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The White House announced today that President Obama is officially changing the name of North America’s highest peak from Mt. McKinley — named after William McKinley, the 25th president — to it’s traditional Alaska Native name, Denali.
Obama will make a public announcement of the name change in Anchorage Monday, during a three-day visit to Alaska.
Denali Facts
- At 20,237 feet (6,168 meters) above sea level it is the highest mountain in North America.
- Denali is an indigenous Koyukon name, allegedly meaning “great one.”
- A gold prospector, William Dickey, had named it Mount McKinley in 1896, after President William McKinley.
- McKinley, who was from Ohio, never visited his namesake mountain or any part of Alaska.
- An estimated 32,000 people have attempted to reach the summit, with about a 50 percent success rate.
- In 1947 Barbara Washburn becomes the first woman to summit Mt. McKinley.
- At 78-years-old Tom Choate is the oldest person to reach the summit.