04/14/2026
100th Anniversary — First Aerial Journey from Europe to America • April 14th marks a century since Roald Amundsen brought the airship NORGE to Oslo, Norway on its way north toward what would become one of the great achievements in polar exploration. Less than a month later, on May 12th 1926, the expedition reached the North Pole—marking the first documented human presence at the Pole, and the first time an aircraft crossed the Arctic from Europe to North America when they ended the journey in Teller, Alaska.
While earlier expeditions were once believed to have reached the Pole, later analysis cast doubt on their claims. The Norge expedition, with 16 men on board under Amundsen’s leadership, remains the first undisputed journey to the North Pole.
Photo: Anders Beer Wilse / Nasjonalbiblioteket / Svalbard Museum