Which explorer, in 1909, was the first person to reach the North Pole?

On April 6, 1909, American explorer Robert Peary claimed to have become the first person to reach the geographic North Pole. His expedition party for the final leg of the journey included his long-time associate Matthew Henson and four Inuit guides: Ootah, Egingwah, Seeglo, and Ooqueah. For this ambitious undertaking, Peary utilized a strategy that involved establishing a base camp on Ellesmere Island and then using teams of dogsleds to forge a path and lay down supplies for the final push to the Pole. Upon his return, the U.S. Congress officially recognized his achievement in 1911, and for many years, he was widely celebrated as the conqueror of the North Pole.

However, Peary's claim was not without controversy. Just as he was announcing his success, a former colleague, Dr. Frederick A. Cook, asserted that he had actually reached the North Pole a year earlier, in April 1908. This sparked a bitter dispute between the two men, and although Cook's claim was eventually largely discredited due to inconsistencies and a previous fraudulent claim of summiting Mount McKinley, doubts about Peary's own account have persisted.

In the decades that followed, analyses of Peary's expedition diary and the speeds he claimed to have achieved have led some historians and explorers to question whether he and his team actually made it to the precise location of the Pole. It's possible that due to navigational errors, they may have missed their mark by a considerable distance. Despite the enduring debate, Robert Peary's expedition remains a significant event in the history of Arctic exploration and a testament to the immense challenges faced by early polar explorers.