- Colonel Norman Dane Vaughan (December 18, 1905 – December 23, 2005) was an American dogsled driver and explorer whose first claim to fame was participating in Admiral Byrd’s first expedition to the South Pole. He also ran dog teams in a professional capacity as part of a search and rescue unit in World War II, in sporting events like the Olympics and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and in three Presidential Inauguration ceremonies.
- Antarctica (Wikipedia)
Antarctica (/ænˈtɑːrktɪkə/) is Earth’s southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).
- Vaughan was born on December 18, 1905, in Salem, Massachusetts, as the son of a wealthy leather tanner and shoe manufacturer.
- On the celebration of his 100th birthday on December 18, 2005, surrounded by over 100 friends and family, he had champagne, his first drink of liquor in his life, after promising his mother he wouldn’t drink until he was 100. Five days later he died in the Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage at around 10:30 AM on December 23, 2005.