Elisha Kent Kane: Physician and Explorer

Nearly forgotten today, Elisha Kent Kane was one of the most celebrated figures of the 19th century. The funeral processions through several cities upon his death was outdone only by Abraham Lincoln's.

Surgeon, traveler, explorer, writer, and adventurer, Kane was considered a hero in his lifetime. Only 36 at his death in 1857, he had traveled the world and made two voyages to the Arctic on rescue missions. On one voyage, he and his men had to abandon their ice-bound ship and make an 83-day m...