John Angus, age 13, of Victoria, B.C.,

How did Peary know when he reached the North Pole?

There was, of course, no wooden pole sticking into the frozen ice field to mark the spot.  If there had been, things would have been easier for Captain Robert Edwin Peary. The poles mark the two ends of the earth's axis, that imaginary line. straight through the middle around which it spins. Peary's job was to prove he had reached the exact spot at the northern end of the earth's axis ‑ the North Pole,

Strange to say, the most reliable tests are not taken on the ground but in the sky. At the poles, the sun and stars do not swing over the sky from east to west. They travel around the skies in parallel circles. Captain Peary took 32 tests that proved he was standing at the exact North Pole,

This spot was reached by Peary on April 6, 19.06. When the great explorer was satisfied that he had arrived, he did what any sensible person would have done, He drove a pole into the frozen ice and hoisted his country’s flag ‑ the Stars and Stripes, The world did not hear of this until his return in September, Later, the discoverer of the North Pole was honored as Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary.