 Richard
Evelyn Byrd established the
first scientific base in Antarctica --
Little America -- in 1928. In November of
1929, he and three others became the
first persons to fly to the South Pole
and back. In 1955 he helped establish the
first permanent U.S. bases in Antarctica. |
|
 Matthew
Alexander Henson became the
first man to reach the North Pole by
"land" on April 6, 1909, a full
45 minutes before the leader of the
expedition, Robert Peary. |
|
 Robert
Edwin Peary used Eskimo
survival techniques to lead the first
successful "overland"
expedition to the North Pole in 1909. He
was not, however, the first to actually
reach the pole; that honor went to his
personal assistant Matthew Henson. |
|
 The Quest
for a Northwest Passage
The explorers who
followed Christopher Columbuswere more
interested in finding an easy route to
Asia than they were in exploring and
settling North America. So they began to
look for a "Northwest Passage,"
or waterway, that would take them around
or through the continent. Although
a Northwest Passage was eventually found,
it is ice-packed most of the year and has
never proven to be a viable route for
shipping. |
|
