Robert E. Peary and Matthew Henson are considered the first to reach the North Pole in 1909. Their expedition reported reaching the geographic pole on April 6, 1909, after traveling across Arctic sea ice from Greenland with four Inuit assistants.
Peary was the expedition's leader, while Henson was an experienced explorer who had accompanied him on several Arctic journeys. Henson reached the final camp ahead of Peary and later said he believed he had been the first member of the party to stand at the pole. His contribution was largely overlooked during his lifetime, in part because of racial prejudice.
The claim remains historically controversial. Frederick Cook said he had reached the pole in 1908, and later researchers questioned whether Peary's navigation proved that he reached the exact location. Even so, Peary and Henson are the pair most commonly credited in traditional accounts of the first North Pole expedition.