Robert Peary was born in Cresson Springs, Pennsylvania on 6th May, 1856. After graduating from Bowdoin in 1877 he joined the United States Navy and worked on the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in Washington.

In 1888 Peary and his companion, Matthew Henson, visited Nicaragua where he surveyed a proposed ship canal. The two men went on seven expeditions to the Arctic (1891-92, 1893-95, 1896, 1897, 1898-1902, 1905-06 and 1908-09). On their final expedition on 6th April, 1909, Peary, Henson, and seven Eskimos became the first men to reach the North Pole. Peary wrote several books about his experiences including Great Ice (1898), The North Pole (1910) and the Secrets of Polar Travel (1917).

Peary, who retired from the United States Navy as rear admiral in 1911, took a keen interest in aviation and at the start of the First World War helped organize the National Aerial Coast Patrol Commission. Robert Peary died in Washington on 20th February, 1920.