<P> In August 1895 the Sixth International Geographical Congress in London passed a general resolution calling on scientific societies throughout the world to promote the cause of Antarctic exploration "in whatever ways seem to them most effective". Such work would "bring additions to almost every branch of science". The Congress had been addressed by the Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink, who had just returned from a whaling expedition during which he had become one of the first to set foot on the Antarctic mainland . During his address, Borchgrevink outlined plans for a full - scale pioneering Antarctic expedition, to be based at Cape Adare . </P> <P> The Heroic Age was inaugurated by an expedition launched by the Belgian Geographical Society in 1897; Borchgrevink followed a year later with a privately sponsored British expedition . (Some histories consider the Discovery expedition, which departed in 1901, as the first proper expedition of the Heroic Age .) </P> <P> The Belgian Antarctic Expedition was led by Belgian Adrian de Gerlache . In 1898, they became the first men to spend winter on Antarctica, when their ship Belgica became trapped in the ice . They became stuck on 28 February 1898, and only managed to get out of the ice on 14 March 1899 . </P> <P> During their forced stay, several men lost their sanity, not only because of the Antarctic winter night and the endured hardship, but also because of the language problems between the different nationalities . This was the first expedition to overwinter within the Antarctic Circle, and they visited the South Shetland Islands . </P>

Who was the first person to successfully lead a team to complete a transantarctic crossing by land