In April 1909, many people believed that explorer Robert Peary was the first of his expedition to have landed at the geographic North Pole. The decision to reach the North Pole was fueled by the fact that by the end of the 19th century, there were still things left in the world that needed to be explored. Despite these challenges, they were not perturbed, and on March 1, 1909, Peary and Henson made their last attempt at reaching the North Pole. After retracing their steps, it turned out that 49-year-old Henson was actually the first person to step on the geographic North Pole. Henson also recorded his Arctic memoirs in 1912, in the book A Negro Explorer at the North Pole.

Source: The North Africa Journal August 22, 2018 14:26 UTC