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Once Mount McKinley, North America’s Tallest Peak Is Now Officially Denali
Photo of Denali by Christoph Strässler/Flickr Creative Commons.
The tallest mountain in North America is officially taking its name back. President Obama announced in September that Alaska’s Mount McKinley will officially be known as Denali. Locals have already been calling the mountain Denali for generations. The name comes from the language of the indigenous people of Alaska. The state officially renamed the mountain Denali in 1975. But the U.S. government maintained the Mount McKinley name for more than 100 years. A man searching for gold first discovered the peak in 1896. He named the peak Mount McKinley after then-presidential candidate William McKinley. The name was kept as a tribute after McKinley, then president, was assassinated in 1901. But many people in Alaska yearned for the mountain to take back its native name. President Obama granted their wish before a trip to the state.
Photo of Denali by Christoph Strässler/Flickr Creative Commons.
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