25 Unknown Facts about Antarctica

There are two towering peaks on the Antarctic Peninsula that are named Una's Tits, after a woman who worked in the British Antarctic office.

2. Antarctica has 24 different time zones. The scientists who reside there go by either the time of their homeland or the supply line that brings them food and equipment.

3. In 2009, eleven children were born in Antarctica.

4. “Antarctican dollars” are collector's items and they are produced by the Antarctica Overseas Exchange Office in the appearance of national money for the continent of Antarctica.

5. In Antarctica, there is a town called Villa Las Estrellas with a primary school consisting of approximately 15 students and contains 3 computers providing the town's access to the internet.

There are 7 churches in Antarctica.

7. In 1996, a Norwegian man named Børge Ousland became the first to cross Antarctica, 1,864 miles, coast to coast, all alone and completely without support. In 2001, he completed the first solo crossing of the Arctic, from Siberia to Canada via the North Pole, in 82 days.

8. There is an exclusive club in Antarctica called Club 300. In order to become a member one have to warm themselves in a 200-degree sauna, and then run outside naked and touch the Ceremonial South Pole where it's 100 degrees below.

9. There is just one insect species native to Antarctica called Belgica Antarctica.

10. In the geographical center of Antarctica stands a statue of Lenin.

In 1912, three men set out to recover emperor penguin eggs from Antarctica. It was so cold one man's teeth (Apsley Cherry-Garrard) chattered so violently that they shattered. When he returned to the UK, the National History Museum refused to accept the eggs.

12. The driest place on Earth is in Antarctica in an area called the Dry Valleys, which have seen no rain for nearly 2 million years. There is absolutely no precipitation in this region.

13. There is a bar in Antarctica. It is the world's southernmost bar.

14. It rarely ever snows in Antarctica. The snow there has accumulated over many years and the temperature never rises enough to melt it.

15. In 2001, an American named Travis McHenry claimed a huge chunk of previously unclaimed Antarctican peninsula as his own nation through a supposed loophole in the Antarctic Treaty.

The Antarctica South Georgia Island is said to be more biologically diverse than the Galapagos.

17. Antarctica is claimed by 8 different countries and is technically "owned" by science.

18. You cannot work in Antarctica unless your wisdom teeth and appendix are removed.

19. Ancient turtle bones discovered in Antarctica reveal that 45 million years ago, it was a rain forest.

20. There are hot springs reaching 158°F in Antarctica.

Antarctica has 2 ATM’s. They were installed back in 2000 at the McMurdo Station, which is 840 miles from the south pole.

22. Researchers are practicing for a human mission to Mars by living in the heart of Antarctica to see the effects of extreme isolation.

23. In 1961, a Soviet surgeon named Leonid Rogozov removed his own appendix while stationed in Antarctica.

24. Australia has a claim to the largest territory of Antarctica, which is only a couple of million square kilometers smaller than the Australian continent itself.

25. There is an old soviet scientific research hut buried 20 feet under snow in one of the most inaccessible places in Antarctica. If you can make it in the hut there is a golden visitor’s book you can sign.