By Tim Lambert
The first people in Alaska and Canada crossed the Bering Strait from Asia. The Inuit lived by hunting seals, walruses, caribou, and whales. The first inhabitants of Greenland were also Inuit.
The Vikings arrived in Greenland at the end of the 10th century. They were led by Erik Thorvaldsson (c.950-1003), known as Erik the Red because of his red hair. Erik first sailed to Greenland about 982, and he liked what he saw. Erik the Red is said to have given the country its name, ‘Greenland’, hoping it would attract settlers. At any rate, around 985, Erik led the first Viking settlers to Greenland.
The Vikings were able to live in Greenland because the climate was milder than it is today, and the settlers were able to live by farming. The Vikings founded two settlements in Greenland, a Western and an Eastern one. Eventually, the European population of Greenland rose to over 3,000.
However, in the early 14th century, the Earth cooled, spelling doom for Viking Greenland colonies. The Viking settlements in Greenland died out in the 15th century. The Inuit continued to flourish.
In 1576, Martin Frobisher sighted Greenland. In 1596, a Dutchman named Willem Barentsz discovered the island of Spitzbergen in the Arctic Ocean. However, Europeans did not settle in Greenland again until the 18th century.
In the 17th century, whalers began to visit Greenland. Europeans returned to Greenland permanently in the 18th century. Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, was founded on 29 August 1728. It used to be called Godthab.
In 1741, Danish explorer Vitus Bering sighted Alaska. (Though he was Danish, he led a Russian expedition, and Russia claimed Alaska). In 1804, they established a settlement at Sitka.
However, by the 1860s, the Russian Empire had lost interest in Alaska. Over-hunting had depleted the supply of furs, and it was difficult to supply bases such a long way off. So they sold Alaska to the Americans. In 1867, US Secretary of State William Henry Seward signed a treaty to buy Alaska for $7.2 million – less than 2 cents an acre. Alaska formally passed to the USA on 18 October 1867.
In 1831, James Clark Ross discovered the magnetic North Pole.
The North Pole
In the 20th century, explorers reached the North Pole.
The first person to fly a plane in the Arctic was a Pole named Jan Nagórski in 1914. He flew over the Barents Sea. On 9 May 1926, Richard Byrd became the first person to fly over the North Pole. On 12 May 1926, Roald Amundsen flew over the North Pole in an airship.
In 1952, Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict became the first men to land a plane at the geographic North Pole. Louise Arner Boyd was the first woman to fly over the North Pole in 1955.
In 1959, USS Skate became the first submarine to surface at the North Pole. Also in 1959, Alaska became the 49th state of the USA.
In 1987, Fukashi Kazami became the first man to reach the North Pole on a motorbike.
On 27 May 1997, the first all-female team reached the North Pole.
