Editing Thule (section)

==Namesakes==
[[File:StampThule1935Michel3.jpg|right|thumb|A [[local stamp]] of Greenland 1936, inscribed ''Thule'']]

In 1775, during his second voyage, [[Captain Cook]] named an island in the high southern latitudes of the [[South Atlantic Ocean]], [[Southern Thule]]. The name is now used for a group of three southernmost islands in the [[South Sandwich Islands]], one of which is called [[Thule Island]]. The island group became a [[British overseas territory]] of the [[United Kingdom]], albeit also claimed by [[Argentina]] (in Spanish ''Islas Tule del Sur''). The Southern Thule islands were occupied by Argentina in 1976. The occupation was not militarily contested by the British until the 1982 [[Falklands War]], during which time British sovereignty was restored by a contingent of [[Royal Marines]]. Currently the three islands are uninhabited.

In 1910, the explorer [[Knud Rasmussen]] established a missionary and trading post, which he named [[Avannaa|Thule]] (Inuit: ''Avannaa'') on Greenland. The [[Thule people]], the predecessor of modern [[Inuit]] [[Greenlanders]], were named after the Thule region. In 1953, Avannaa became [[Thule Air Base]], operated by [[United States Air Force]]. The population was forced to resettle to [[Qaanaaq|New Thule]] (Qaanaaq), {{convert|67|mi|km|-1|order=flip}} to the north ({{coord|76|31|50.21|N|68|42|36.13|W|display=inline}} only 840 [[Nautical mile|NM]] from the [[North Pole]]).
<ref>Gilberg (1976) page 86. Hunting activities here are described in the January 2006 National Geographic.</ref> 
The [[Scottish Gaelic language|Scottish Gaelic]] for [[Iceland]] is ''Innis Tile'', which literally means the "Isle of Thule".<ref>[http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/faclair/sbg/lorg.php?facal=Iceland&seorsa=Beurla&tairg=Lorg&eis_saor=on Rannsaich an Stòr-dàta Briathrachais Gàidhlig<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Thule lends its name to the 69th element in the [[periodic table]], [[thulium]].

Ultima Thule is the name of a location in the [[Mammoth Cave]] system in Kentucky, United States. It was formerly the terminus of the known-explorable southeastern (upstream) end of the passage called "Main Cave", before discoveries made in 1908 by Ed Bishop and [[Max Kaemper]] showed an area accessible beyond it, now the location of the [[Violet City Entrance]]. The Violet City Lantern tour offered at the cave passes through Ultima Thule near the conclusion of the route.

In March 2018, following a naming competition, the [[Kuiper belt]] object [[486958 Arrokoth]], a fly-by target of the [[NASA]] probe ''[[New Horizons]]'', was nicknamed "Ultima Thule". The fly-by took place on 1 January 2019, and was the most distant encounter between a spacecraft and a planetary body. An official name for the body has since been assigned by the [[International Astronomical Union]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-chooses-nickname-for-ultimate-flyby-target|title= New Horizons Chooses Nickname for 'Ultimate' Flyby Target|website=NASA|date=13 March 2018|access-date=13 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5357552|title=Most distant world ever explored gets new name: Arrokoth|website=CBC|date=13 November 2019|access-date=13 November 2019}}</ref>