#robert edwin peary

[thechanelmuse]

Matthew Henson, the first person to reach the North Pole

“The lure of the arctic is tugging at my heart. To me the trail is calling! The old trail, the trail that is always new.” —Matthew Henson

In 1909 a team of six men on dog sledges made their way to a single point at the center of vast Arctic wilderness. It was a block of ice 413 nautical miles off the coast of Greenland believed to be the North Pole. There were many who refuted the events that led up to the day, April 6th, when an American flag was planted there. But in the years that followed an irrefutable truth would be revealed. The first person to stand on top of the world was a Black man named Henson.

When Commander Robert Edwin Peary set out on the expedition his company included 24 men, 19 sledges, and 133 dogs. After months of travel across an immense field of ice from the edge of Cape Sheridan on Ellesmere Island, as planed, one by one members of the party began turning back. So there were only a handful of men who could substantiate the claim. When the first human footprints were pressed into the snow at the most northern point on the planet all that remained of the original corps were Peary, 40 dogs, four native Inuit hunters and a Black American man who would be forgotten by history for almost half a century. [...]

Although Peary was the public face of their partnership, Henson was the front man in the field. With his skills as a carpenter and craftsman, Henson personally built and maintained all of the sledges used on their expeditions. He was fluent in the Inuit language and established a rapport with the native people of the region. He was known by all he encountered as “Matthew the Kind One.” Henson learned the methods the Inuit used to survive and travel through the incredibly hostile landscape of the Arctic. He was a very capable hunter, fisherman, and dog handler. And it was he who trained even the most experienced of Peary’s recruits on each of the eight attempts they made to reach the North Pole.

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For over a century, polar historians have generally agreed that American Navy engineer Robert Peary was the first person to reach the Geographic North Pole. But studies made over the last several decades assert that it was actually Peary’s African American associate, Matthew Henson, who got there ahead of him – despite losing eight of his toes to frostbite.

Peary’s much-studied and much-contested 1909 expedition to the North Pole was the last of eight and the only one to achieve its ultimate objective. And though the man’s claim to have made it to the pole first (or at all) was disputed from the start, it was only more recently that polar scholars began sliding Henson into his place.

Some of these scholars, such as British explorer Wally Herbert, science journalist John Noble Wilford, and City Journal editor John Tierney, focused chiefly on the veracity of Peary’s claim to have reached the pole, citing the lack of essential data in his notebook. But some subsequent studies indicate Peary knowingly stole the credit from Henson.

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Did I mention he wrote an autobiography, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole: The Autobiography of Matthew Henson, and Taraji P. Henson is great-great cousins with this once hidden figure? 😏

[rabbitcruiser]

National Reach As High As You Can Day

National Reach As High As You Can Day is observed on April 14 every year. The day can be interpreted in numerous ways, however, the message remains the same — to reach as high as you can. Whether it is aiming for a higher professional or personal goal, or even to reach for something physically, it is a day to believe in yourself and take a chance that you may have shied away from before.

History of National Reach As High As You Can Day

Reaching can be defined as physically extending to grab or touch something. It can also mean conceptually extending to increase something’s impact or application. Humans have been reaching new literal and metaphorical heights since the beginning of time. If it were not for people reaching as high as they can and aiming for bigger and better, the world as we know it would have been different. It is impossible to pinpoint the origination date for a concept like this, but history is full of examples and evidence that shooting higher paves the way for new opportunities.

Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first person to reach outer space, explorer Leif Day is said to be the first person to reach America, inventor Thomas Edison reached to create the first light bulb, and the world was never the same again. To stay within our comfort zone comes with a sense of safety and certainty, but to reach for something newer and bigger has consequences that can be revolutionary and life-changing.

National Reach As High As You Can Day, observed every year on April 14, encourages all of mankind to push our limits and venture out of our comfort zones. This ‘reaching’ can be as big or as small as we are comfortable with. It is a chance for us to bring about a much-needed change in our lives, and many even change someone else’s.

National Reach As High As You Can Day timeline

1909 North Pole

Robert Peary reaches the North Pole.

1911 South Pole

Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole.

1953 Mount Everest

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the summit of Mount Everest.

1969 Moon

Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin reach the moon.

National Reach As High As You Can Day FAQs

How many times have we reached the moon?

Approximately six missions have landed people on the moon so far, and many more are underway.

When did humans reach France?

1.57 million years ago humans reached and discovered France and paved the way for others to do so too.

How long does it take to reach Mars?

On average, it is believed to take 162 days to reach Mars. However, a closer route has estimated about 41 days.

National Reach As High As You Can Day Activities

Reach for something physically

Reach for something professionally

Reach for something personal

You could reach for that one book at the top of the shelf that you have not read yet, or a jar that you avoid using because of its high placement. You could even try to reach that restaurant you have been meaning to try out for a while.

No matter what your field of work is, there are always certain short or long-term goals in the back of your mind. Take this day to think about ways in which you can broaden your horizon and reach for something higher than before.

As with other things, most of us have certain personal goals that we aim for. Whether it is a personal record at the gym or the duration of your daily meditation, try to reach for a slightly higher milestone and believe in yourself.

5 Facts About Reaching That You Probably Didn’t Know

It takes time

It inspires others

It takes commitment

It is not always linear

It takes dedication

It took astronauts four days to reach the moon.

Since the first climb, over 5,000 people have reached Mt. Everest’s peak.

Sometimes a task needs to be repeated for it to become a habit.

Some ups and downs come with advancements, but it is part of the process.

A giraffe’s neck cannot reach the ground, but they do not stop trying.

Why We Love National Reach As High As You Can Day

It inspires us

It encourages advancement

It stimulates exploration

It is less scary to do what we know, but taking risks and reaching higher can be liberating and rewarding in more ways than one. Nothing is guaranteed, but a day like this pushes us to re-evaluate our goals and activities and determine the areas where we can do more.

If people from the beginning of time did not reach in one way or another, life would be different from what it is now. Most of what we have, if not everything, is the result of someone pushing forward and discovering the undiscovered.

Whether it is intellectual, geographical, or physical, reaching higher opens doors that we didn’t know existed. Would you know about your favorite hiking spot if someone did not reach there and tell you about it?

Source

[timetolearnoclock]

portrait

"Discoverer's Portrait: Robert Edwin Peary."

October 1954

Quote taken from original text included with the image in the magazine

[godzilla-reads]

August 31st, 2021

You can see the moment she decided to hate me for taking her picture with my old new book.

[chrisgaffey]

Rear Admiral Robert Edwin Peary Sr. was an American explorer and officer in the US Navy who made several Artic expeditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In April 1909 he lead the expedition that claimed to be the first to have reached the geographic North Pole. It is now believed he failed in his quest, though may have been as close as 60 miles away when he turned back.

Peary was raised Portland Maine, he enlisted in the navy in 1881as a civil engineer and in 1885 was made chief of surveying for the Nicaragua Canal, which was never built. In 1892 he reached Independence Fjord in what is now known as Peary Land, proving conclusively that Greenland was an island. He was one of the first Arctic explorers to study Inuit survival techniques. During an expedition in 1894, he deceived six indigenous individuals to travel to America with him, promising they would be able to return with tools, weapons and gifts within the year. Four of the six Inuit died of illness within a few months.

[biblicallyaccuratetrain]

Can you answer questions about last boss on ao3

Does he look up fanfic about the north and south poles? Does he scour the internet for Robert Edwin Peary information and end up on ao3 disappointed because it was his last resort and it failed him? And then he starts scouring for fics with the North Pole in it, determined to cobble a Robert Edwin Peary fanfic on his own

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/51/19/86/51198645b03e8c3add1424a8dfafcc00.jpg

Spectacular question, I was hoping for someone to ask about that!

Listen, the first site he visited was fanfiction.net. Then wattpad. Ao3 came last - and unlike the others, it didn’t fail him. He found exactly one fic with the Robert Edwin Peary tag. Guess which fic it was?

You’re right. Sexy times with Wangxian.

Last Boss read the entire thing.

Ultimately he was left disappointed, but with a whole bunch of fanfic knowledge.

Before he entered the Borderlands, he was on the waiting list for an ao3 account, already planning out his own fanfic.

Sexy times with Robert Edwin Peary.

[adarlingwrites]

Dormouse

Summary:

After playing a game with two of The Beach's most dangerous members, the dormouse gets her tail caught by a tiger's paw.

He’ll make a wildcat out of her.

Author’s notes: Surprise, have a double update! Have another chapter of light-hearted dialogue and self-indulgent smut featuring my favorite song from one of my favorite bands. Lord knows these two deserve it because of what I have planned in future chapters.

I watch you taste it, I see your face, and I know I'm alive | you're shooting stars from the barrel of your eyes | it drives me crazy, just drives me wild

XI

The next morning, the air is cold and crisp, and the sun barely provides any warmth as it kisses Takatora’s skin. Yamaneko is thankful for what little heat it provided her this morning, warming her ever so slightly. The rest was taken care of by the warm cup of coffee in her hand.

One of the Beach’s mechanics was busy checking the tires of the vintage four by four they’ll be using to grab supplies as the duo approached him. In the car is the girl that Yamaneko saw arriving with her father, whose face contorts into horror when she sees the two militants approaching.

“Tatta,” she calls out to her companion, panicking. “Militants!”

The young man, who seems like he’s around Yamaneko’s age, turns around and practically jumps, a look of unbridled panic on his face as the two approached him.

“Drive,” Yamaneko tells him, going right ahead and opening the door to the back of the car. The girl jumps off the back in a hurry, moving to the passenger seat in the front, nervously glancing at Tatta. The militants sat in the back.

The poor boy was shaking, clumsily pushing the key into the slot and turning it, the engine roaring to life.

“Um… where to?” Tatta asks the two of them. The girl next to him busied herself by looking outside the window, the sun imbuing her bronze skin with a golden hue and the breeze blowing through her shoulder-length hair.

“Shimokitazawa,” Yamaneko says mid-yawn. “Just drop us off there and you can go on with your supply run. Pick us up in the afternoon.”

“Got it,” he replies, stiff as a board in the driver’s seat.

Yamaneko notices their unease. Flicking her coffee stirrer towards the front, she laughs as the two flinches. “Relax. If we wanted to hurt you, we would’ve done it by now. We just want a ride, that’s all.”

The girl shifts in her seat and gives Yamaneko a nervous smile. “So, what are your names?”

“Just call me Yamaneko. He’s called Last Boss.”

“Your friend doesn’t talk much, does he?” the girl asks, each syllable spoken with caution. “I-I mean not like it’s a bad thing…”

The militant woman smirks, taking a sip of her coffee. “Yeah. He’s the quiet type. What about you two newbies? Care to introduce yourselves?”

The boy and the girl glance at each other, as if gauging who should go first. “I’m Kodai Tatta,” the boy answers, then the girl opens her mouth to talk. “Zia Hinata.”

“Zia, huh? Not a lot of Japanese girls have that name. Is one of your parents a foreigner?”

When Hinata doesn’t respond, Last Boss leans over and glares at her. She yelps, and takes a deep breath. “Y-yeah! My mother is Filipino,” she near-exclaims, pitch rising an octave or two.

Yamaneko puts a hand on Last Boss’ arm and laughs. “No need for that. She’s obviously just scared of us.”

She can practically hear the sigh of relief Hinata lets out from where she’s sitting when he withdraws.

“Saw you arrive a few days ago,” Yamaneko comments. “It looks like Niragi has taken an interest in you.”

The sharp exhale Hinata gives her says it all. “Yeah.”

“Word of advice? Niragi tries to break anyone who makes his cock hard. If he attempts to fuck you, just try to pretend that he doesn’t faze you. He thrives off of his victims’ fear.”

Tatta almost swerves into a barricade, and he exhales a few times while fixing the cap on his head, while Hinata presses a palm on her forehead. The boy with the cap gives his companion a nervous, concerned glance.

“Yeah, well, about that… I knew him before I ended up in this place. So, I doubt that will work,” Hinata mentions, nervously picking at the skin around her fingernails.

“He’s a bastard even back then, huh?”

“Actually, no. He was my upperclassman. I was his only friend in middle school. He was nothing like that back then… Now he’s, well, evil. And he won’t leave me alone. Supply runs with Tatta are my only escape.”

“Well, this is awkward,” Yamaneko comments, cringing and gulping the rest of her coffee. She tosses the cup, the wind carrying it away. “Thanks for confirming that he’s always been a loser though. Good luck getting that bastard off your back.”

The rest of the ride is filled with uncomfortable silence, with Yamaneko having given up on making small talk with the new citizens of the Beach. Perhaps it comes with her status as a militant. People were told to avoid them to avoid trouble after all, and she couldn’t blame Hinata being cautious around them after her experience with Niragi.

As they approached Shimokitazawa, Yamaneko’s sleepiness wears off entirely and a smile laden with nostalgia sweeps across her face. Quaint little shops of vintage clothes lined up in the streets, along with abandoned cafes, record stores, and bookstores. Even Last Boss’ interest seems piqued, eyes lively as they pass by the storefronts. Tatta takes in the sights as well, mouth open in wonder, and half of Hinata’s body is practically outside the window as she gawks at the colorful neighborhood, the street murals a welcome change from the half-naked bodies of the Beach.

They stopped outside a cafe, and the two militants hopped off. Tatta doesn’t drive off though, still impressed by this odd little neighborhood in the middle of the once-bustling Tokyo.

“Hey! Don’t you two have a supply run?” Yamaneko shouts playfully, while Last Boss is already wandering off to check the place out.

“Sorry! I got distracted,” Hinata shouts, then she pauses. “I wanted to do a mural in a place like this.”

“Then hurry up so you can do that later,” Yamaneko replies, one hand on her hip.

“Y-yeah! We’ll come back to pick you up from the same spot in the afternoon,” Hinata shouts back, and she ducks her head as she sits back down in the car. She looks to her companion, and whispers, “Let’s hurry. I wanna explore this place later, too.”

Tatta smiles at her, and drives away.

As the car speeds off, Yamaneko turns around and runs after her lover, who stopped in front of a bookstore. The female militant wraps an arm around his, and leans against his bicep. “You wanna check out this shop first?”

Takatora nods, and they enter the store together, the bell making a faint chiming sound as he pushes the door open. Books, manga, trinkets, and other items lined up on the shelves; an impulse-buyer’s worst temptation, and a book lover’s dream. Like a child let loose in a candy store, Yamaneko grabs a basket and starts to rifle through the assorted items.

“My sister told me about this neighborhood, you know,” she comments offhand as she continued looking through the items. “Aside from Harajuku, this is the other place I used to blow my allowance on.”

A small smile tugs at Takatora’s lips, watching as his lover adds knick-knacks and other clutter in her basket, and he turns to browse some books.

Some time later, Yamaneko comes behind him and buries her face on his back.

“Found anything you like?” she asks, and the taller militant turns around to face her, a few blank notebooks tucked under his arms, and a mountaineering encyclopedia in his hands. He folds the encyclopedia and holds it out for her to see, and he has a sheepish expression on his face. Yamaneko holds out her basket, and he drops the items in with an uncharacteristic gentleness.

“I didn’t know you’re into mountaineering,” she comments.

“Not really. Explorers. But I couldn’t find a book about them.”

“Oh? Who’s your favorite explorer?”

“Robert Edwin Peary,” Takatora responds, and Yamaneko smiles.

“Tell me about him.”

She listened to Takatora talk, trying to fight the huge smile from blooming on her lips as she heard him say anything more than a short sentence. As she listened to him talk about how Peary lost his toes to frostbite, she packed their items with care in a shopping bag, then they moved on to the next store.

They pass by a small sukajan store, and a cold breeze that sends chills up Yamaneko’s spine urges her to check it out. Various bomber jackets with beautiful, intricate embroidery hung from the shop walls, and she couldn’t help but admire the artistry in each stitch. A particular jacket caught her eye, a black one with a roaring tiger and peach blossoms embroidered on it.

She tiptoes to reach it, but her shorter stature prevents her from taking it, fingers barely brushing the hem of the jacket. Amused, Takatora extends his arm and takes it from the rack, and hands it to the shorter militant. After muttering an embarrassed “thank you”, Yamaneko puts on the jacket, and admires herself at the dirty mirror nearby.

“This jacket reminds me of you,” she says to her lover. He responded by pulling her close, silently asking for a kiss.

Yamaneko responds by tenderly pressing her lips onto his. Before he can taste her with his tongue, she pulls away and gives him a devious smirk with half-lidded eyes. “If we continue this, we would end up spending the day just fucking. There’s more places I want to see, c’mon.”

Looking at her with longing, Takatora relents, nodding. He follows her out of the store, and they pass by several shops and cafes before ending up in an antique shop by noon. He was taken aback when Yamaneko squealed, and she ran towards the glass storefront. There, she marvels at an antique sewing machine, eyes glittering with excitement.

“It’s a Singer,” she gasps, trying to contain her excitement. Pushing through the entrance, she rushes in and lets her hands wander over the black finish of the machine. Meanwhile, Takatora leans at the door, mouth tugging upward upon witnessing his lover’s excitement.

“We’re taking this back to the Beach. I don’t give a shit, I’m not leaving this here.”

“If that’s what you want, Yamaneko,” Takatora responds, walking over to ruffle her hair.

As she fusses over the machine, he explores the rest of the shop. Aside from the old typewriter that he decided he will be hauling back to the Beach too, an old instant camera on a dusty counter catches his eye. Long fingers gingerly pick up the Polaroid, and brushes the dust off of the item. Under the counter are boxes of old film, and he reads the instructions on the back.

The sound of a shutter breaks Yamaneko out of her trance, and she turns around to see her lover holding a Polaroid and a photograph, waiting for her image to show up on the paper. She grins and nudges him.

“Nice find,” she says.

Takatora aims the camera at her again, and Yamaneko smiles for him. Sweet. Inviting. One that she hasn’t given anyone in a long time.

As they wait for the photographs to develop, the wildcat saunters over to a vintage Sansui turntable, browsing the pre-loved vinyl records piled neatly beside it. Ranging from the 50s to the early 2010s, Yamaneko browsed through them, most of which are from UK and US musicians. Her English wasn’t the best, so she just picked what she thinks looked most interesting; a vinyl record whose cover had a white owl imposed on a black background as the album art.

Behind her, her tiger prowls, pressing himself against her back as she places the needle on the vinyl. He buries his face in her hair, taking in her scent, and his free hand roams her body, while the other still holds the Polaroid. Through his black pants, he’s already at half-mast, and Yamaneko giggles at her lover’s earnest desire to have her.

“It’s already noon. Those two will be back soon,” he whispers. “Can we do it here?”

She spins around, pulls him by his jacket, and plants a hard kiss on his mouth, restraint slipping away. The camera makes a light clatter as Takatora puts it down on the pile of records, both of his hands cupping his lover’s face as he kisses her deep, permission to taste her granted when she parts her mouth.

Reaching behind, Yamaneko undoes the strings of her top, which she pulls and tosses to the nearest surface. Spindly hands grab the soft mounds on her chest, squeezing hard enough to draw a whine from her. The wildcat throws her head back, and her lover swoops in to assault her neck with kisses as his fingers fondled her nipples.

Before he can lean down to suckle on them, Yamaneko kneels and undoes his belt, pulls his trousers down, and licks at the skin on his flat stomach. Damp and hot against her cheek, she rubs her face against his clothed cock, smiling impishly as she teases him and draws a rasp from his throat.

Deft fingers pull the rest of the fabric down and the tattooed militant’s cock springs out of his boxers, stiffening from all of his lover’s teasing. At a torturous pace, Yamaneko drags her tongue from the underside of his shaft all the way to the tip, encloses her lips around the head, and pulls back with a lewd pop. One of his hands grasps at her wild hair, holding on for dear life.

She looks at the camera from the corner of her eyes. “I have an idea,” she croons against the angry, blushing head of his cock. “Why don’t you go ahead and take more photos to remember me by?”

Her lover gulps, cock twitching from the request. “Are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t suggest it if I wasn’t,” Yamaneko hums, and gives his head one teasing lick.

Grabbing the camera again, Takatora could barely aim it properly as Yamaneko finally went ahead and took his whole length in her mouth, soft lips sliding against his shaft as she bobbed and twisted her head at every stroke. Small hands grasping his length, she opens her mouth to stick out her tongue, and presses it on the underside of his head, holding that position long enough to let him take a photo.

As soon as she hears a click, Yamaneko goes back to work, this time enclosing his balls with her warm, wet mouth as her hand stroked him, humming in delight as she drew a lengthier rasp from her tattooed lover, his head thrown back in bliss. Afterwards, her mouth goes back on his length, and she goes all the way to the base of his dick, doing her best not to choke. Yamaneko pauses so he can get a picture, looking at him with an inky, black tear running down her cheek.

The sight almost drove her tiger wild, who began to fuck her mouth hungrily, gaze searing as he watched his length disappear in her loving mouth. More tears start to stream down out of his lover’s eyes, which remains fixed on his, and wet, lewd sounds fill the shop, accompanied by her choked moans and the music blaring from the Sansui.

“So good… You make me feel so damn good,” Takatora whispers, breath rasping as he continued to violate her mouth.

Legs shaking, his breathing quickens as he comes closer to the end, and he presses Yamaneko’s face against his hips, grunting as he floods her mouth with his cum. Her throat constricted around him as she struggled to swallow the load, overflowing from the corner of her mouth, mixing with the creamy formula of her lipstick. Takatora pulls her head away from him, and predicting what follows, Yamaneko grabs her jacket and opens it wide, the fabric sliding off of her shoulders, letting the next spurt of his cum land on her face and breasts. Panting heavily as she gasped for air, she looked up to him, a satisfied smile on her open mouth, and she milked the rest of his come onto her tongue.

With an unstable hand, Takatora photographed all of those moments, letting the instant film fall to the ground. They’ll pick those up later.

For now, he picks up his lover and puts her on a nearby surface, a delicately-varnished, antique wooden table. Clumsily, he loads the Polaroid with another box of film, and takes more photographs. Makeup ruined, smiling, and naked from the waist up, she lies on the table to catch her breath, beads of cum dripping to the side of her breasts. He preserves the fleeting moment with another click of the camera, then he puts it down beside her. He kissed her skin and tasted himself in the process.

A warm tongue flicks on the wildcat’s hardened nipple, and she moans as Takatora toys with them, flicking them back and forth with a finger, swirling his tongue around it, then putting it in his mouth. The sucking motion makes her hips buck against him, her juices staining her underwear from her arousal.

Frantic and greedy, he pulls those away, and photographs her naked body. He dips two fingers in the entrance of her pussy, and the wildcat arches her back, a low moan rumbling from her throat, while her lover takes another shot, this time including her face, twisted from lust. Then, he gets to work, setting the camera aside once more, and shoving his face against her crotch.

Long fingers assaulted her hole, stroking at a sensitive spot, while his tongue played with her swollen clitoris, earning him a sustained moan. With his free arm, the tattooed militant takes one of his lover’s legs and hooks it over his shoulder, his cheek resting on her creamy thighs as he continued to fuck her with his hand.

Yamaneko cracks her eyes open, and sees their reflection on a mirror right across them. She picks up the Polaroid, her turn to capture the private moments between the two of them. Her lover's lips, stained with her juices, seal against her sensitive bud and she almost drops the camera from the way it made her feel, her legs quivering and toes curling from the sensation.

She swore she heard him chuckle against her with a near-sinister tone.

Just when she thought he couldn’t push her any further after that, he adds a third finger, and his pace turns brutal. Yamaneko’s hands scramble for purchase against the varnished, wooden surface, trying to find an edge she can cling to. A searing, almost painful pleasure builds in her core, which bursts and sets her on fire as a fourth finger fills her, the stretch pushing her over the edge.

White spots filled the wildcat’s vision as she came, crying and moaning as she rode his fingers. They pull out of her ruined pussy, a wet, sloppy mess staining the antique table, earning him a whine.

Yamaneko rolls over, panting and resting on her stomach, the sound of the shutter clicking again. Arching her back, she puts on a show for her lover, smiling as he used up the last of the film. She relaxes as he busies himself with loading the last box of film.

“Do you want to keep going?” he asks her, a hand on her ass, gently squeezing the globe of muscle and fat. His cock, semi-hard again, rests between her buttocks.

“Yeah. Can we go slow at first?” Yamaneko replies, looking over her shoulder.

“Sure.”

With unexpected tenderness, he parts her legs, and tucks his cock inside her. He pulls her jacket down halfway, exposing her upper back, and he presses his lips on her skin, sucking at the back of her neck. This makes his wildcat arch her back, throwing her head back in desire. Her walls clench around him, which makes him harden further. His tongue traced circles on her shoulder as he started to rock his hips again.

Yamaneko moans his name as he clamps his mouth down on her good shoulder, the scrape of his teeth shooting pleasure down her spine.

Each thrust is torturous, deliberate. A staccato of gasps filled the space as the head of his cock kissed a sensitive spot deep inside her with each stroke, accompanying the music. Sucking hard on her neck, Takatora’s hand moves to her breasts, fondling them as he went on with his ministrations. One arm propping herself up, and another reaching for the Polaroid, Yamaneko takes a photograph of the tender moment through the mirror, and she sets the camera down, content in letting her lover take over and be in charge of their collective pleasure.

Takatora takes off her jacket, and his hand presses itself on the small of her back. Her tiger leans over to whisper, lips brushing against the shell of her ear. “Can we go faster now?”

“Please, go as fast or rough as you want,” she moans, looking up to him. She braces herself, grabbing the edges of the table for what’s coming. “Use me, Takatora.”

He smiles, and grabs her neck to push her head against his chest. Takatora gives her a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss, their juices mixing together.

As soon as the kiss ended, she let out a strained moan as her lover bucks forward, sharp hips colliding with the soft flesh of her ass. Lewd sounds of flesh slapping together fills both of their ears as he fucked her forcefully, ruthlessly. Yamaneko’s holes quiver as Takatora repeatedly fills her, pussy squelching at each thrust, while his thumb hovers over her other entrance, teasing it, gathering the wetness from below and spreading it over the puckered hole.

“Should I put it in?” he rasps, and Yamaneko nods repeatedly, desperately.

“Fuck, yes, please!”

Grinning, panting, Takatora slides his dripping thumb in, and the tight ring of muscle constricts around it. The rest of his fingers grip her ass, pulling and pushing her against his cock. The action made Yamaneko throw her head back and scream as a wave of pleasure crashed through her body, the combined pressure of his cock and finger making her holes pulse simultaneously.

Another mind-numbing orgasm turns her limbs into jelly, and she sprawls on the desk. The aftershocks of her high milked the cum out of her lover’s cock, who grunts and gasps as he reaches his own release.

His thumb slides out of her first, then his member, and he lies on top of her, their sweat and other bodily fluids mingling together. He kisses his wildcat’s neck, covered with a film of salty sweat, and gently cups her face to press his lips against hers.

“Good?” Yamaneko asks, and he nods.

The taller militant’s weight leaves her, and she felt exposed. He retrieves her clothes, and she gets up to sit at the edge of the table. Helping her get dressed, Takatora gives her a small, bashful smile. “Good?” he asks her in return.

Yamaneko smiles back and nods, glancing tenderly. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he replies.

When their clothes are back where they should belong, the pair started picking up the scattered photographs from the floor. Everything looked scandalous, save for Yamaneko’s photograph where her back was turned from the camera, and the one where she smiles at him.

Takatora decides that those are his favorites, out of all of them.

As they went out of the store, they saw the four by four parked nearby. They didn’t even notice the other two coming back earlier.

Around the corner, Tatta and Hinata sit on the sidewalk, chatting amongst themselves, and behind them is a street mural with fresh paint. When Yamaneko approaches, the boy couldn’t look at the militant, his cap shadowing his face, and Hinata nervously glances at her, dried paint on her flushed cheeks.

“Ah, hey Yamaneko! Um, you two were busy, so Tatta and I just worked on this while waiting for you,” Hinata tries to say with a straight face. She fails. “Don’t worry we didn’t see much. We’re so sorry,” she continues, and both of them bow in apology.

So they did see them.

Yamaneko cackles at her scandalized expression. “What are you two, children? Your parents more or less did the same thing to make you. You’ll see even more of that action at the Beach in public. Get over it and help us load our stuff.”

Hinata clears her throat and nods, standing up and avoiding looking at her. Tatta follows suit, walking like he broke a leg, one hand covering the front of his shorts.

“Hell, you two might as well enjoy each other’s company too,” Yamaneko adds, shouting after them.

Without seeing their faces, she just knows the blush on their faces got deeper.

[thezone88]

#BHM Day 12

Matthew Henson 1866-1955

Matthew Henson was born in Maryland just after the Civil War and had a hard-luck childhood. Both of his parents died when he was a boy, and Henson lived with an uncle in Washington, D.C. before striking out on his own at the age of 11. He traveled by foot to Baltimore, where he hoped he could get work on a ship. He succeeded, and he became a cabin boy on a freighter. He saw the world (China, Europe, North Africa) and learned how to read and write thanks to the ship’s kindly captain, who saw that the young boy was bright and eager to learn. After six years of sailing the ocean, Henson’s captain died; grieving for the man who had done so much for him, Henson returned to Washington and took a job as a store clerk in a furrier’s shop.

It was at the store that Henson met navy lieutenant Robert Edwin Peary, who was selling some pelts and took a shine to the young man as they discussed their various adventures. Peary gave him a job as his assistant on an upcoming survey trip of Nicaragua. Henson, missing the adventure of travel, soon became a permanent member of Peary’s crew. When Peary announced plans to reach the top of Greenland in 1891, Henson happily joined the officer on his journey. Through the 1890s, Peary and his team would return to Greenland several times, battling extreme weather, loss of team members, and starvation to achieve their goal (on one journey, they were forced to eat the dogs pulling their sleds). Peary grew to count on Henson, whose carpentry, mechanical, and dog-driving skills were second to none.

By the turn of the century, Peary had become determined to reach the North Pole. Over the next several years, Peary, always with Henson at his side, would make attempt after attempt, each one unsuccessful due to the harshness of the conditions. In 1908, they decided to make one final attempt since time was running against them (Peary was 50, Henson 40). Previous attempts had been hampered by difficult communication with the native Eskimos; Henson learned their language so he could talk to them, the only member of the team to do so. By gaining the Eskimos’ confidence and trust, Henson paved the way for the success of the expedition (as did a special ice-cutting boat built especially for the expedition). Henson actually arrived closest to the Pole in advance of Peary, but it was Peary himself who trudged the last few miles to plant the American flag. Peary seemed to resent Henson for arriving ahead of him, and their relations on the return trip were strained and never quite the same afterward.

Commander Peary, of course, was celebrated for his achievement upon his return to America; although Henson had technically gotten there first, he did not receive the same attention, and in short order, he had to find new work. He ended up parking cars in New York. Fortunately, friends lobbied on his behalf, and Henson’s fortunes began to change. He received a civil service appointment from President Taft that gave him a more comfortable living. He published an autobiography in 1912, and a subsequent biography made Henson’s role in the North Pole expeditions more widely known. He received a Congressional Medal in 1944 and a Presidential Citation in 1950. By the time he died in 1955, Matthew Henson could rest easy, having been recognized as the co-founder of the North Pole.

[si-national-portrait-gallery]

Robert Edwin Peary, Unidentified Artist, 1908-1909, Smithsonian: National Portrait Gallery

Size: Image/Sheet: 20.2 x 12.7cm (7 15/16 x 5") Medium: Gelatin silver print

https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.93.353

[leggendolibri]

Artico nero, Matteo Meschiari e Groenlandia- Manhattan, Chloé Cruchaudet - Cronache terribili ma bellissime...

Artico nero, Matteo Meschiari e Groenlandia- Manhattan, Chloé Cruchaudet – Cronache terribili ma bellissime…

Mi sono lungamente interrogata su come parlare di questi due libri comprati in periodi diversi ma per motivi correlati. Il primo ad arrivare, a dicembre dello scorso anno fu “Artico nero“, ad attirarmi la copertina – l’editore è uno di quelli da cui puoi comprare saggistica e narrativa anche ad occhi chiusi – e una sinossi che non lasciava trasparire poi più di tanto. Una lettura…

[rudyroth79]

Robert Edwin Peary, primul om care a atins Polul Nord

Robert Edwin Peary, primul om care a atins Polul Nord

În 6 aprilie 2019, se împlinesc 110 ani de când exploratorul american, Robert Edwin Peary, a fost primul om care a atins Polul Nord (6 aprilie 1909). Cu cinci zile înainte de comunicarea izbânzii sale, medicul american Frederik A. Cook a anunţat că el a ajuns la Polul Nord încă din aprilie 1908, dar ulterior s-a dovedit a fi un impostor.

Sursa: RADOR.

Arhiva rubricii Filă de calendar

[ansiklomedia]

Robert Edwin Peary Kimdir?

Robert Edwin Peary Kimdir?

Kuzey Kutup noktasına ilk ayak basan Amerikalı kaşiftir. 6 Mayıs 1856 tarihinde doğmuş ve 64 yaşında iken 20 Şubat 1920’de hayata gözlerini yummuştur. Robert Edwin Peary bir deniz subayı idi. Önceleri Grönland’a Kutup bölgelerine yaptığı araştırma gezileriyle ün kazandı. Bu arada Grönland’ı etraflı şekilde inceliyerek «Yeşilyurt» adı verilen bu toprakların insanların güçlükle…

[rabbitcruiser]

National Reach As High As You Can Day

National Reach As High As You Can Day is observed on April 14 every year. The day can be interpreted in numerous ways, however, the message remains the same — to reach as high as you can. Whether it is aiming for a higher professional or personal goal, or even to reach for something physically, it is a day to believe in yourself and take a chance that you may have shied away from before.

History of National Reach As High As You Can Day

Reaching can be defined as physically extending to grab or touch something. It can also mean conceptually extending to increase something’s impact or application. Humans have been reaching new literal and metaphorical heights since the beginning of time. If it were not for people reaching as high as they can and aiming for bigger and better, the world as we know it would have been different. It is impossible to pinpoint the origination date for a concept like this, but history is full of examples and evidence that shooting higher paves the way for new opportunities.

Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first person to reach outer space, explorer Leif Day is said to be the first person to reach America, inventor Thomas Edison reached to create the first light bulb, and the world was never the same again. To stay within our comfort zone comes with a sense of safety and certainty, but to reach for something newer and bigger has consequences that can be revolutionary and life-changing.

National Reach As High As You Can Day, observed every year on April 14, encourages all of mankind to push our limits and venture out of our comfort zones. This ‘reaching’ can be as big or as small as we are comfortable with. It is a chance for us to bring about a much-needed change in our lives, and many even change someone else’s.

National Reach As High As You Can Day timeline

1909 North Pole

Robert Peary reaches the North Pole.

1911 South Pole

Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole.

1953 Mount Everest

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the summit of Mount Everest.

1969 Moon

Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin reach the moon.

National Reach As High As You Can Day FAQs

How many times have we reached the moon?

Approximately six missions have landed people on the moon so far, and many more are underway.

When did humans reach France?

1.57 million years ago humans reached and discovered France and paved the way for others to do so too.

How long does it take to reach Mars?

On average, it is believed to take 162 days to reach Mars. However, a closer route has estimated about 41 days.

National Reach As High As You Can Day Activities

Reach for something physically

Reach for something professionally

Reach for something personal

You could reach for that one book at the top of the shelf that you have not read yet, or a jar that you avoid using because of its high placement. You could even try to reach that restaurant you have been meaning to try out for a while.

No matter what your field of work is, there are always certain short or long-term goals in the back of your mind. Take this day to think about ways in which you can broaden your horizon and reach for something higher than before.

As with other things, most of us have certain personal goals that we aim for. Whether it is a personal record at the gym or the duration of your daily meditation, try to reach for a slightly higher milestone and believe in yourself.

5 Facts About Reaching That You Probably Didn’t Know

It takes time

It inspires others

It takes commitment

It is not always linear

It takes dedication

It took astronauts four days to reach the moon.

Since the first climb, over 5,000 people have reached Mt. Everest’s peak.

Sometimes a task needs to be repeated for it to become a habit.

Some ups and downs come with advancements, but it is part of the process.

A giraffe’s neck cannot reach the ground, but they do not stop trying.

Why We Love National Reach As High As You Can Day

It inspires us

It encourages advancement

It stimulates exploration

It is less scary to do what we know, but taking risks and reaching higher can be liberating and rewarding in more ways than one. Nothing is guaranteed, but a day like this pushes us to re-evaluate our goals and activities and determine the areas where we can do more.

If people from the beginning of time did not reach in one way or another, life would be different from what it is now. Most of what we have, if not everything, is the result of someone pushing forward and discovering the undiscovered.

Whether it is intellectual, geographical, or physical, reaching higher opens doors that we didn’t know existed. Would you know about your favorite hiking spot if someone did not reach there and tell you about it?

Source

[seeselfblack]

Matthew Henson: The first man to reach the North Pole 

Matthew Alexander Henson was the first African-American Arctic explorer, the first man to reach the north pole, of which he was co-discoverer with Robert Peary. Henson and Peary  made seven voyages over a period of nearly 23 years. There is some debate as to whether Peary was accurate in his claim to have reached the pole,  but Henson went ahead to blaze the trail while Peary, whose toes were frozen, was pulled on the sledge. Henson  reach the pole, some 45 minutes ahead of Peary, and planted the American flag at the location Peary determined to be the pole, since Peary was unable to stand.

Henson was born on August 8, 1866, in Charles County, Maryland, the son of two freeborn Black sharecroppers, Henson lost his mother at an early age. When he was 4 years old, his father moved the family to Washington, D.C., in search for work opportunities. His father died there, leaving Henson and his siblings in the care of relatives. Henson ran away from home at age 11, and ended up in Washington D.C., where he lived with his aunt. He became excited by sea stories that he heard from a man called Baltimore Jack and walked to Baltimore, where he hung around the waterfront. At age 12, he became a cabin boy on a merchant ship named Katie Hines. Over the next six years Captain Childs took Henson under his wing, treating him like a son and teaching him maths, history, geography and navigation skills. Henson sailed around the world with Childs, visiting places such as China, Japan, the Philippines, France, Africa, and southern Russia.

After Captain Childs died, Henson returned to Washington, D.C. and worked as a store clerk for a furrier. It was there that he met Robert Edwin Peary, an explorer and officer in the U.S. Navy Corps of Civil Engineers. On the recommendation of the store owner, Peary hired Henson  to accompany him to Nicaragua to survey a canal route. Peary soon learn that Henson was an experienced seaman who also knew how to prepare a survey chart. In 1891, Henson and Peary prepared for their first trip to the North Pole. For nearly two decades the pair would be on a quest to reach the pole.  

While in Greenland, Henson embraced the local Eskimo culture, becoming fluent in the Inuit language and their Arctic survival skills. The Inuit called him Mahri-Pahluk (Matthew-the Kind One). Henson is the only non-Inuit who became skilled in driving the dog sleds and training dog teams in the Inuit way. He was a skilled craftsman, who made most of the sledges used by the expedition, and build igloos out of snow, for mobile housing as they traveled. He and Peary with their teams covered thousands of miles in dog sleds and reached the “Farthest North” point of any Arctic expedition in 1906.

In 1908–09, Peary mounted his eighth attempt to reach the North Pole. The expedition was large, as Peary planned to use his system of setting up cached supplies along the way. When he and Henson boarded his ship Roosevelt, leaving Greenland on August 18, 1909, they were accompanied by:

“22 Inuit men, 17 Inuit women, 10 children, 246 dogs, 70 tons (64 metric tons) of whale meat from Labrador, the meat and blubber of 50 walruses, hunting equipment, and tons of coal. In February, Henson and Peary departed their anchored ship at Ellesmere Island’s Cape Sheridan, with the Inuit men and 130 dogs working to lay a trail and supplies along the route to the Pole.”

Peary selected Henson and four Inuit as part of the team of six who would make the final run to the Pole. Before the goal was reached, Peary could no longer continue on foot and rode in a dog sled. Various accounts say he was ill, exhausted, or had frozen toes. He sent Henson on ahead as a scout.

In a newspaper interview, Henson later said: “I was in the lead that had overshot the mark a couple of miles. We went back then and I could see that my footprints were the first at the spot.”

On April 6, 1909, Henson proceeded to plant the American flag...

Continue reading over at Kentakepage.com 

Also see: 

- The Legacy of the Artic Explorer Mathew Henson

- Perry, Henson and their Inuit Women

- Multiracial Anaukaq Henson, son of explorer Matthew Henson

- 

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and United States Naval officer who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

He is best known for claiming to have reached the geographic North Pole with his expedition on 6 April 1909.