Everest is climbed for the first time

Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa, reached the 8,849-meter summit of Mount Everest as part of a British expedition. They stayed about 15 minutes before heading down.

Both men later said they reached the top as a team.

Context

The climb was the ninth British-led push on the mountain and was organized as a large expedition under Colonel John Hunt, with many climbers, Sherpas and tons of equipment. Hunt's team first sent forward another pair, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, who got close but turned back. Hillary and Tenzing then made their attempt from a high camp on the south side, reaching the top on May 29, 1953.

On the summit Hillary took photographs, and Tenzing made a small food offering in keeping with his Buddhist faith. Hillary left a small crucifix. They searched for signs of the 1924 climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, who vanished near the summit, and found none, so whether those two reached the top remains unknown.

For years the question of who stepped on the summit first was avoided. Tenzing's later account and Hillary's own statements said Hillary was first by a short margin. News of the ascent reached London around the time of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in June 1953. The height used today, 8,849 meters, comes from a 2020 China-Nepal survey and differs slightly from older figures.