Share: Goole Doodle celebrates Fridtjof Nansen's 156th birthday!

ridtjof Nansen was a legendary adventurer who explored the world’s unknown terrain and broke new ground as an international humanitarian.

Google today marks what would have been the 156th birthday of the pioneering Norwegian, who was born in Oslo on October 10,1861.

Nansen found himself gripped by a sense of adventure from a young age.

He learned to cross-country ski as many as 50 miles in one day with minimal supplies, and occasionally just his dog.

His love of the outdoors led him to study zoology at the Royal Frederick University, and though a top academic in his field, the wilderness called to Nansen and he took up his skis again.

In 1888, he became the first man to lead an expedition across the snow-capped interior of Greenland.

One icy adventure was not enough - just a few years later, Nansen attempted to become the first man to reach the North Pole.

While the expedition was unsuccessful, he did reach the northernmost latitude of any explorer at that time.

As World War I took hold in 1914, Nansen was forced to halt his explorations and focus on research at home.

However, by 1920, his interests shifted from understanding the landscape of the world to influencing the international political climate as the war came to a close.

Nansen became one of the world’s great humanitarians as he worked to free hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war and repatriate refugees.