Robert Edwin Peary , Sr. ( May 6 , 1856 -- February 20 , 1920 ) was an American explorer who claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole with his expedition on April 6 , 1909 .
Robert Edwin Peary , Sr. ( May 6 , 1856 -- February 20 , 1920 ) was an American explorer who claimed to have led the first expedition , on April 6 , 1909 , to reach the geographic North Pole .