Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth attempted the first flight to the North Pole but their flying boat was forced down short of their goal due to engine trouble. They were stranded for 25 days before being rescued by a second flying boat.
Backed by the National Geographic Society, Douglas MacMillan led an expedition to the Arctic taking three amphibious airplanes commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Richard Byrd. Flights were made over Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands and the Greenland icecap proving the worth of...
Robert Peary reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909. His claim to be the first to reach the North Pole was acknowledged by the National Geographic Society, the Naval Affairs Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives, and by numerous modern analysts. Peary was...
Dr. Frederick Cook claimed to have reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908, but this claim has been disputed.
Peary sailed his ship the Roosevelt to Ellesmere Island and set out to the North Pole with a group of native Unuit and sled dogs. They were met by bad ice and weather conditions but achieved a record high latitude of 87 degrees 6 minutes north.
