Edmund Hillary

Sir Edmund Hillary (b. July 20, 1919) is a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer, most famous for the first successful climb of Mount Everest. He reached the summit on May 29, 1953 with Tenzing Norgay.

Born in Tuakau, Auckland he started climbing in his teens, making his first significant climb in 1939. During WW II he was an airforce navigator. He was part of an unsuccessful New Zealand expedition to Everest in 1951 before joining the successful British attempt of 1953, he climbed ten other peaks in the Himalayas on further visits in 1956, 1960-61, 1963-65. He also reached the South Pole, as part of the British Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, on January 4, 1958.

He was knighted in 1995.