Matthew Alexander Henson (August 8, 1866 – March 9, 1955) was an African – American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary on seven voyages to the Arctic over a period of nearly 23 years.
The geographic North Pole is the northern point of the Earth’s axis of rotation. The North Pole is found in the Arctic Ocean, on constantly shifting pieces of sea ice. The pole is surrounded by the Arctic Ocean, where the water is 13,400 feet (4,084 meters) deep and usually covered with drifting ice 6-to-10 feet (1.8 to 3 m) thick.
Currently, no country owns the North Pole. It sits in international waters. The closest land is Canadian territory Nunavut, followed by Greenland (part of the Kingdom of Denmark). However, Russia, Denmark and Canada have staked claims to the mountainous Lomonosov Ridge that runs under the pole.
In 1909, Peary and Henson accompanied by four Inuit, became the first men to reach the North Pole, the rest of the crew having turned back earlier. Henson’s account of the journey, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole, appeared in 1912.
Henson received the Congressional medal awarded to all members of the Peary expedition (1944).
