In the summer of 1925, Roald Amundsen and Umberto Nobile planned to fly across the North Pole. Skeptics believed this endeavor would end up in failure but events led them to reconsider their views: on 12 May 1926, at 1:25 AM GMT, the Norge reached the North Pole, circled around it and dropped three flags in succession: those of Norway, the United States and Italy. 40 years after reaching the pole, Nobile recounted: “As the airship approached its much-desired destination, the excitement onboard grew, no one spoke, but impatience and contentment could be read in the faces…” Two days later, Norge landed in Alaska.
