About
Explorer who claimed to be the first person to reach the North Pole.
Before Fame
He earned his medical degree in 1890.
Trivia
His contemporary Robert E. Peary is more widely credited as the first person to reach the North Pole.
Family Life
His father, a doctor, and his mother were both German immigrants living in the U.S.
Associated With
He founded the Explorers Club of New York, which counts not only earthbound explorers, but space explorers like Neil Armstrong, among its members.
