Very First Men At The South Pole. This picture taken on the South Pole on December 16t, 1911, shows the very first men to reach the South Pole. Two days earlier, on December 14th, the Norwegian explorer Ronald Amundsen (extreme left) and his four men Oscar Wisting, Sverre Hassel, Helmer Hansen and Olav Bjaaland, arrived at the South Pole, as the first human beings in history to do so. They had 52 dogs when they started from the coast, and 18 dogs left when they reached the Pole. Only four men could be in the first picture taken on the Pole, the other one was holding the camera! It is 47 years this year that the next expedition to the South Pole took place - the current British Commonwealth Expedition, headed by Dr. Fuchs. South Pole, Antarctica. 16 December 1911.