Arctic explorers in the 1800s frequently set out with the goal of finding whatever it was they were looking for, the Northwest Passage, farthest north, a pole or two, before darkness fell. In those areas nearest the poles, at the outer limit of human existence, night can fall for over a hundred days. Even now, in inhabited places in the Arctic Circle, inhabitants are faced with long winter periods where interior lights are required 24 hours a day. To bolster themselves against the depression that sets in with no sunlight, they hold festivals, have street fairs, and count the days until the sun returns.
Into the Long Dark
