“Stars and stripes nailed to the North Pole. “PEARY.” There was great excitement all over the civilized world. Messages continued to arrive from Peary fixing the date of his arrival at the Pole, April 6, 1909. Cook claimed to have reached the pole a year earlier, April 21, 1908. Why had he kept silent so long? Discussion grew, and scientists demanded proof and data from both men. The records of Dr. Cook were submitted to the University of Copenhagen, and their final report was made public December 21, 1910. It declared that the papers and documents submitted to it by Dr. Cook contained no observations or explanations to prove that Dr. Cook had reached the Pole. That Peary reached the Pole was never doubted. The National Geographical Society after careful examination of his records reported that they were unanimous in the opinion that Commander Peary reached the North Pole, April 6, 1909. The following resolutions were adopted: “_Whereas_, Commander Robert E. Peary has reached the North Pole, the goal sought for centuries, and _Whereas_, this is the greatest geographical achievement that this society can have opportunity to honor, therefore _Resolved_, that a special medal be awarded to Commander Peary.” Medals and honors were bestowed upon him by many scientific societies at home and abroad, and he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, and given the thanks of Congress. The Frozen North has given up its secret. Man’s persistence has conquered, and 90° north has been attained. Rear Admiral Peary and all the brave men, who for nearly four hundred years struggled to reach the North Pole, will be held in honor by their countrymen for all time. NOTE.――A fathom is six feet; a statute mile 5280 feet; a geographical mile 6080 feet. Transcriber’s Notes: ――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). ――The Contents listing was changed to reflect the chapter title in the content where there was a difference. ――A List of Illustrations has been provided for the convenience of the reader. ――Printer’s, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected. ――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. ――Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.