1856-1920

American explorer of the Arctic credited with leading the first successful expedition to the North Pole. Peary, along with assistant Matthew Henson, explored much of the Arctic and mapped routes to the North Pole from Greenland and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It was believed that in 1909 he reached the pole with Henson and four Eskimo assistants. In the 1980s, however, Peary's route was examined, and, due to possible navigational errors, it is now uncertain if his 1909 trek actually attained the North Pole.