The day the first person reached the North Pole – level 3

06-04-1909

For many years, people believed that the first man to conquer the North Pole was Robert Peary in 1909. Here is his story.

Robert Peary was an experienced traveler. He had been to the Arctic 8 times, but the closest he was to the pole was 250 kilometers. Peary was over fifty years old, and he had almost no toes due to the frostbite he had suffered in the past.

In the summer of 1908, he decided to go to the North Pole again. His large expedition numbered 90 people and 250 dogs. A journey of about 800 kilometers awaited them.

When they arrived at a distance of 250 km from the pole, Peary sent home all the experienced polar explorers and took only 5 assistants with him. None of them were white. Some people then said that Peary probably wanted to be the only white man to reach the North Pole first.

On April 6, 1909, he announced to his assistants that they had just reached the North Pole. He raised the American flag and took a photo.

After many years, it was found that he most likely didn’t reach the North Pole. It was revealed that records from his journey contained some mistakes. Probably the first person to reach the North Pole on his own was Wally Herbert in 1969.

Difficult words: conquer (to succeed in going to a difficult place or doing a difficult activity), the Arctic (a region located in the north of the planet earth), frostbite (when your body parts become dark because of extreme cold), await (to wait for), likely (probably), reveal (to make known), contain (to have inside).

What was the main reason for Robert Peary's failure to reach the North Pole in 1909?

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