Hot off the press: Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd flies over South Pole, on Nov. 30, 1929

Editor's note: Each Sunday, The Dispatch features a page from this week in history to celebrate the newspaper's 150 years of publication, with a little update on what's happened since.

In the early part of the 20th century, there were still places to explore in the world. And the daring exploits of explorers were big news.

Navy Comdr. RIchard E. Byrd got front page coverage when he and his crew completed their 1,600-mile flight over the South Pole. The article credits Byrd with being the first man to fly over both the South and North poles, but that trip over the North Pole is disputed by some historians.

Byrd, the son of a prominent Virginia family who was eventually promoted to admiral, did not have any direct ties to Ohio.

But Ohio State University shared his interest in polar studies dating back to post-WWII work in Greenland for the U.S. Army.

According the university's Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Ohio State submitted a proposal in the mid-1980s to acquire Byrd's expeditionary records, personal papers and other memorabilia from the estate of Marie A. Byrd, the late wife of the admiral.

The purchase of the papers provided the nucleus for the establishment of the Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program. And in 1987 the Institute was officially renamed the Byrd Polar Research Center in honor of the admiral.

The center later added climate to its name and is one of the leading research facilities looking at how the warming climate affects on polar ice.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Hot off the press: Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd flies over South Pole, on Nov. 30, 1929