Google Doodle celebrates 156th birthday of Fridtjof Nansen

New Delhi: Online search giant Google is celebrating the 156th birthday of legendary adventurer Fridtjof Nansen with a special doodle.

Nansen explored the world’s unknown terrain and broke new ground as an international humanitarian.

Born in Oslo, Norway in 1861, Nansen was 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 sometimes with just his dog! His love of the outdoors led him to study zoology at the Royal Frederick University.

In 1888, he became the first person 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 person to reach the North Pole. Although the expedition was unsuccessful, he did go farther north in latitude than any other 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. Nansen worked to free hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war and repatriate refugees.

He created the Nansen Passport, a travel document that allowed stateless refugees to emigrate and resettle. Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for helping those without a voice find a home.

Fridtjof Nansen began his career by shattering the boundaries of human exploration, and he brought the same courage and tenacity to his fight to support refugees.