Wikipedia Featured Articles

Wikipedia Featured Articles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Today%27s_featured_article This RSS feed is a screen scrape of the Wikipedia Featured Articles page en-us GNU Free Documentation License Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:05:06 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss wikipedia@jeays.net XML::RSS 1.45 March 17, 2010: Tom Crean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Today%27s_featured_article/March_17%2C_2010 <div style="float:left;margin:0.5em 0.9em 0.4em 0;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tom_Crean.jpg">100px|Tom Crean</a></div> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Crean_(explorer)">Tom Crean</a> (1877–1938) was an Irish seaman and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic">Antarctic</a> explorer from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Kerry">County Kerry</a>. He left the family farm near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annascaul">Annascaul</a> to enlist in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Navy">Royal Navy</a> at the age of fifteen. In 1901, while serving on HMS ''Ringarooma'' in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand">New Zealand</a>, he volunteered to join <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott">Scott</a>'s 1901–04 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Expedition">British National Antarctic Expedition</a> on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRS_Discovery">''Discovery''</a>, thus beginning a distinguished career as an explorer during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroic_Age_of_Antarctic_Exploration">Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration</a>. After the ''Discovery'' Expedition, he joined Scott's 1911–13 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Nova_Expedition">Terra Nova Expedition</a>, which saw the race to reach the South Pole lost to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Amundsen">Roald Amundsen</a>, and ended in the deaths of Scott and his polar party. During this expedition, Crean's 56&nbsp;km solo walk across the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ice_Shelf">Ross Ice Shelf</a> to save the life of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Ratcliffe_Garth_Russell_Evans,_1st_Baron_Mountevans">Edward Evans</a> led to him receiving the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Medal_(lifesaving)">Albert Medal</a>. His third Antarctic venture was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Trans-Antarctic_Expedition">Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition</a> on ''<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_(1912_ship)">Endurance</a>'' led by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton">Ernest Shackleton</a>, in which he served as Second Officer. His contributions to these expeditions earned him three <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_Medal">Polar Medal</a>s, and a reputation as a tough and dependable polar traveller. (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Crean_(explorer)">more...</a>) Recently featured: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruffed_lemur">Ruffed lemur</a> – ''<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_PÃ¨re_Goriot">Le PÃ¨re Goriot</a>'' – <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Kesselring">Albert Kesselring</a>