31 August: Denali (formerly Mount McKinley)

On this date in 2015 Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America, officially regained its original Alaska Native name through an executive order issued by American President Barack Obama. 10 things you might not know about the mountain formerly known as Mount McKinley.

1. It’s the tallest mountain in North America standing at 20,232 feet (6,190 m) above sea-level. It actually has two summits, North and South. The South Summit is the higher one. The North Summit has an elevation of 19,470 ft (5,934 m).

2. It is located in Alaska’s Denali National Park, 130 miles north-northwest of Anchorage and 170 miles southwest of Fairbanks.

3. There are five large glaciers which flow from the top of the mountain: The Peters Glacier, the Muldrow Glacier, the Traleika Glacier, the Ruth Glacier and the Kahiltna Glacier. With a length of 44 mi (71 km), the Kahiltna Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alaska Range.

4. In 1896, the mountain was unofficially named Mount McKinley by a Gold prospector called William Dickey and then officially by the federal government in 1917 to commemorate President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901.

5. The dispute over what to call the mountain has been going on since 1975 when the Alaska Legislative asked the US government to change its name to Denali. It took 40 years for it to happen.

6. Denali comes from the Koyukon language and means “The Great One”.

7. The first successful climb was achieved on 7 June 1913, when Walter Harper, Harry Karstens, Hudson Stuck and Robert Tatum reached the top. Hudson Stuck commented, “anyone who thinks that the climbing of Denali is a picnic is badly mistaken.”

8. Part of the reason for that is because Denali is located at 63 degrees North and 151 degrees West. Because it is so far north, there’s a lot of low pressure around it, an effect which is more pronounced than for the rest of the world’s tallest mountains. The temperature can drop to -75 degrees with wind chills as low as -118 degrees. The top of the mountain is permanently covered in Snow. Only about 50% of attempts to climb are successful. The best time to try according to experts, is in April, May or June.

9. The first woman to reach the top was Barbara Washburn in 1947 who climbed with her husband, Bradford, who became the first person to reach the summit twice. The first woman to climb it by herself was Dr. Miri Ercolani in 1982.

10. In 1932, a climbing party was airlifted onto the side of the mountain for the first time. By the 1950s, this had become the standard way to get to the summit, as it cut the expedition time by several weeks.

Character birthday

Whiplash, aka Mark Moore. Employed by Professor Power as a technician, he was regarded as an inconsequential nerd by colleagues. He was someone who was conscientious and beavered away in the background, simply getting things done. Even Seth Power himself rarely noticed the young man, which meant that Moore could eavesdrop on Power League planning meetings without being noticed. Moore was a lonely and awkward young man who spent most of his spare time reading comics, and identifying with the villains more than the heroes. The idea of the Power League excited him, and he fantasised about being part of it. He designed and built the electronic whip to use as a weapon and devised a costume which not only concealed his identity, but protected him from the electric discharges of his weapon.

He then approached Power, as Whiplash, asking to join the League. Power set him a series of unpleasant, difficult and violent tasks as an entry test. Whiplash completed them all while still working in the lab as the unassuming Mark Moore, surreptitiously gathering the knowledge he needed to complete the tasks. To this day, Power is unaware that they are one and the same person.