You’ve probably heard of Where’s Waldo, but you may not have heard of one of the greatest mysteries of the nineteenth century: Where’s Franklin?
Sir John Franklin and his 128 member crew were presumed lost at sea after being last seen alive in May of 1845. Several rescue expeditions were launched by the British and Americans, but few traces were found. Unusual for the day, Lady Franklin offered £3,000 in reward monies and by 1849 the British Admiralty added an additional £20,000. Today that may seem to be only $35,000, but if calculated by relative value, purchasing power, and adjusted for the GDP, this was about $72 million dollars (US) back in 2008[1]
A few good reads:
- Frozen in time: unlocking the secrets of the Franklin expedition (e-book)
(G670 1981.F73 B43 1988 ) - The quest for the Northwest Passage : knowledge, nation and empire, 1576-1806 (G640 Q87 )
- The man who ate his boots : the tragic history of the search for the Northwest Passage (G640 .B73 )
[1] “Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.K. Pound Amount, 1830 to Present.” Measuringworth.com. 7 October 2014 http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php#
