| Born this day in 1919 in Auckland, New Zealand, mountain climber and Antarctic explorer Sir Edmund Hillary was, along with Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest (8,850 metres [29,035 feet]), the highest mountain in the world, as part of an expedition in 1953. After a pair of climbers had failed to reach the top on May 27, Hillary and Tenzing set out for it early on May 29; by late morning they were standing on the summit. |