Robert E. (Robert Edwin) Peary

Born in Cresson, Pennsylvania, on May 6, 1856, and raised in Maine, Robert Edwin Peary studied civil engineering at Bowdoin College before joining the U.S. Navy's Civil Engineer Corps. He went on to make a series of Arctic expeditions in the late 1800s and early 1900s, using Greenland as a base for much of his work.

Peary is usually remembered for the 1909 expedition in which he claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole. That announcement made him one of the best-known explorers of his era. He also helped broaden American interest in the Arctic through his reports, lectures, and books.

His legacy is complicated. Many reference works still describe him as the leader of the first expedition credited with reaching the Pole, while historians have continued to debate the accuracy of that claim. He died in Washington, D.C., on February 20, 1920, but remains a central figure in the history of polar exploration.