Officially, the first person to reach the North Pole was Robert Peary in 1909. In his diary, he wrote:
Robert Peary and his group at the North Pole
"The Pole at last!!! The prize of 3 centuries, my dream and ambition for 23 years. Mine at last".
However, his announcement that he had reached the North Pole before anyone else was disputed by Frederick Cook - who claimed he had reached the North Pole in 1908, a whole year before Peary! Eventually, Congress (the American equivalent of Parliament) had to settle what became a very public argument and declared Peary the winner after reviewing the evidence of their expeditions from both explorers.
Today many people think Peary and Cook may be been mistaken with their calculations in thinking they had reached the North Pole as instruments in general can be unreliable at the Poles. Whatever the truth might be, both explorers deserve credit for undertaking such epic journeys.
Discovery & Exploration
