Ernest Henry Shackleton was born into an Anglo-Irish family in County Kildare. His father was a farmer who later became a physician, moving the family to London when Ernest was ten.

Despite his father's wish that he become a doctor, Shackleton joined the merchant navy at age 16. He learned seamanship on voyages around the world, earning his master's certificate by 1898.

Shackleton was selected as third officer for Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery expedition to Antarctica. This was his first experience of polar exploration and awakened his passion for the Antarctic.

Shackleton was sent home from the Discovery expedition due to scurvy and other health issues. The experience, and Scott's role in his dismissal, motivated him to lead his own expeditions.

Shackleton led his own British Antarctic Expedition aboard the Nimrod. The expedition reached the South Magnetic Pole and set a new Farthest South record, coming within 97 miles of the South Pole.

Shackleton's team reached 88°23'S, just 97 miles from the South Pole, before turning back to avoid starvation. He returned a hero and was knighted by King Edward VII.

Shackleton launched his most ambitious expedition: to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. Twenty-seven men sailed aboard the Endurance from England to the Weddell Sea.

The Endurance became trapped in pack ice in the Weddell Sea. For ten months, the ship drifted with the ice as Shackleton worked to maintain morale among the stranded crew.

The pressure of the ice finally crushed the Endurance, forcing the crew to abandon ship. They camped on the ice floes with salvaged supplies, dogs, and three small boats.

After months on the ice, Shackleton led his men to Elephant Island in three small boats. It was the first time they had stood on solid ground in over a year.

Shackleton and five men sailed the 22-foot lifeboat James Caird 800 miles across the world's most dangerous ocean to South Georgia. This voyage is considered one of the greatest feats of seamanship ever.

Shackleton, Worsley, and Crean crossed the uncharted mountains and glaciers of South Georgia to reach the whaling station at Stromness. They were the first to traverse the island's interior.

After three failed attempts, Shackleton finally rescued all 22 men stranded on Elephant Island. Remarkably, not a single member of the Endurance expedition was lost during the entire ordeal.

Shackleton launched another Antarctic expedition aboard the Quest, planning to circumnavigate Antarctica. Many of his loyal Endurance crew members joined him for this final adventure.

Shackleton died of a heart attack aboard the Quest at South Georgia. At his wife's request, he was buried on the island he had crossed so dramatically. His epitaph reads: 'I hold that a man should strive to the uttermost.'