Sir Ernest Shackleton

Hello! My name is Sir Ernest Shackleton, and I was an explorer. I was born in a green country called Ireland on February 15th, 1874. Even as a boy, I didn't want to sit still—I dreamed of adventure on the wide-open sea. When I was just 16 years old, I left school and became a sailor on a big ship, ready to see the world.

My biggest dream was to explore Antarctica, the coldest, iciest place at the very bottom of the world. In 1907, I led my own team on a ship called the Nimrod. We wanted to be the first people ever to reach the South Pole. We marched farther south than anyone had gone before! But the weather grew dangerous and our food was running low. I had to make a choice: keep going for glory, or turn back to make sure all my men got home safely. I chose my men. We all returned home, and for our bravery, the King made me a knight.

In 1914, I set off on my most famous adventure. My goal was to walk all the way across Antarctica. My amazing ship was named the Endurance, because I knew we had to be strong. But the sea ice was thicker than we'd ever seen. It grabbed our ship and wouldn't let go! For months, the ice held us tight until one day, with a great groan, it crushed our beautiful ship. We had to leave the Endurance behind and live on the floating ice with our sled dogs and three small lifeboats.

We sailed our little boats through icy water to a lonely place called Elephant Island. But no one knew we were there! To save my 27 men, I took five crew members and our strongest lifeboat, the James Caird, and sailed 800 miles across the stormiest ocean on Earth. When we finally reached another island, we had to climb over giant, icy mountains to find help. It was the hardest journey of my life, but I never gave up. I was able to go back and rescue every single one of my men from Elephant Island.

I lived to be 47 years old, and my love for exploration never faded. Today, people remember my story not because I reached the South Pole, but because I was a leader who never lost a man on my most difficult journey. My adventure with the Endurance shows that courage and taking care of each other are the most important things of all.