Reginald Fessenden
Reginald Fessenden was born October 6, 1866, in East-Bolton, Quebec, the eldest of the Reverend Elisha Joseph Fessenden and Clementina Trenholme's four children. Elisha Fessenden was a Church of England in Canada minister, and the family moved to a number of postings throughout the province of Ontario.
Sverre Hassel
Sverre Hassel was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. As soon as he was old enough, he went to sea, earning his mate's certificate. Between 1898 and 1902, Hassel participated on board the "Fram" in Otto Sverdrup's attempt to circumnavigate Greenland.
Along with Helmer Hanssen, Hassel was picked as an expert dog driver to take part in Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition 1910 – 1912. On 14 December 1911, Hassel together with Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen , Olav Bjaaland and Oscar Wisting were the first to reach the South Pole. For his participation in the expedition, he was awarded the South Pole Medal ("Sydpolsmedaljen"), the Royal Norwegian award instituted by King Haakon VII in 1912 to reward participants in Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition.