Who discovered the North Pole? History of the discovery of the North Pole

The existence of the Northern Geographic Pole of the Earth in high latitudes has attracted the attention of researchers and travelers for many centuries. The one who discovered the North Pole would have glorified his name no less than Columbus, Magellan and other great discoverers. Expeditions to high northern latitudes were equipped in Russia, Great Britain, USA, Norway, Italy. Many travelers died before they reached their destination. Their names are remembered with gratitude by the descendants.

The discovery of the North Pole. Prehistory

Russian navigators from Novgorod in the XI-XII centuries reached the coast of the White Sea.

In 1595-1597 V. Barents and his team stayed for the winter in the Arctic on the western coast of Novaya Zemlya, having discovered the island of Spitsbergen before .

British navigator G. Hudson in 1607 reached the eastern edge of Greenland, but the expedition was stopped by ice. The team managed to reach Spitsbergen, but above 80.23 ° could not advance.

V. Bering in 1725-1734 went to the First Kamchatka expedition to study the polar latitudes.

Why did the discoverers aspire to the North Pole?

One after another, new expeditions are equipped, their goal is the discovery of the North Pole. A lot of people from different countries go far to the North. Travelers are not only purely scientific interest. New ways could reduce the distances that trade and military vessels from Europe to Asia overcome. The question of who discovered the North Pole was not discussed in those years. Researchers and travelers for a long time could penetrate above 80 ° north latitude.

Ideas of marine expeditions to the North Pole

In the XVII century there was a theory about the melting of ice in the summer months near the North Pole. Some researchers believed that there may exist a sea that is not covered by ice. On this legend, many attempts were made to reach high latitudes over ocean waters on sea vessels. The great Russian scientist M. Lomonosov carried out calculations that confirmed this possibility. Empress Catherine the Great ordered to equip the expedition. Under her Decree, Admiral V. Chichagov in 1765 and 1766 twice went in search of this free water space, along which you can get to the North Pole. Admiral could not move above 80.30 °. The pioneer of the North Pole, the leader of the English marine expedition, K. Phipps, did not succeed. He managed to reach in 1773 only latitude 80.48 °. Unsuccessful attempts to overcome the remaining few degrees to the North Pole have pushed into the background the idea of a water journey to high latitudes.

New polar expeditions: by sea and on ice

In 1827, Englishman William Parry decided to go to the North Pole on the ice of the Arctic. He could be one of those who first reached the North Pole. The Parry Expedition was financed by the British Admiralty. Polar explorers left England in March 1827 on a ship and reached the island of Spitsbergen. The head of the expedition and his companions were transferred to boats equipped with special skids. Moving on the ice, the detachment reached 82.45 °. This record was established on July 23, 1827 and has survived almost 50 years. Among the participants of the expedition was D. Ross, who owns the honor of the discovery of the North Pole of the Earth. Even further advanced British D. Nars, who went north in 1875. On two ships, and then on a sleigh, which people dragged by hand, the detachment managed to reach in May 1876 to latitude 83.20 °. At that time it was a new record in the polar latitudes, but the expedition members were not ranked among those who discovered the North Pole.

In the Arctic ice

Failure has comprehended the North American expedition of D. De-Long, who on July 8, 1879 sailed on the sailboat "Jeannette" from San Francisco. The ship passed the Bering Strait and reached Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean. Here the sailer was frozen in ice and in this state began to drift towards the North Pole. But after 21 months "Jeannette" sank, only a small part of the team was saved.

The experience of De-Long helped in the organization of the expedition to the Norwegian polar explorer F. Nansen. He equipped a special ship "Fram", adapted to drift in the ice. The famous traveler decided to take advantage of the current in the Arctic Ocean and become the first to open the North Pole. "Fram" passed along the Northern Sea Route, lay down in a drift and on March 14, 1895, reached a parallel of 84.4 °. Nansen on skis and dog sleds reached 86.14 °, but was stopped by ice hummocks. In 1899, the participants of the Italian Arctic detachment of the Prince of Savoy Luigi Amedeo were able to reach the ice on dog sleds to 86.34 °.

The excitement around the discoverer of the North Pole

For years, there has been a dispute over who first discovered the North Pole. A number of travelers claim this role. One of them was an American F. Cook, who claimed that on dog sleds he reached with two Eskimo guides to the North Pole on April 21, 1908. The scientific community demanded proof, but Cook could not provide them. The dispute of two Americans is known all over the world, each of which claims that it is he who is the discoverer of the North Pole. One of them is Cook, and the second is engineer Robert Peary. He stated that he had been at latitude 90 ° April 6, 1909. The satellite of the polar explorer was compatriot M. Henson, and as conductors he hired four Eskimos. The assertion of Piri abounded inaccuracies, and was questioned.

Russian expeditions to the North Pole

Without interfering in the dispute, who first conquered the North Pole, Russian researchers continued to methodically study and develop the Arctic. In 1912-1914 the expedition of G. Sedov conducted two polar winterings on board the ship. During the Soviet years, scientists were landed with an airplane 30 kilometers from the North Pole. Hence, on May 21, 1937, the world's first drift began on the ice floe of the research station SP-1.

Participants of the expedition:

1. Ivan Papanin (head);
2. Peter Shirshov (oceanographer);
3. Evgeny Fedorov (meteorologist);
4. Ernst Krenkel (radio operator).

Nine months of drift, during which the polar explorers conducted observations. The ice floe was 2850 km from the original landing place of people on it. On the shores of Greenland, explorers boarded Soviet icebreakers.

The study of the Arctic continues in the new millennium. Found and developed reserves of minerals on the shelf of the seas of the Arctic Ocean, is fishing. The countries with access to the Arctic have many interests. New expeditions prepared by scientists, industrialists, and military men go to the North Pole. There are also international sports tournaments, timed for the advent of the polar summer. The followers of Nansen, Cook, Piri, Sedov, Papanin are again sent to the north of the planet to a point having a geographical latitude of 90 ° to prove the triumph of will and spirit over the severe polar ice.