Nathaniel Palmer

Nathaniel Brown Palmer ( born August 8, 1799 in Stonington, Connecticut, † June 21 1877 in San Francisco ) was an American sailor who traveled on behalf of the United States Navy.

Life and work

Nathaniel Palmer was one of the first people who have ever seen the Antarctic; among these he was definitely the first Americans. He could see the continent for the first time on 17 November 1820, when he was in search of new hunting grounds for the hunting of seals in the southern seas. His ship Hero drove while under the command of Benjamin Pendleton. In 1821 he was involved in the discovery of the South Orkney Islands.

Named after him are the Palmer Country Region on the Antarctic Peninsula, the Palmer Archipelago, the Palmer Station, as well as the icebreaker RV Nathaniel B. Palmer. In 1852, Palmer established in his native residence, the Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House, now houses a museum to Palmers career.