On this day:
1911 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team reached the South Pole, becoming the first men in recorded history to do so
1958 Soviets Reach the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility. A Pole of Inaccessibility is a location on Earth that is extremely difficult to access.
1961 Tanzania joins the United Nations. Tanzania came into being after the merger of Tanganyika and the Zanzibar Archipelago
Born on this day:
1503 Nostradamus, French astrologer
1546 Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer, chemist
Gone on this day:
1943 John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes