Paragraph on “When did exploration of the North Pole begin?” complete paragraph for Class 9, Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12

When did exploration of the North Pole begin?

Exploration of the Arctic began as early as the sixteenth century when man sought a short cut to the East, for more economic trade routes, over the ‘top of the world’. English and Dutch seamen such as Chancellor, Frobisher, Davis and Hudson and Barents, all sought channels into the Pacific to the north of America and Asia. The attempts became known as the quest for the North-west and North-east Passages.

All these men failed to make their way through the ice-bound waters. One man, Fridtjof Nansen, in 1893 in a daring exploit, managed to get further towards the North Pole than any previous explorer. His plan involved drifting in his ice-bound ship the Frans, with the transpolar current. When far enough north, he left the ship and set out with one companion, managing to reach latitude 86 degrees 14 minutes north. He then re-turned safely to Franz Josef Land.

It was the American, Robert Peary, a veteran of several Arctic expeditions who sledged his way from Grant Land in 1909, to become the first man to reach the Pole. Peary, who was a commander in the US Navy, set out across the icy vastness in March 1909. His supplies ran low and he sent men back, until only one fellow explorer, Matt Henson, and four Eskimos, remained with him. They pressed forward and on reaching the Pole spent thirty hours taking observations and soundings. Peary made the return journey in safety, but lost one member of his team.