SOUTH
GEORGIA & THE
SOUTH
GEORGIA & THE
1568 square miles (South Georgia 1450, South Sandwich Islands 118) of ice, ice and more ice. Anyone for ice?
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1675: English explorer Anthony de la Roche discovers South Georgia.
1694: Anthony Dampier rediscovers it and names it Pepys Island after the famous diarist and Navy worker.
1775: Captain James Cook is the first to land on the island, and renames it after the US (soon to be ex-) colony. He also discovers most of the South Sandwich Islands.
c. 1780-1820 Seal industry dominant. Ironically today the islands are one of the seals' few safe resting-places.
1904: Whaling base set up at Grytviken.
1908: The South Sandwich Islands (the original Sandwich Islands were Hawaii) are recognized as part of the Falkland Island dependencies.
1943-1944: A small Norwegian force guards the island against possible Japanese attack.
1955: Argentina establishes a base on Thule. It is removed when the British discover it the following year.
1962: The Falkland Island Dependencies are split in two parts, British Antarctic Territories (Graham Land, the South Orkneys and the South Shetlands) and South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands.
1965: Whaling base closes. Though there is now no permanent settlement in the islands, it is still a good money-earner for the British, through the granting of fishing licences.
1976: Argentina establishes a new base on Thule at Port Faraday. This time the British fail to remove it when they become aware of it. This will prove an expensive mistake.
1982: South Georgia is occupied by Argentina as a prelude to the Falklands War, and is also the first island to be liberated by the British. The Argentine base on Thule is removed.
1991: A large peninsula on South Georgia is named Thatcher Peninsula.
2001: The British garrison on South Georgia is withdrawn (mistake!).
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