Thomas Burberry establishes Burberry in Basingstoke at just 21 years old, founded on the principle that clothing should be designed to protect people from the British weather. Norwegian polar explorer, zoologist and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr Fridtjof Nansen is the first recorded polar explorer to take Burberry gabardine to the poles when he sets sail bound for the Arctic Circle. Air Commodore Edward Maitland wears Burberry gabardine to travel from Crystal Palace to Russia in a hot air balloon. Covering a distance of 1,117 miles in 31 ½ hours, he sets the world’s long-distance overseas record and the British long-distance in-flight record.