Bob Begin: Race to the South Pole 

Mon., February 8th @ 7:00 PM

In 1900, the last major unexplored and unclaimed region of the earth was Antarctica. Great Britain felt obligated to explore and claim this area for the British Empire. At that time, the British Empire was the largest in the world. And the saying was, “The sun never sets on the British Empire.” Antarctica was known to be a land of extreme conditions: the coldest temperature ever recorded, 98% covered in ice, separated from other land masses by the Southern Ocean, and had no indigenous peoples, no wildlife except near the coastal areas, no gold or silver, and was plagued by constant storms. Why would anybody want to go there? What possible value could it hold? And why would men willingly risk their lives to go there? Join Bob Begin as he presents another in his series of lectures here at the Needham Library.

Sponsored by the Library Foundation of Needham.