Editing North Pole (section)

===Pre-1900===
[[File:Mercator north pole 1595.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Gerardus Mercator]]'s map of the North Pole from 1595]]
[[File:C.G. Zorgdragers Bloeyende opkomst der aloude en hedendaagsche Groenlandsche visschery - no-nb digibok 2014010724007-V1.jpg|thumb|C.G. Zorgdragers map of the North Pole from 1720]]
As early as the 16th century, many prominent people correctly believed that the North Pole was in a sea, which in the 19th century was called the [[Polynya]] or [[Open Polar Sea]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Wright, John K. |journal=Geographical Review|volume=43|issue=3|date=July 1953|pages=338–365 |title=The Open Polar Sea|doi=10.2307/211752|jstor=211752|bibcode=1953GeoRv..43..338W }}</ref> It was therefore hoped that passage could be found through ice floes at favorable times of the year. Several expeditions set out to find the way, generally with whaling ships, already commonly used in the cold northern latitudes.

One of the earliest expeditions to set out with the explicit intention of reaching the North Pole was that of British naval officer [[William Parry (explorer)|William Edward Parry]], who in 1827 reached latitude 82°45′ North. In 1871, the [[Polaris expedition|''Polaris'' expedition]], a U.S. attempt on the Pole led by [[Charles Francis Hall]], ended in disaster. Another British [[Royal Navy]] attempt to get to the pole, part of the [[British Arctic Expedition]], by Commander [[Albert Hastings Markham|Albert H. Markham]] reached a then-record 83°20'26" North in May 1876 before turning back. An 1879–1881 expedition commanded by [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] officer [[George W. De Long]] ended tragically when their ship, the {{USS|Jeannette|1878|6}}, was crushed by ice. Over half the crew, including De&nbsp;Long, were lost.

[[File:Nansen-fram.jpg|thumb|left|Nansen's ship ''Fram'' in the Arctic ice]]
In April 1895, the Norwegian explorers [[Fridtjof Nansen]] and [[Hjalmar Johansen]] struck out for the Pole on skis after leaving Nansen's icebound ship ''[[Fram (ship)|Fram]]''. The pair reached latitude 86°14′ North before they abandoned the attempt and turned southwards, eventually reaching [[Franz Josef Land]].

In 1897, Swedish engineer [[Salomon August Andrée]] and two companions tried to reach the North Pole in the hydrogen balloon ''Örnen'' ("Eagle"), but came down {{convert|300|km|abbr=on}} north of [[Kvitøya]], the northeasternmost part of the [[Svalbard]] archipelago. They trekked to Kvitøya but died there three months after their crash.  In 1930 the remains of [[S. A. Andrée's Arctic Balloon Expedition of 1897|this expedition]] were found by the Norwegian [[Bratvaag Expedition]].

The Italian explorer [[Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi|Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi]] and Captain [[Umberto Cagni]] of the [[Regia Marina|Italian Royal Navy]] ({{lang|it|Regia Marina}}) sailed the converted whaler ''[[Jason (ship)|Stella Polare]]'' ("Pole Star") from Norway in 1899. On 11 March 1900, Cagni led a party over the ice and reached latitude 86° 34’ on 25 April, setting a new record by beating Nansen's result of 1895 by {{convert|35|to|40|km|abbr=on}}. Cagni barely managed to return to the camp, remaining there until 23 June. On 16 August, the ''Stella Polare'' left [[Rudolf Island]] heading south and the expedition returned to Norway.