106-year-old cake still edible, but would you eat it?
What's the story
Conservators from the Antarctic Heritage Trust have uncovered a British fruitcake that is 106 years old from Antarctica.
The cake apparently belongs to British explorer Robert Falcon Scott - popularly known as Scott of the Antarctic.
The cake is still in edible condition and was found in Antarctica's oldest building, a hut used by Captain Scott during his Terra Nova expedition in 1912.
29 Mar 1912
The ill-fated Terra Nova expedition led by Captain Scott
Captain Robert Scott was a naval officer and an explorer who had led his 2nd expedition (Terra Nova), hoping to become the first ones to reach the South Pole.
His team reached on 17 January 1912 but Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had beaten them by 4 weeks.
Sadly, on their return-journey, the team perished and died just 11 miles away from a food depot.
Restoration
Frozen in time: Ancient huts in Antarctica discovered
In 2005, explorers uncovered huts that were once built by explorer Robert Scott's parties during his Terra Nova expedition.
The huts were in a dire state; their restoration work began in 2005.
The huts held over 18,000 artefacts: scientific equipments, whiskey, Scott's diary etc.
$6 million were spent to restore everything to its original place; surprisingly a 100-year-old slab of butter was also found!
Quote
Irony in Robert Scott's last words found in uncovered diary
An excerpt from Scott's diary read: "Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale."
20 Apr 2015
Never-seen pictures of Scott's Expedition sell for £36,000
In April'15, rare photos of the Scott's rather ill-fated expedition were auctioned for £36,000 to an unnamed buyer.
They depict Scott and his men leaving for the South Pole.
The 52 negatives had been recently uncovered in Ross Island huts and were over 100 years old.
Interestingly, the pictures show ponies and huskies too. Scott had chosen ponies over dogs to carry gears.