Matthew Henson was a black explorer who was born in Charles County Maryland on August 8, 1866, At a young age,
Matthew Henson was a black explorer who was born in Charles County Maryland on August 8, 1866, At a young age, he was orphaned and lived with his aunt in Washington DC. However, he quit school in order to be a sailor. At the age of 12, he joined Captain Child's crew on the merchant ship Katie Hinds traveling around the world for six years. He became an expert at charting and navigating. At age of 20, Henson was discovered by an explorer named Robert E. Peary, who was impressed with the breadth of his geographical knowledge and experience. As a result, Peary invited Henson to join him for an expedition designed to investigate the feasibility of a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Nicaragua. After that expedition, Henson and Peary undertook seven more expeditions with the goal of becoming the first to reach the North Pole, which was Peary's dream. Because of how difficult the mission was, they failed six times. Nevertheless, this didn't stop them from plan...