In May 1926, the expedition led by Norwegian Roald Amundsen, aboard the airship Norge, achieved the first verified overflight of the North Pole, paving the way for polar aerial exploration. The expedition included American explorer Lincoln Ellsworth and was piloted by Italian engineer Umberto Nobile. The crew dropped the flags of the three nations represented: Norway, the United States, and Italy, and then continued their journey to Alaska. Fifteen years after reaching the South Pole by land, Roald Amundsen thus became the first person to have reached both poles.
