Who Was the First Person to Reach the North Pole? | National Geographic

Who was the first person to reach the North Pole? You might think it was Robert Peary or Frederick Cook. However, the title could actually belong to an African-American explorer named Matthew Henson.

In 1866, only a year after the end of the Civil War, Henson grew up in Maryland. Forty-three years later, some believe he became the first person to set foot on the North Pole.

Just 13 years old, Matthew Henson left home and joined a ship crew as a cabin boy. He traveled the world and learned to read and write. In 1887, Henson was working as a store clerk in Washington, D.C., where he met the explorer Robert Peary. Peary hired him as a valet, and the two men began a working relationship that lasted for over two decades and half a dozen voyages.

Henson proved invaluable as an expert dogsled driver, hunter, craftsman, and navigator, who even became fluent in Inuit. Their team also included four Inuit guides who helped them in their mission. The explorers made several failed attempts before they finally reached the North Pole in 1909.

Legend has it that Henson and two of the Inuit men arrived at the pole 45 minutes before Peary, likely making one of them the first to set foot on the North Pole. Henson later said, “I think I am the first man to sit on top of the world.”

Peary's achievements were recognized by the National Geographic Society when he returned. He was awarded the first-ever Hubbard Medal, National Geographic's highest honor. But Henson's contributions were mostly overlooked by the scientific community.

Henson went on to work as an official in the U.S. Customs House in New York City and passed away in 1955. It wasn't until almost a century after Peary was given the Hubbard Medal that Henson was awarded the same honor.