Who Really Got to the North Pole First?

The animators really killed it in this video... as of lately actually. Your productions feel like a warm bath of visual and audio goodness

Arctic exploration was so wild. Love how places like Boothia and Ringnes are named for booze companies that sponsored the expeditions that mapped them

Roald Amundsen actually flew over the North Pole, not in an airplane, but rather, an Airship named "the Norge" (aka the Norway), as he was Norwegian. He not only was the first to reach both poles, but he also was the first to successfully traverse the Northwest Passage, where the Franklin Expedition had previously failed (killing their entire crew, in the process). There is actually a decent Documentary on his Northwest Passage Voyage, called "The Search for the Northwest Passage" which comes in Two Parts (the first covering the Failed Franklin Expedition and the Second covering the Successful Expedition by Roald Amundsen). I suggest that anyone interested in the topic, check it out.

I just can't get enough of your video's. I started watching the travel video's of your family a couple of years ago. I just discovered your channel a couple of months ago---brilliant, quirky, well researched, odd bits of info, fun! It is everything I love about learning. I am hooked! Interestingly, my husbands grandfather served and died on the USS Peary during the battle of Darwin Harbor. So, Peary did get extended fame from having a ship named after him.

In his will, Peary stated his desire for fame before millions of people. His descendant, Johnny's producer, realizes this is the perfect opportunity to fulfill his great great great grandfathers wishes, bringing his long forgotten story to the world. That's how it happened.

Matthew Henson faced discrimination throughout his life, both before and during his time as a member of Robert Peary's team. As the only black member of the team, he faced prejudice and racism from some of his fellow team members, and his contributions to the expedition were often overlooked or minimized. He also faced discrimination in his personal life, including being denied service at restaurants and hotels due to his race. Despite these challenges, Henson was able to overcome them and play a crucial role in the success of the expedition.

It’s amazing how much you all are able to produce at such high quality! Glad to be a patreon supporter 😃

Johnny, You should do a sequel about Fridtjof Nansen and his voyage on the Fram. I learned about him in my oceanography course in college because of his work in advancing the knowledge of Arctic currents. From studying how the wreckage of an American ship that went from Siberia to the North Atlantic he could take the same journey in a ship specifically designed for it. During the Fram’s journey he got very close to the North Pole.

This is a pretty amazing depiction of this story. I'm a museum guide at Peary's historic summer home in Maine, and I'm wildly impressed at how accurate and thoughtful this storytelling is. If anything, Matt Henson deserves his own whole video at some point.

Imagine if next video Johnny goes to North Pole to do inspection of the land and ensure its real

During college, I wrote my senior history honors thesis on the depiction of early 20th century polar explorers by newspapers of the time as idealized masculine figures, and I gotta say, it's super cool seeing that we both used some of the exact same newspaper sources

Epic video! As someone from the Arctic (Alaska) it's great to see the history being told to a larger audience. Fred Cook is infamous in Alaska for faking his summit of Denali. Another incredible explorer who devoted his life to science and teaching others about the Arctic rather than exploiting it is Brad Washburn -- debunking Cook's claims about summiting Denali while surveying the Alaska range with my grandfather in the 1950s.

Correction: At 5:40 you show a picture of two Sámi men, not Inuit. Amundsen got help from these two, Samuel Johannesen Balto and Ole Nielsen Ravna, since the Sámi people are also used to the arctic climate. Also Amundsens (and Fridtjof Nansen) wore clothes made by the Sámi.

Johnny you renewed my interest in the evolution of my continual education and gave me interest in history and journalism I never had. Thank you!

Ok there is a thing with this guy that just makes me become sooooo addicted to watching his work, i put it on and am hooked like a fish and just can’t get my self out really love his work and the way he tells his information is also just fascinating ash

Just stumbled upon this channel today. Wow. I'm hooked - incredible story telling I can't stop watching/ listening to. Go you!

I dont know how I've only recently found this channel. Genuinely has been a blast going back and watching all the past videos. This has become one of my favorite channels, absolutely amazing research and incredible storytelling

Matthew Henson is the one who is the backbone of Peary’s expedition. Without him, Peary’s journey would end quickly. It’s sad that he didn’t get recognition due to his race. I am happy that later in life he got recognized and today he’s still being honored as a great explorer.

OMG, your team and you are just from another league, you have all the support, only big TV networks can do it better ...but also their budget. Just perfectionate

I was depressed and rethinking whether to continue on Youtube. Then I decided to watch each of your videos from the first one at the bottom of the page... And I realized that they were once at absolute zero too. And that today they only look perfect because of the bias I have (from watching the recent videos). I want one day to be able to do what you do. Going to a place and being able to say "Look at this", while holding the thing, while pointing the thing behind me, not just showing it on a screen, while sitting in a room/studio. I hope YouTube grants me this journey. And I hope one day I can shake your hand, Johnny, even if you don't respond to my emails and comments. Your videos inspire me a lot! With love, HIDLSON V.