Bellingshausen along with Petrovich Lazarev reached a place within 32 km of the Antarctic mainland on 27th January 1820. The actual data states that the first person to land in Antarctica was John Davis on 7th February 1821. In December 1839 the US Navy conducted the United States Exploring Expedition or the Wikes Expedition and it was reported that this expedition ultimately led to the discovery of the Antarctica, west of the Balleny Islands. This place was named Wikes Land and till today that name continues.
In 1841 James Clark Ross discovered the Ross Island. In 1911 Captain Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole and in 1912 Captain Scott and his team members died during their expedition. In 1928 George Hubert Wilkins made his first flight journey to Antarctica and the next year Richard Byrd flew over the South Pole. From 1945-57 the largest expedition titled Operation Highjump was conducted in Antarctica by the US Navy. In 1956 the first winter was spent at the McMurdo Station and finally in 1991 24 countries signed the Treaty of Antarctica that prevents any kind of oil and mineral exploration.
