Lincoln Ellsworth | Arctic Explorer, Polar Aviator

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class="md-content"> <div class="md-article-container template-desktop"> <div class="infinite-scroll-container article last"> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content " data-topic-id="185167"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lincoln-Ellsworth">Lincoln Ellsworth</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em 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js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/01/12101-004-FDF881C9/Lincoln-Ellsworth.jpg" data-href="/media/1/185167/10413" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/01/12101-004-FDF881C9/Lincoln-Ellsworth.jpg" alt="Lincoln Ellsworth" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/54/123654-050-F0F0C1D7/Lincoln-Ellsworth-Herbert-Hollick-Kenyon-flight-Antarctic-1936.jpg" data-href="/media/1/185167/177306" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/54/123654-004-EE25CFC1/Lincoln-Ellsworth-Herbert-Hollick-Kenyon-flight-Antarctic-1936.jpg" alt="Lincoln Ellsworth (left) and Herbert Hollick-Kenyon after their trans-Antarctic flight, 1936." height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/14/79914-050-591BC9D9/Lincoln-Ellsworth-members-Little-America-base-rescue-January-1936.jpg" data-href="/media/1/185167/97167" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/14/79914-004-DCA56555/Lincoln-Ellsworth-members-Little-America-base-rescue-January-1936.jpg" alt="Ellsworth, Lincoln" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/12/79912-050-366005EA/Lincoln-Ellsworth-1935.jpg" data-href="/media/1/185167/97165" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/12/79912-004-EEE3F3D3/Lincoln-Ellsworth-1935.jpg" alt="Ellsworth, Lincoln" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/13/79913-050-804B6EE3/Lincoln-Ellsworth.jpg" data-href="/media/1/185167/97166" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/13/79913-004-13F16733/Lincoln-Ellsworth.jpg" alt="Ellsworth, Lincoln" height="50" /> </a> </div> <button disabled class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lincoln-Ellsworth/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="qf-title font-weight-bold font-14 mb-10 text-center"> Quick Facts</div> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Original name: </dt> <dd>William Linn Ellsworth</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Born: </dt> <dd>May 12, 1880, <a href="/place/Chicago">Chicago</a>, <a href="/place/Illinois-state">Illinois</a>, U.S.</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Died: </dt> <dd>May 26, 1951, <a href="/place/New-York-City">New York</a>, <a href="/place/New-York-state">New York</a> (aged 71)</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Also Known As: </dt> <dd>William Linn Ellsworth</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Lincoln-Ellsworth"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref66783"></span>Lincoln Ellsworth</strong> (born May 12, 1880, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Chicago" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Chicago</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Illinois-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Illinois</a>, U.S.—died May 26, 1951, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-York-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">New York</a>, New York) was an American explorer, engineer, and scientist who led the first trans-<span id="ref66784"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Arctic" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Arctic</a> (1926) and trans-<span id="ref250401"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Antarctica" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Antarctic</a> (1935) air crossings.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">A wealthy adventurer, Ellsworth was a surveyor and engineer in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Canada" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Canada</a> for five years (1903–08), worked for three years with the U.S. Biological Survey, and served in the U.S. Army in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">World War I</a>, training as an aviator. In 1924 he led the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Johns-Hopkins-University" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Johns Hopkins University</a> (Baltimore, Maryland) trans-Andean topographic survey from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Amazon-River" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Amazon River</a> <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="basin" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/basin" data-type="EB">basin</a> over the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Andes-Mountains" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Andes Mountains</a> to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Pacific-Ocean" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Pacific Ocean</a> shores of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Peru" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Peru</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Fascinated with polar air exploration, Ellsworth financed and accompanied two such expeditions with the Norwegian explorer <span id="ref250402"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roald-Amundsen" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Roald Amundsen</a>. On the first (1925) they reached latitude 87°44′ N in two amphibian planes; an emergency landing without radio caused them to be given up for lost. With 30 days of grim effort, they carved out a takeoff field on the rough polar <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/pack-ice" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">ice pack</a>, after which one plane, overloaded with the total party of six, returned to Spitsbergen (in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Svalbard" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Svalbard</a> archipelago), off northern <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Norway" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Norway</a>. The following year Ellsworth and Amundsen, along with the Italian explorer <span id="ref250403"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Umberto-Nobile" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Umberto Nobile</a>, made the first <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="traverse" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/traverse" data-type="MW">traverse</a> of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Arctic" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Arctic</a> basin in the dirigible <em>Norge</em>—a 3,393-mile (5,463-km) journey from Spitsbergen to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Alaska" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Alaska</a> that won worldwide acclaim. In 1931 Ellsworth made an 800-mile (1,300-km) canoe trip through central <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Labrador" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Labrador</a> and later that year, for the American Geographical Society, made flights over <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Franz-Josef-Land" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Franz Josef Land</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Novaya-Zemlya" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Novaya Zemlya</a>—Arctic islands north of what was then the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Soviet-Union" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Soviet Union</a> (now <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Russia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Russia</a>).</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/history-of-flight-quiz" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/44/154144-131-EA176216/Gravity-Program-NASA-space-flight-human-testing-2004.jpg" alt="NASA's Reduced Gravity Program provides the unique weightless or zero-G environment of space flight for testing and training of human and hardware reactions. NASA used the turbojet KC-135A to run these parabolic flights from 1963 to 2004." class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">History of Flight Quiz</div> </div> </a><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies multiple medialist slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100" data-type="other"><div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex"><div class="rw-track d-flex align-items-center"><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="177306" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/54/123654-050-F0F0C1D7/Lincoln-Ellsworth-Herbert-Hollick-Kenyon-flight-Antarctic-1936.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/185167/177306"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/54/123654-050-F0F0C1D7/Lincoln-Ellsworth-Herbert-Hollick-Kenyon-flight-Antarctic-1936.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/54/123654-050-F0F0C1D7/Lincoln-Ellsworth-Herbert-Hollick-Kenyon-flight-Antarctic-1936.jpg?w=300" alt="Lincoln Ellsworth (left) and Herbert Hollick-Kenyon after their trans-Antarctic flight, 1936." data-width="648" data-height="882" loading="eager"></picture><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">1 of 2</div><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/54/123654-050-F0F0C1D7/Lincoln-Ellsworth-Herbert-Hollick-Kenyon-flight-Antarctic-1936.jpg" data-href="/media/1/185167/177306">Lincoln Ellsworth (left) and Herbert Hollick-Kenyon after their trans-Antarctic flight, 1936.</a><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="97167" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/14/79914-050-591BC9D9/Lincoln-Ellsworth-members-Little-America-base-rescue-January-1936.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/185167/97167"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/14/79914-050-591BC9D9/Lincoln-Ellsworth-members-Little-America-base-rescue-January-1936.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/14/79914-050-591BC9D9/Lincoln-Ellsworth-members-Little-America-base-rescue-January-1936.jpg?w=300" alt="Ellsworth, Lincoln" data-width="1600" data-height="1000" loading="eager"></picture><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">2 of 2</div><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/14/79914-050-591BC9D9/Lincoln-Ellsworth-members-Little-America-base-rescue-January-1936.jpg" data-href="/media/1/185167/97167">Ellsworth, Lincoln</a><span>Lincoln Ellsworth (centre) at Little America base in Antarctica with members of a rescue party sent to retrieve him and Herbert Hollick-Kenyon from the base after their tran-Antarctic flight, January 1936.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><button disabled="true" class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span></button><button disabled="true" class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span></button></div><p class="topic-paragraph">In late 1935, on the third of four private expeditions to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Antarctica" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Antarctica</a>, Ellsworth and Canadian pilot <span id="ref789553"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herbert-Hollick-Kenyon" class="md-crosslink ">Herbert Hollick-Kenyon</a> flew across the continent from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Antarctic-Peninsula" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Antarctic Peninsula</a> to the abandoned <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Little-America-research-station-Antarctica" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Little America</a> base on the <span id="ref789554"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ross-Ice-Shelf" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ross Ice Shelf</a>. The two, often beset by bad weather, flew for some two weeks, and their plane ran out of fuel before they got to the base. They reached it only after a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="harrowing" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/harrowing" data-type="EB">harrowing</a> 11-day journey on foot and eventually were retrieved in mid-January 1936 by a party sent out to find them. The area they covered during the flight, including the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, is now named <span id="ref789552"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ellsworth-Land" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ellsworth Land</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Marie-Byrd-Land" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Marie Byrd Land</a>. In 1939 he again flew over Antarctica and named the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/American-Highland" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">American Highland</a> in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Indian-Ocean" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Indian Ocean</a> quadrant.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/contributor/encyclopaedia-britannica/12989892">Encyclopaedia Britannica</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":185167,"pageLength":376,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Lincoln Ellsworth | Arctic Explorer, Polar Aviator | Britannica