Lest our enemies capitalize, the government acted.- Antarctica - The World Factbook (cia.gov)
Speculation over the existence of a “southern land” was confirmed in the early 1820s when British and American commercial operators and British and Russian national expeditions began exploring the Antarctic Peninsula region and other areas south of the Antarctic Circle. In 1840, it was finally established that Antarctica was indeed a continent and not merely a group of islands or an area of ocean.