First circumnavigation via both Poles, surface
Who
Ranulph Fiennes, Charles Burton
What
first
Where
United Kingdom (Greenwich)
When

The first surface circumnavigation via both the geographical Poles was achieved by Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Charles Burton (both UK) of the British Trans-Globe Expedition. They travelled south from Greenwich, London, UK on 2 September 1979, crossed the South Pole on 15 December 1980, the North Pole on 10 April 1982, and returned to Greenwich on 29 August 1982 after a 56,000 km (35,000 mile) journey.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes discusses his experiences of climbing Everest in our 60th anniversary video below.