1856-1920

American Explorer and Naval Officer

Robert Edwin Peary spent a good portion of his life in the Arctic regions of the world. He made several trips through the mostly uninhabited and unknown expanses of the Arctic, including a number of attempts to reach the North Pole. The 52-year-old Peary claimed that he and five others had finally reached the elusive pole on April 6, 1909. His assertion has been disputed over the years, but Peary is generally recognized as the man who led the first expedition to the North Pole.

Peary was born on May 5, 1856, in Cresson, Pennsylvania. He lost his father when he was three years old, and his mother took her only child back to Cape Elizabeth, Maine, where the family had lived before moving to Pennsylvania. Following his education at Portland High School, Peary attended Bowdoin College and gained an education in...