of Remembrance; Cambodia)

Volga Day (Russia)

Weights and Measures Day

World Autoimmune Arthritis Day

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Food & Drink Celebrations

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International Sweet Tooth Day

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Tap Water Day (California)

Independence & Related Days

Cuba (from US, 1902)

East Timor; (from Indonesia, 2002)

Lopezia (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Mecklenburg Independence Day (North Carolina)

North Carolina (Secedes from U.S.; 1861)

Referendum Day (Cameroon; 1972)

Roman Republic (Established; 1347)

Samizdat (a.k.a. State of Samizdat; Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

3rd Monday in May

Accounting Day [Monday of 3rd Full Week; also 5.13]

Battle of Las Piedras Day (Uruguay) [3rd Monday]

Coming of Age Day (Korea) [3rd Monday]

Make a Note Monday [3rd Monday]

Motivation Monday [Every Monday]

National Patriots’ Day (Quebec, Canada) [Monday before 5.25]

Supply Chain Professional Day [3rd Monday]

Victoria Day (Canada) [Monday before 5.25]

Weekly Holidays beginning May 20 (3rd Full Week)

Click It or Ticket Mobilization (thru 6.2)

Healthy and Safe Swimming Week (thru 5.26) [Week before Memorial Day]

National Emsculpt Week (thru 5.26)

Road Safety Week (Canada) [thru 5.26]

Festivals Beginning May 20, 2024

Burning Nest (Exeter, UK) [thru 5.27]

Feast Days

Abercius and Helena (Christian; Saint)

Alcuin of York (Christian; Saint)

Aleksandr Deyneka (Artology)

Aurea of Ostia (Christian; Saint)

Austregisilus (Christian; Saint)

Basilla (Christian; Martyr & Virgin)

Baudilus (Christian; Saint)

Bernardino of Siena (a.k.a. Bernadine; Christian; Saint)

The Dainty-Four Remembrance Day (Shamanism)

Eduard Ole (Artology)

Edward II Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Ethelbert, King of the East Angles (Christian; Martyr)

Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Mjollnir (Feast of Thor’s Hammer; Ancient Norse)

Find a New Fetish Day (a.k.a. Fetish Day; Pastafarian)

Firefighter Jackson (Muppetism)

Francis Cotes (Artology)

Frigga Blot (Slavic Pagan/Asatru)

Grudie Rosnoe begins (Lavic Pagan/Asatru sacrifices to Rod for good harvests)

Henri-Edmond Cross (Artology)

Honoré de Balzac (Writerism)

Ives, An Honest Lawyer (Christian; Saint)

Ivo of Chartres (a.k.a. Yvo of Chartres; Christian; Saint)

Lucifer of Cagliari (Christian; Saint)

Margery Allingham (Writerism)

Media Ver II (Pagan)

Mjölnir (Old Germany; Celebration of Thor’s Hammer)

Padstow May Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Plynteria (Ancient Greece Festival to Athena)

Sanctan (Christian; Saint)

Sigrid Undset (Writerism)

Thalelaeus (Christian; Martyr)

Trajan (Positivist; Saint)

Visakh Bochwa Day (Buddha Day; Cambodia)

Christian Liturgical Holidays

Monday after 7th Sunday after Easter (a.k.a. …

Dicing For Bibles (St. Ives, UK)

Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Monday of the Holy Spirit

Pentecost Monday

Pfingsten (Germany)

Whit Monday

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Lucky Day (Philippines) [31 of 71]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [26 of 57]

Very Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [28 of 60]

Premieres

The Abominable Snow Rabbit (WB LT Cartoon; 1961)

Apple Andy (Andy Panda Cartoon; 1946)

Balls, by Greg Nettles and Peter Golenbock (Sports Memoir; 1984)

Beatlemania (Musical Play; 1977)

Beaus Will Be Beaus (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1955)

Becoming Bond (Documentary Film; 2017)

Beverly Hills Cop II (Film; 1987)

Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers (Animated Film; 2022)

The Color and the Shape, by the Foo Fighters (Album; 1997)

Day of the Dead, by Various Artists (Grateful Dead Anthology Album; 2016)

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (Film; 1994)

Every Breath You Take, by the Police (Song; 1983)

Fat in the Saddle (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1968)

Fourteen Hours (Film; 1951)

Godzilla (Film; 1998)

The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (DePatie-Freleng Animated TV Special; 1982)

Harry’s House, by Harry Styles (Album; 2022)

His Bitter Half (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

Hot Diggity Dog (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1967)

Hot Time on Ice (Chilly Willy Cartoon; 1967)

The Killing (Film; 1956)

Lady Dynamite (TV Series; 2016)

Let Me Call You Sweetheart (Betty Boop Cartoon; 1932)

Midnight in Paris (Film; 2011)

The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz (TV Movie; 2005)

Naughty But Mice (WB MM Cartoon; 1939)

The Nice Guys (Film; 2016)

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Film; 2011)

Poodle Hat, by Weird Al Yankovic (Album; 2003)

The Quarto, Shakespeare’s Sonnets (Book of Poems; 1609)

Rock Around the Clock, by Bill Haley & His Comets (Song; 1954)

Russian Rhapsody (WB MM Cartoon; 1944)

The Saint on Guard (a.k.a. The Saint and the Sizzling Saboteur), by Leslie Charteris (Short Stories; 1944) [Saint #26]

The Scapegoat, by Daphne du Maurier (Novel; 1957)

The Scotswoman, by Inglis Clark Fletcher (Novel; 1955)

The Smurfic Games (Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Special; 1984)

Unplugged (The Official Bootleg), by Paul McCartney (Album; 1991)

A Very English Scandal (Film; 2018)

Viva Las Vegas (Film; 1964) [Elvis Presley #15]

Willow (Film; 1988)

You Made Me Love You, recorded by Harry James (Song; 1941)

Today’s Name Days

Bernhardin, Elfriede, Mira (Austria)

Bernardin, Lidija, Zlata (Croatia)

Zbyšek (Czech Republic)

Angelica (Denmark)

Liili, Liilia, Lilian, Lilja, Lille, Lilli (Estonia)

Karoliina, Lila, Lilja, Lilli (Finland)

Bernardin (France)

Bernardino, Elfriede, Mira (Germany)

Lead, Lidia, Lydia (Greece)

Bernát, Felícia (Hungary)

Anastasio, Bernardino (Italy)

Prieca, Salvis, Sibilla, Venta (Latvia)

Akvilas, Alfreda, Eidvilas, Vygintė (Lithuania)

Bjørnar, Bjørnhild (Norway)

Anastazy, Asteriusz, Bazyli, Bazylid, Bazylis, Bernardyn, Bernardyna, Bronimir, Iwo, Sawa, Teodor, Wiktoria (Poland)

Lidia, Talaleu (România)

Varvara (Russia)

Bernard (Slovakia)

Baudilio, Bernardo, Orlando (Spain)

Carola, Karolina (Sweden)

Bernadette, Bernardina, Bernardine, Bernetta, Bernita (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 141 of 2024; 225 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 21 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 9 of 28]

Chinese: Month 4 (Ji-Si), Day 13 (Jia-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 12 Iyar 5784

Islamic: 12 Dhu al-Qada 1445

J Cal: 21 Magenta; Sevenday [21 of 30]

Julian: 7 May 2024

Moon: 92%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 28 Caesar (5th Month) [Trajan]

Runic Half Month: Ing (Expansive Energy) [Day 11 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 63 of 92)

Week: 3rd Full Week of May

Zodiac: Taurus (Day 31 of 31)

[archaickysodomita]

Find out which polar explorer are you

https://uquiz.com/nXc9Lo

[irenydraws]

second-to-last batch of @terrebus-fc doodles for #theterrortober event on twitter! as always you can also find these on my dedicated terror twitter @sizeofacherry

[whatwhatjpg]

wake up folks, new Irish Antarctic Explorers stamps dropped 

clockwise from top left: 

(1820) Edward Bransfield, Ballinacurra, County Cork 

Tom Crean, Annascaul, County Kerry  Ernest Shackleton, Kilkea, County Kildare  Robert Forde, Bandon, County Cork  Patrick Keohane, Courtmacsherry, County Cork  Tim and Mortimer McCarthy, Kinsale, County Cork 

(Terra Nova Expedition 1910-1913)  Tom Crean, Robert Forde, Patrick Keohane & Mortimer McCarthy 

(Ross Expedition 1839-1843) Francis Crozier, Banbridge, County Down 

[ltwilliammowett]

The ill-fated "Endurance" being crushed by ice in Antartica; Shackleton inspects the dogs in their snow kennels, October 1915, by S. Francis Smithman (1927-)

[areyougonnabe]

For the record i voted for mclennon, andrew garfield/jesse eisenberg, and david tennant/billie piper in that dumb poll as far as MY ships go, and then bc of mutuals osmosis and also #respect i threw in pete wentz/mikey way, damon albarn/graham coxon, and dan/phil. And also here are my additional write-ins:

john lennon/brian epstein

george russell/alex albon

greg davies/alex horne

walt whitman/oscar wilde

gore vidal/william f. buckley

herman melville/nathaniel hawthorne

margery kempe/julian of norwich

george mallory/andrew irvine

francis crozier/james clark ross

robert falcon scott/ernest shackleton/edward wilson

[handfuloftime]

It seems appropriate that it should also have been in Antarctica that the Edwardian world lasted longest. After the period ended a tiny bubble of pre-war feeling and expectation persisted there in the form of Shackleton's marooned Endurance expedition. Probably Shackleton's men were the last Europeans on the planet still inhabiting the lost paradigm in 1916, year of the Somme: 'I suppose our experience was unique,' he wrote. The war had already just begun when they sailed in August 1914 to try the first crossing of the Antarctic continent, but the England they left was in the very first phase of high excitement. All they had seen was the Edwardian nation mobilising, not a single casualty list published, not a single telegram of condolence sent. The war had no colours yet except the patriotic ones. They heard their last instalment of news in Buenos Aires in October, where the received wisdom still held that the battles would end crisp and quick within six months. After that they passed beyond communication, 'not without regret' at their exclusion from the great adventure, as if the European catastrophe already unrolling behind them were a spreading stain they had accidentally outrun. [...] His book South (1919) best conveys the bursting of the bubble in an exchange of dialogue as sudden and blunt as the inrush of the new world that it brought about. As soon as the three scarecrow-like travellers had established who they were to Mr Sorlle, the manager, and what they were doing wandering through his whaling station frightening children, 'Tell me, when was the war over?' Shackleton asked. 'The war is not over,' he answered. 'Millions are being killed. Europe is mad. The world is mad.'

Francis Spufford, I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination

[solomontoaster]

All of the items – tin type of single gentleman, Charlie and Gertie poem and mini compass – I got from @enjoloras ​’ shop arrived! They look excellent on my shelf with my other things. My other collection items include: a reprint of Fire!!, an African-American magazine published in 1926 (the thin red booklet in the first image) that dealt in a variety of queer themes; an unabridged copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass; a second edition printing of And the Band Played On; and two carte de visites, one of two gentlemen staring fondly at each other that was noted as a gay couple and one of two women with similar vibes though with no actual note that they were a couple.

Other items collected, but not shown are two sets of stamps of Polar explorers, one set of UK stamps, which include James Clark Ross, Martin Frobisher, Henry Hudson, and Robert Falcon Scott, from I think the 1970s; and one set of Irish stamps from 2021 commemorating Francis Crozier, Ernest Shackleton, Tom Crean and Edward Bransfield, among others.

And the crowning jewel of the books I own, but which doesn’t fit on this shelf, is a reproduction of the original manuscript of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

[polarexplorerspoll]

AND SO BEGINS ROUND TWO!

Recently, I have been informed that Oscar Wisting, Jørgen Stubberud, Edward Atkinson, William Braine, Helmer Hanssen, John Rae, Frank Hurley, and Sverre Hassel got trapped out in a blizzard and have all sadly perished. Undeterred, the survivors of this tragic event press onwards.

Here are the matchups for the second round:

Ernest Shackleton vs. Frank Worsley

Kristian Prestrud vs. Hjalmar Johansen

John Franklin vs. Tom Crean

Fridtjof Nansen vs. Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Charles Francis Hall vs. Ada Blackjack

Harry McNish vs. Lawrence Oates

John Hartnell vs. Mrs. Chippy

Olav Bjaaland vs. Roald Amundsen

Francis Crozier vs. James Clark Ross

Frank Wild vs. John Torrington

Richard Byrd vs. James Fitzjames

Leopold McClintock vs. Frederick Cook

Alexander Macklin vs. Charles Tong Sing

Edward Wilson vs. William Edward Parry

Salomon August Andrée vs. Robert Falcon Scott

John Ross vs. Adolf Lindstrom

[somersetlevels]

Sir Arthur Vicars: He played a pivotal (and probably negligent) role in the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels in 1907. On moving to Kilmorna, he married Gertrude Wright despite rumours of being a promiscuous homosexual. For the rest of his life and in his will he named ‘the real culprit and thief’ as Francis Shackleton, brother of Ernest. Because of these allegations, the will was closed to researchers until 1976. Shackleton was convicted of fraud in 1913 for misappropriating a widow’s savings and following his release from prison he assumed the surname Mellor, dying in 1941.

On 14 April 1921, the IRA set fire to Sir Arthur’s house and dragged him from his bed.  They placed a placard around his neck saying ‘SPY. INFORMERS BEWARE. IRA NEVER FORGETS’.  He was then executed, his wife forced to watch.

Source: stairnaheireann.net