According to the news, Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first persons who reached the summit of Mt. Everest, died today at age 88. Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, was born on July 20, 1919. He was a New Zealand Mountaineer and explorer. He and a Sherpa named Tenzing Norgay became the first persons to ever reach the summit of Mt. Everest on May 29, 1953, telling companions after the climb: "We knocked the bastard off.". They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt.
The cause of Hillary's death was not announced, but he had been ill for some time and local media reported he had been suffering pneumonia.
News links below:
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/world/asia/11cnd-hillary.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7182376.stm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080110/ts_nm/newzealand_hillary_dc
Rest in peace, Sir Edmund. There aren't many "first person to ...." left these days.
1 comment:
rest in peace, Sir Edmund Hillary
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