0{{current_slide_index}} 0{{total_slide_count}} SHACKLETON WAS BORN 1874 Ernest Henry Shackleton was born on the 15th February 1874 in Kilkea, County Kildare, Ireland. The second of ten children. In 1884 his father qualified as a doctor and the family moved to London.

Swipe across or click on the subsequent years to scroll through the timeline. 1922 1890 0{{current_slide_index}} 0{{total_slide_count}} EARLY YEARS 1890 Growing up in London he attended Dulwich College before joining the Merchant Navy aged 16.

Shackleton was then certified as a Master Mariner in 1898. 1874 1901 0{{current_slide_index}} 0{{total_slide_count}} DISCOVERY EXPEDITION 1901 Shackleton was accepted on the Discovery expedition to Antarctica led by Robert Scott. He was chosen to accompany Scott on the most southern march towards the South Pole for research purposes, returning home due to ill health.
 1890 1908 0{{current_slide_index}} 0{{total_slide_count}} NIMROD EXPEDITION 1908 On 1st January 1908 he led a crew on the Nimrod expedition, sailing to Antarctica again. Trekking towards the South Pole in the quest to be first, they reached the closest ever achieved before turning back or face certain death. On his return he was greeted as a hero by King Edward VII, knighted and honoured by the Royal Geographic Society. 1901 1912 0{{current_slide_index}} 0{{total_slide_count}} ENDURANCE MISSION 1912 After the South Pole was reached by Roald Amundsen he decided to plan for the last great Antarctic expedition, to cross the continent.
After receiving financial backing from Sir James Caird, Dudley Docker and Janet Stancomb-Wills he sourced his ship and chose his crew. 1908 1914 0{{current_slide_index}} 0{{total_slide_count}} DISASTER AND RESCUE 1914 The Endurance set sail from Plymouth on the 8th August 1914. Encountering awful weather, the Endurance became stuck in the ice floes and pack ice before sinking in November 2015. Shackleton then planned a daring and dangerous rescue to cross the ice, then sail a lifeboat to South Georgia and all of the crew were saved. 1912 1921 0{{current_slide_index}} 0{{total_slide_count}} QUEST EXPEDITION 1921 In September 1921 Shackleton embarked on another expedition to Antarctica on the ship Quest. 1914 1922 0{{current_slide_index}} 0{{total_slide_count}} DEATH 1922 Whilst in South Georgia, Shackleton suffered a fatal heart attack and died on the 5th January 1922. He was buried in the Grytviken cemetery in South Georgia. 1921 1874