Sir William Edward Parry (1790-1855), an English rear admiral and Arctic explorer, whose 1819 voyage into Lancaster Sound, ending at the frozen Beaufort Sea, was one of the more successful attempts to find the Northwest Passage. In 1827 he attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole and reached 82簞45' North latitude, setting the record for human exploration farthest North that stood for nearly five decades before being surpassed at 83簞20'26" North by Albert Hastings Markham in 1875-1876. There is some dispute over who first reached the North Pole, but the most scientifically verified claim is credited to Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who planted his flag on 12 May 1926.