John Davis (sealer)

John Davis (sealer)

Infobox Person
name = Captain John Davis


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birth_name = John Davis
birth_date = 1784
birth_place = Surrey, England
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nationality = Anglo-American
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known_for = Debated as the first man on the Antartic
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occupation = Seal hunter
home_town = Connecticut, USA
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Captain John Davis (*1784 in Surrey, England) was a seal hunter from Connecticut, USA [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=The first landing on the mainland of Antarctica | date= | publisher= | url =http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/events/display_event.cfm?event_id=32 | work =Australian Antartic Database | pages = | accessdate = 2008-09-16 | language = ] who claimed to have set foot on Antarctica on February 7, 1821 shortly after the first sightings of the new continent by Fabian von Bellingshausen, Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev, Edward Bransfield and Nathaniel Palmer.

Antarctic Claim

Davis and his crew from the American sealing ship, "Cecilia", claim to have landed at Hughes Bay (64°01'S) looking for seals for less than an hour. The ships logbook entry reads:

Cquote2|Commences with open Cloudy Weather and Light winds a standing for a Large Body of Land in that Direction SE at 10A.M. close in with it our Boat and Sent her on Shore to look for Seal at 11A.M. the Boat returned but find no sign of Seal at noon our Latitude was 64°01’ South Stood up a Large Bay, the Land high and covered entirely [sic] with snow the wind coming Round to the North & Eastward with Thick weather Tacked ship and headed off Shore. At 4P.M. fresh Gale and Thick weather with snow…Ends with Strong Gales at ENE Concluded to make the Best of our way for the Ship I think this Southern Land to be a Continent. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Unconfirmed Landing | date= | publisher= | url =http://library.thinkquest.org/26442/html/explore/first_landings.html | work =Thinkquest | pages = | accessdate = 2008-09-16 | language = ]

These men were the first recorded humans to have claimed to have set foot on the new continent of Antarctica. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Introduction | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.antarcticaonline.com/antarctica/history/history.htm | work =Antarcticaonline | pages = | accessdate = 2008-09-16 | language = ]

However, modern historians are doubtful as to his claimFact|date=December 2007, and New Zealander Alexander von Tunzelmann is usually cited as the first person to set foot on Antarctica. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=One small step for man... | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.70south.com/information/antarctic-history/chapter-by-chapter/chapter5 | work =70south | pages = | accessdate = 2008-09-16 | language = ]

Legacy

The Davis Sea, part of the Southern Ocean, was named after him. Also, the coastal strip where the men were alleged to have gone ashore is called Davis Coast.

ee also

*List of Antarctica expeditions

Footnotes


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