When was Antarctica discovered and by whom?

James Cook was the first to sight Antarctica when he circumnavigated the continent in 1773. James Cook was also the first to cross the Antarctic Circle. Although James Cook did not see any land, he found icebergs deposit on mountains, which gave a clue that is showing that a continent must exist.

In 1820, Thaddeus Bellinghausen crossed the Antarctic Circle, and he was the first to sight continent Antarctica. Throughout the late 1800s and early to mid-1900s, many discover explored the region.Henry Bull, Carstens Borchgrevink, and Alexander von Tunzelmann are credited as the first set of people to have landed on the Continent at Cape Adare.

The discovery of the Antarctica continent is attributed to a Russian expedition, a person of Fabian Gottlieb Von Bellingshausen, on the 27th of January, 1820. Thaddeus Bellingshausen was believed to be accompanied by Mikhail Lazarev.

Although before this time, it was believed by the ancient Greeks that there should be a place opposite to the Arctic, which should make the world balance. This, they came up with the idea and term 'Antarctica.' In the year 1773, James Cook also took a trip around Antarctica, where he came across rocks on the icebergs, and he detected that a continent must be existing there. Nevertheless, the first person believed to have landed in Antarctica is Carsten Borchgrenvink, a Norwegian who invented the use of sled dogs as a means of transportation in the continent, Antarctica. On the 14th December 1911, Amundsen was said to have reached the South Pole ahead of any other person.

Amundsen located the South Pole on an expedition in 1911. However, this is not the same as discovering that the land mass we call Antarctica existed. The Spaniard Gabriel de Castilla sighted "snow-covered mountains" beyond 64° S in 1603, He is recognized as the first explorer that discovered the continent of Antarctica, although he was ignored in his time, and has not received the accolades of later explorers.

Cook was the first to cross the Antarctic Circle, which occurred in 1773 but pack ice prevented him from reaching the Antarctic continent itself. Three people are credited with the discovery of Antarctica in 1820. They are Fabian von Bellingshausen of the Russian Imperial Navy, Edward Bransfield, from the British navy, and Nathaniel Palmer, an American sailor from Connecticut. I do not know whether they were sailing alongside each other as the land we call Antarctica was spotted.