The Quest for the North Pole, Episode 5: Meet Peary and Henson Kat Long
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It’s summer, 1895, in the northernmost reaches of Greenland. The temperature hovers around freezing. American explorer Robert E. Peary and his assistant Matthew Henson are on a backbreaking journey by dogsled across the ice cap, from Independence Bay, a large fjord on Greenland’s northeastern corner, to their base camp at Bowdoin Bay on the west coast. They’re nearly out of food, and they’re desperately searching for a herd of musk ox to stave off their deaths by starvation.
Subscribe here, or by clicking subscribe above!
It’s summer, 1895, in the northernmost reaches of Greenland. The temperature hovers around freezing. American explorer Robert E. Peary and his assistant Matthew Henson are on a backbreaking journey by dogsled across the ice cap, from Independence Bay, a large fjord on Greenland’s northeastern corner, to their base camp at Bowdoin Bay on the west coast. They’re nearly out of food, and they’re desperately searching for a herd of musk ox to stave off their deaths by starvation.
The animals they’re stalking weigh up to 800 pounds and are built like battering rams, with a coat of shaggy hair and sharp, curved horns. Musk ox are powerful and unpredictable, and they’re Peary’s and Henson’s last hope for survival. All day, they look for snags of the oxen’s hair on rough rocks and scan the snow for tracks. Finally, they locate hoofprints and follow them across a valley, anticipating fresh meat.
January 13, 2021
Hundreds perhaps thousands of people took part in the international race to explore the Arctic and claim the North Pole. Here s a collection of some of the most important and influential figures discussed in Mental Floss s new podcast,
1. Arnaq // Inuit // ?-1577
Arnaq was the name assigned to an Inuit woman from Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada, who was taken captive by Martin Frobisher in 1577, along with Kalicho and her infant son called Nutaaq.
Arnaq means “woman” or “female” in Inuktitut.
2. William Baffin // English // c. 1584-1622
Baffin was a navigator and ship s pilot who searched for the elusive Northwest Passage. His namesakes are Baffin Island (now part of Nunavut, Canada) and Baffin Bay, which separates the island from Greenland. He found Lancaster Sound, the entrance to the Northwest Passage, but believed ice would always make it impassable. Baffin also sailed within 800 nautical miles of the geographic North Pole, the northernmost point
In our new podcast, 'Mental Floss Presents: The Quest for the North Pole,' we’ll dive into the adventure, excitement, and danger surrounding our obsession with the North Pole.