Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and James Cameron are just a few of the club's very famous members.Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider; Reuters
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World history is full of secret clubs with elite members, like the Freemasons and the Illuminati. Shrouded in mystery, these clubs become the stuff of legend.
In a lavish Upper Manhattan townhouse lies the headquarters of a legendary, though far less secretive society â The Explorers Club.
Founded in 1904, The Explorers Club is a professional society that serves as a meeting place for explorers, scientists, and just about anyone with an interest in scientific exploration. The Explorers Club funds, promotes, and assists in expeditions around the world.
The club's current and historical members include astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, film director James Cameron, Space-X and Tesla founder Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, President Teddy Roosevelt, and aviator Charles Lindbergh.
The Explorers Club invited Business Insider in 2014 to take an exclusive look inside the historic club.
Here's a portrait of Danish explorer Peter Freuchen, who was stranded in a blizzard on Baffin Island in Canada in 1923.
Freuchen was buried by an avalanche and suffered severe frostbite on his foot. Remembering that natives use frozen dog feces to make tools, Freuchen quickly moved his own bowels, froze the feces, and crafted a chisel to dig his way out.
On the way back to camp, he was saved by Inuits who told him to bite off his frostbitten toes. He instead knocked them off with a hammer.