Frederick Cook

Frederick Albert Cook (June 10, 1865 – August 5, 1940) was an American explorer, physician, and ethnographer, noted for his claim of having reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908. This was nearly a year before Robert Peary, who reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909. Both men's accounts were disputed for several years. His expedition did discover Meighen Island, the only discovery of an island in the North American Arctic by a United States expedition. In December 1909, after reviewing Cook's limited records, a commission of the University of Copenhagen ruled his claim unproven. In 1911, Cook published a memoir of his expedition, continuing his claim. His account of reaching the summit of Denali has also been discredited.