How Did the Explorers Reach the North Poles?

    During the 1800s, expeditions by boat and across the ice on foot proved that explorers could endure Arctic conditions. These journeys were extremely risky, and nobody reached the poles. Some explorers died in the attempt.

    In the 1900s, explorers learnt how to travel in the Arctic from Inuit hunters who lived in ice-covered Greenland. American explorer, Robert Peary made several trips to Greenland before he tried to reach the North Pole. Then he had a special ship built to break through the ice.

    In 1909, Peary and his crew set off over the ice. They wore Inuit clothing for warmth and rode on sleds pulled by dogs. Peary and his assistant, Matthew Henson, probably were the first people to reach the North Pole. If they didn't quite make it, they came very close.

    In 1958, the USS Nautilus, a nuclear-powered submarine, made the first undersea voyage to the North Pole. In 1977, a Soviet ship first reached the North Pole on the water's surface. The ship, an icebreaker, was specially designed to cut through ice in frozen waters. By 1990, cameras in satellites, which circled the earth, had photographed the entire polar region.

(Source: Encarta)

When did Peary and his crew set off over the ice?