A Chronological List of Significant Events and Journeys to the Geographic North Pole

1607
Elizabethan explorer Henry Hudson reaches a record farthest north latitude of 80° 23'N.

1755
A British Act of Parliament offers a £5,000 reward to the first ship which sails within one degree of the North Pole.

1773
Capt. Constantine Phipps attempts to reach the North Pole by sea, but reaches only 25 miles further than Hudson (80° 50'N).

1806
Scottish whaling captain William Scoresby reaches 81° 31'N.

1819-20
Lieutenant Edward Parry completes the 1st wintering of naval ships in the Arctic aboard the Hecla and Griper and attempts the 1st overland expedition by the Navy.

1827
Commander Edward Parry aboard the Hecla makes the 1st sledge hauling attempt to reach the North Pole. 27 men dragging two sledge boats travel over 900 miles and reach 82°45'N.

1829-33
Capt. John Ross aboard the paddle steamer Victory spends four winters in the Arctic. On one of a series of long overland journeys, his nephew, Commander James Clark Ross, discovers the Magnetic North Pole.

1845-48
Sir John Franklin's expedition to discover the North West Passage in the Erebus and Terror ends in tragedy. All 139 men perish. Some 40 relief expeditions are launched over the next 10 years, leading eventually to the discovery of the North West Passage.

1850's
Sir Francis Leopold McClintock introduces sledging techniques and travel equipment adapted from the Eskimos.

1875-76
On a mission to reach the North Pole George Nares and Henry Stephenson navigate their ships, Alert and Discovery, to the edge of the Arctic Ocean. Lieutenant Albert Markham reaches a new farthest north of 83° 20'N.

1879-82
American George Washington De Long sails his steamship, Jeannette, through the Bering Strait in the hope of finding an open polar sea. The Jeannette ends up drifting for 16 months before being crushed by the ice. Only 12 men survive.

1882-84
US Army sets up post at Fort Conger on Ellesmere Island under Adolphus Greely. Lieutenant James Lockwood traveling with dog sledges reaches 83° 24'N. Only 6 of the 25 men survive the posting.

1893-96
Norwegian explorer and scientist Fridtjof Na'nsen aboard his ship the Fram spends 35 months drifting across the Arctic Ocean. At 84° 04'N Nansen, accompanied by Hjalmar Johansen, sets out on skis to reach the North Pole with 3 sledges, 2 kayaks and a team of dogs. They reach 86° 12'N, 95°E on 8 April 1895 240 miles from the North Pole.

July 1897
Swedish adventurer Salomon August Andree sets off from Svalbard in a hydrogen balloon named Eagle with two Swedish, companions on his second attempt to reach the North Pole. Andree reaches 82°N before the team die from exposure.

1900
In a North Pole expedition led by the Duke of Abruzzi, Capt. Umberto Cagni with 3 detachments of 9 men, 13 sledges and 102 dogs reaches 86° 34'N, beating Nansen's record by 22 miles. Three men lose their life during the expedition.

1905-1906
American explorer Robert E. Peary sets out for the Pole with a large team of Eskimos and dogs. Bad weather forces him to retreat, but he achieves a record farthest north of 87° 06'N.

21 April 1908
American explorer Dr. Frederick A. Cook, claims to reach the North Pole. Cook and his German companion, Rudolph Francke, set off with 10 Eskimos, 11 sledges and 105 dogs on 19 February. His claim that he reached the Pole with 2 Eskimo companions, Etukishook and Ahwelah, was discredited, however, his achievement of spending 14 months on the ice is still formidable.

6 April 1909
American explorer Commander Robert E. Peary, who set out from Cape Columbia on the north coast of Ellesmere Island on 1st March with 24 men, 19 sledges and 133 dogs, claims to reach the North Pole. He returned to Cape Columbia on 23 April after a journey of 53 days. Most polar authorities now believe Peary, along with his companion Matthew Henson and 3 Eskimos, failed to reach the exact location of the Pole, though he certainly went north of 88' and possibly north of 89°.

9 May 1926
Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd of the US Navy and Floyd Bennett claim to have made the 1st flight over the North Pole in the Josephine Ford, a Fokker monoplane. It is now widely accepted they did not reach the North Pole as they claimed.

11-14 May 1926
Norwegian Roald Amundsen together with Umberto Nobile, Lincoln Ellsworth and 11 others make the 1st confirmed flight over the North Pole in their airship, Norge, reaching the Pole at 1:30am on 12 May 1926. Their journey was also the 1st crossing from Europe to America via the North Pole.

21 May 1937
A Russian team led by Ivan Papanin are dropped by aircraft at 89° 43'N and set up the 1st scientific drifting station on a large ice floe on the Arctic Ocean.

23 April 1948
Three Russian LI 2 aircraft, piloted by Ivan Cherevichny, Kotov and Vitali Maslennikov, make the 1st landing at the North Pole. These men, plus their 4 passengers, are the 1st confirmed people to set foot on the North Pole.

9 May 1949
Two Russians, Vitali Volovitch and Andrei Medvedev, make the 1st successful parachute landing at the North Pole.

3 August 1958
US nuclear submarine USS Nautilus becomes the 1st submarine to navigate under the North Pole.

17 March 1959
US nuclear submarine USS Skate under the command of Commander James Calvert becomes the 1st submarine to surface at the North Pole.

March-May 1964
Norwegian Bjorn Staib fails in his attempt to make a complete surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean via the North Pole with 5 Norwegian companions and dog sledges. Starting from Alert on Ellesmere Island, the team is evacuated at 86° 31 'N on 8 May.

March-May 1967
American adventurer Ralph Plaisted together with 4 companions fails to reach the North Pole using skidoos (motorised sledges). The team, which started from Ward Hunt Island on 28 March, was evacuated at 83° 36'N on 4 May.

21 February 1968
British explorer Wally Herbert sets off with 3 companions Dr. Roy (Fritz) Koerner, Allan Gill and Major Ken Hedges and 40 dogs from Point Barrow in Alaska with the aim of crossing the Arctic Ocean by its longest axis.

19 April 1968
On his second attempt, Ralph Plaisted together with 3 companions Gerald Pitzl, Jean Luc Bombardier and Walt Pederson arrives at the North Pole using skidoos, 43 days after setting off from Ward Hunt Island. However, their claim to have made the 1st complete surface crossing is compromised because they receive air assistance to cross the worst pressure ridges and obstacles. The team was picked up at the North Pole and returned by aircraft.

6 April 1969
Wally Herbert and his team reach the North Pole. The team, which is resupplied from the air but receive no other air assistance, become the 1st British men to reach the North Pole.

29 May 1969
Wally Herbert and his team make landfall at Vesle Tavleoya (Little Blackboard Island), the most northerly island of Spitsbergen, after completing the 1st surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean. Herbert's 476 day journey over 3,620 route miles across the ocean's longest axis has never been repeated.

29 April 1978
Japanese adventurer Naomi Uemura makes the 1st solo journey to the North Pole by dog sledge. Uemura, who started from Cape Columbia on 6 March, covered 450 miles in 57 days and was resupplied by 7 airdrops.

10 April 1982
Ranulph Fiennes and Charlie Burton arrive at the North Pole after completing the 1st circumpolar journey round the earth the Transglobe Expedition (Fiennes, Burton and Oliver Shephard had reached the South Pole on 15 December 1980.) and become the 1st men to reach both Poles using skidoos and resupplies.

3 May 1986
American Will Steger together with 5 companions Paul Schurke, Ann Bancroft, Geoff Carroll, Brent Boddy and Richard Weber reach the North Pole by dog sledge. During their journey, which commenced on 8 March, they receive air assistance to evacuate two members of their team and several of their dogs. Ann Bancroft becomes the 1st woman to reach the North Pole.

21 April 1987
Japanese adventurer Shinji Kazama becomes the 1st person to reach the North Pole by motorcycle (200cc Yamaha), assisted by resupplies and the help of a snowmobile.

4 May 1987
Hubert de Chevigny and Nicolas Hulot become the 1st people to reach the North Pole by microlight.

24 April 1988
An international team comprising 13 Russians and Canadians completes the 2nd Trans Arctic crossing. The team are resupplied by air on their journey from Cape Arktichevsky in Russia via the North Pole to Cape Columbia.

14 May 1989
Britain's Robert Swan becomes the 1st person to walk to both Geographic Poles. Having reached the South Pole with Gareth Woods and Roger Mear on 11 January 1986, Swan was part of an international team (Icewalk Expedition) which left Ellesmere for the North Pole on 20 March and was resupplied every 10 days.

14 May 1989
Gerinany's Arved Fuchs, a member of Robert Swan's lcewalk Expedition arrives at the North Pole. Fuchs then joins Reinhold Messner on his walk to the South Pole, arriving on 31 December 1989. Fuchs, who was supported on both journeys, becomes the 1st man to walk to both Poles in the same year.

1990
Ranulph Fiennes and Dr. Mike Stroud set off from Cape Arktichevsky attempting an unsupported crossing to the North Pole, however, they are evacuated at 88°N (89 miles from the Pole) after a 47 day march.

4 May 1990
Norwegians Borge Ousland and Erling Kagge reach the North Pole on foot after leaving Ward Hunt Island on 8 March, without resupply. However, they receive assistance when one member of their team, Geir Randby, is evacuated by air.

23 April 1994
Norwegian Borge Ousland completes the 1st solo and unsupported journey to the North Pole, departing on 2 March from Cape Arktichevsky on the Russian side of the Arctic Ocean.

12 May 1995
Canadian Richard Weber and Russian Mikhail Malakhov complete the 1st unsupported journey to the North Pole and back. After leaving Ward Hunt Island on 14 February they arrive at the North Pole on 12 May, then sledge back to Ward Hunt Island arriving on 15 June. Their journey of 121 days was made without any resupply or assistance.

23 May 1995
Marek Kaminski from Poland together with Wojtek Moskal arrives at the North Pole, after setting off from Cape Columbia on 14 March. Kaminski goes on to make an unsupported crossing to the South Pole, arriving on 27 December 1995. He becomes the 1st person to complete unsupported journeys to both Poles in the same year.

3 May 1997
Japanese adventurer Mitsuro Ohba makes the 1st solo Trans Arctic journey to a point close to the North Pole, leaving Cape Arktichevsky on 25 February and arriving at 89° 57'N on 3 May without resupply. He then continues on to Cape Columbia, reaching it on 24 June after 121 days and 4 resupplies.

26 May 1997
The 1st all women relay team, comprising 20 British women in 5 teams of 4 and led by Canadians Matty McNair and Denise Martin, reach the North Pole after leaving Ward Hunt Island on 13 March.

29 April 2000
Norwegians Torry Larsen and Rune Gjeldnes arrive at the North Pole after leaving Cape Arktichevsky on 16 February. They continue on to Ward Hunt Island, arriving on 3 June after completing the 1st unsupported crossing of the Arctic Ocean.

23 April 2001
Norwegian Borge Ousland arrives at the North Pole after leaving Cape Arktichevsky on 3 March, traveling alone but with resupplies. He continues on to Ward Hunt Island, without further resupply, assisted by parafoil.

29 May 2002
Rune and Tina Sj6gren becomes the 1st married couple to walk unsupported to the North Pole after leaving Ward Hunt Island on 22 March.

19 May 2003
Pen Hadow completes the 1st solo and unsupported crossing to the North Pole from the Canadian side of the Arctic. Hadow left Ward Hunt Island on 17 March and took 64 days to reach the Pole.

April 2004
The French/Finnish adventurer Dominick Arduin disappears without trace into an area of open water attempting to become the 1st woman to trek solo to the North Pole.

FACTS:

G8 account for 13% of the worlds population but 45% of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions.

Cars, trucks and buses consume over half of the oil being used worldwide

By 2035 the world will use twice as much energy as it does today.


RELATED LINKS:

North Pole Exploration Timeline

www.thepoles.com

www.polarhistory.com/

www.adventurestats.com

North Pole Stats

www.thepoles.com