March 29

Edward Adrian Wilson FZS ("Uncle Bill") (23 July 1872 – 29 March 1912) was a notable English polar explorer, physician, naturalist, painter and ornithologist.

Wilson took part in two British expeditions to Antarctica, the British National Antarctic Expedition (Discovery Expedition) and the Terra Nova Expedition, both under the leadership of Scott. On the first, from 1901 to 1904, Wilson acted as Junior Surgeon, Zoologist and expedition artist, setting off with the expedition on 6 August 1901. They reached Antarctica in January 1902.

In the film Scott of the Antarctic, Wilson was played by Harold Warrender. In the Central TV production 'The Last Place on Earth', Wilson was played by Stephen Moore.

Wilson's statue on the Promenade in Cheltenham, modelled by Scott's widow Kathleen, was unveiled on 9 July 1914 by Arctic explorer Sir Clements Markham. There is a small standing exhibition commemorating him in Cheltenham Museum.

The Edward Wilson Primary School in Paddington, London is named after him.

The students' cafe at St George's Hospital Medical School is named Eddie Wilson's.

Robert Falcon Scott, CVO (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13. During this second venture, Scott led a party of five which reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, only to find that they had been preceded by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition. On their return journey, Scott and his four comrades all died from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold.

Before his appointment to lead the Discovery Expedition, Scott had followed the conventional career of a naval officer in peacetime Victorian Britain, where opportunities for career advancement were both limited and keenly sought after by ambitious officers.

Following the news of his death, Scott became an iconic British hero, a status maintained for more than 50 years and reflected by the many permanent memorials erected across the nation. In the closing decades of the 20th century, the legend was reassessed as attention focused on the causes of the disaster that ended his and his comrades' lives, and the extent of Scott's personal culpability. From a previously unassailable position, Scott became a figure of controversy, with questions raised about his competence and character. Commentators in the 21st century have on the whole regarded Scott more positively, emphasising his personal bravery and stoicism while acknowledging his errors, but ascribing his expedition's fate primarily to misfortune.