Vintage Images

When Navy flier Richard E. Byrd joined Donald MacMillan's 1925 Arctic expedition, he proved he could pilot more than a plane. As encroaching pans of pack ice menaced the explorers' ships, Byrd took to the bergs with a wooden board (above). The presence of polar bears was considered less of a threat. MacMillan explained in his account of the expedition in the November 1925 Geographic: "Fresh bear tracks kept the boys interested and a bit excited over the prospect of fine rugs for their dens."